> Dude, why are you so stubborn? Personal attacks not appreciated here > Have you ever tried to learn those languages? Yes? I grew up with both Chinese and E

> Dude, why are you so stubborn? Personal attacks not appreciated here > Have you ever tried to learn those languages? Yes? I grew up with both Chinese and English? What gave you the impression I was saying stuff out of nowhere? > Do you really think that learning 20~30 simple characters is on the same level of difficulty as learning 2000~4000 characters, some of them very complex? Yes. I'm happy to elaborate as to why I think so but if you're only going to stand on the opposite side and not interested in even trying to understanding my perspective it's a waste of time on my part. > a set of 2136 which is considered the minimum to function in modern society For an adult, fine, but (a) "number of characters remembered" not a good way to measure the ability to function, any more than "number of SAT/GRE words memorized" to an English speaker, and (b) to function at an 8-year-old level in society you most definitely don't need 2136 characters. An 8-year-old in an English speaking country would trip up trying to read The Economist as well.