1. Is Chinese the hardest language to learn?

>> I think a lot of foreigners are frightened to learn Mandarin for two main reasons! One is the pictorial writing system which indeed needs some time to practice and remember but it’s fun too. Second is those funny tonal sounds. One common simple example is the sound “MA”. When you say that with the first tone, it can be “mother 媽”. However, when it comes to the second tone, it becomes a kind of plant ( “weed 麻” to be precise). Then you have the third tone for “horse 馬”. And the fourth tone for “tell off 罵”. Confusing? Well let me share my experience with you. When I learned English, I had difficulties in telling the differences between “pen/pan”, “bald/bold” or “ball/bowl” and then you have “flower/flour” for the same sound with totally different meanings. Speaking of the devil, French is even worse. You have “dent/don/thon/tente/tante” (teeth/talent/tuna/tent/aunt) to drive me crazy. But let’s face it, we learn our mother language for at least 10 years. We can’t just be defeated by these necessary failures. Besides, Chinese grammar is so straightforward that you will burst out laughing and win so much confidence in there. Just follow me and don’t give up, OK?