I dropped Spanish which was the only language offered during my high school years. I regret it, and now I’m embarrassed to start learning as a uni-aged guy. I want to learn Mandarin because then I would know English and Mandarin which would cover like 50% of the populations speaking abilities.
Basically I just feel like a dumb American and being a Marxist I need to know another language.
To be fair, listening is probably the most important part of learning a foreign language (for most learners) and perhaps requires the most time to develop. In every day life, listening and thus conversation/exchanges requires instant comprehension, and that’s also a huge part of how we form social connections/associations with each other. With reading you can generally take your time to digest things.
Strongly agree. The accent has to be just right for me, though. Otherwise I can’t put my ears through it. That’s why I like listening-reading. I go by content and accent, and get 7–35+ hours with a voice that I can listen endlessly to.