Mandarin Chinese

Why Learn Mandarin Chinese
www.chinese-lessons.com/mandarin/whymand.htm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF2Gcj8zEoc https://www.mandalingua.com/en/general/why-study-chinese/
 * Chinese-Lessons article on both why one should learn Mandarin and some difficulties. Very basic.  Key points: economic influence, number of speakers, and online presence.  Difficulties: writing and tones.
 * Off the Great Wall video, 6 Reasons Why You Should Learn Mandarin!
 * Mandalingua blog article on why one should learn Mandarin. Key points include: economic reasons, being able to plan trips to China yourself, understanding a very ancient culture, and having fun learning Mandarin.

The Language Itself
www.alittledynasty.com/history-of-mandarin-chinese.html http://web.uvic.ca/ling/lin/www/index_files/Hua_Lin_Mandarin_chapter2.pdf https://www.chineseboost.com/grammar/chinese-grammar-rules/
 * A Little Dynasty blog post on the history of Mandarin. Key points include: the nationalization of the Mandarin language after the establishment of the Chinese republic, and its growing evolution.
 * A Grammar of Mandarin Chinese, by Hua Lin, Ch. 2: Phonetics and phonology. Key points include phonetics and phonology.  A far more technical guide on the grammar, and not recommended except for serious intermediate-advanced study.
 * Chinese Boost article on general grammar rules. Key points include: sentence structure, topic-prominence, aspects not tenses, no conjugations, and the logic of the language.

Difficulties
http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/chinese.htm https://thelinguafranca.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/the-difficulty-of-learning-mandarin-an-alternate-view/
 * University blog article about the differences between English and Chinese, particularly grammar structure, particular sound differences, tenses and vocabulary.
 * TheLinguaFranca blog response to an article by a Chinese professor saying Chinese isn't as difficult as what one might think. Key points: the professor is speaking as a native speaker, the radical system isn't intuitive to writing and stroke order, and individual sounds.