Seconding this. This account keeps asking these huge open-ended personal questions and it’s starting to feel data harvest-y. Some context would be appreciated.
Perhaps this is preparing us for something like:
" Competition time expats! Whose total sum of ARC numbers is the highest, and ALSO has the most odd numbers in it?? Post your full ARC below - the winner gets a prize!"
Was getting a little of this, but wasn’t quite ready to say it out loud yet. 
lived here 1.5 year and only recently began studying (conversation class only) at a local uni. it’s been 4 months now so, basic level. I can get to and from, ask directions, feed myself (and read menus pretty well), that kind of thing. likes and dislikes, comparatives. they taught us haggling for some reason (nobody does that anymore as far as I know and I sure as hell wouldn’t try it unless something was clearly overpriced).
I can usually get what people are talking about, but I hope by this time next year to be basic intermediate at least. Conversational.
Nearly 3 years and my Mandarin is non existing. I have tried a few times but for some reasons I am not able to learn it.
I have learnt a few languages in my life but Mandarin is the most difficult one.
I speak functional Mandarin. If I don’t know a word GoogleTranslate rescues me and I learn a new word in the process.
It’s interesting how well Google Translate works these days. I’m in rural Japan currently where hardly anyone speaks English and I’m able to function almost normally. When somebody shows up at my farmhouse wanting something I put my Translate app on speaker and have them speak Japanese. The text shows up on screen as they speak and I say “Is this correct?”in Japanese when they finish. I then translate to English and reverse the process when I have something to say. I can go to a hardware store or dry cleaner and hold a near normal conversation using Translate. It’s a huge change from twelve years ago when I first started living in rural Japan.
The downfall is phone calls. Have yet to figure that one out.
Yeh, but do people understand you when you do?
Thats the next level that I suppose I ought to be aspiring to.
Mandarin means court language.
Chinese Mandarin distinguishes it from, you know, Cambodian Mandarin.
Exactly. Chinese is not a language, it’s a language family.
Sino Tibetan is the family, technically
I get the feeling the OP is racking up a post count. He/she never seems to even drop by in these new threads. Still, better than talking about COVID or Hunter Biden’s Laptop, innit?
I’m sure Musk will have licensed his brain implants to Google in a couple of years. Or your sentient AI assistant will carry out the conversation for you - it’ll know your needs and personality better than you do anyway, so your wetware self will be essentially redundant.
Or gramps:
I figured it was a student writing a school paper.
Seems they are getting info to compile and put out on their blog, blurb, tweet, hashtag, youtube, whatever people do these days to get attention.
I heard myspace is what the cool kids are using these days?
I agree. All I see are open ended questions and a link to an instagram account.
I’m still waiting to see any positive or constructive posts to see if this poster can give as well as take.
Guy
eatdrinkharvestdata
At least so far.
I’m waiting for more.
Guy
I’d say “lower intermediate” – can get around, order food, visit the doctor, participate in most conversations at a “basic” level. TV can be hit or miss depending on the content (the game shows with foreigners I can usually follow, the 5 o’clock news less so).
Been here for about 6 years, the first 2-3 I self-studied an hour or two a day , but then have mostly given it up. There have been times where my wife and I would alternative which language we spoke every other day, but since having our son it’s been English most of the time (she speaks to him in Mandarin).
If I was a mod I would look closely at this poster. Starting threads and not taking part in the thread is a big smoking gun. Especially as they have zero connection to Taiwan.
My Chinese Mandarin is basically zero.
I learned Taiwanese Mandarin. Much more useful in Taiwan.