I often chat with my friends about the importance of learning Chinese. They disagree because they are caught up in their Western frame of mind. 
I have been learning Mandarin now for 5 years and have reached a comfortable level. I use a combination of tools online, like Skype, NCIKU and http://www.chineslearnonline.com
They are all very helpful and I feel like Iâm making progress.
Do you feel that learning Chinese is worth it? 
I am a âwesternerâ who has learned Chinese on and off for about a decade, now.
It depends what you mean by âworth itâ. Itâs been invaluable for speaking with Chinese speakers and reading Chinese books and websites. Apart from that, itâs been a huge waste of time. 
People who are crap at languages think Iâm âcleverâ, and Iâm sure it helps in job interviews, even though Chinese language skills are irrelevant in my work.
Learning it is really pretty damned important if you want to speak, read or write it, thatâs for SURE! 
Or do you mean is being able to speak, read and write some Chinese worth it?
âIt dependsâ is the obvious answer. For someone planning to work in an all-Chinese-speaking company or attend an all-Chinese-speaking school? Definitely.
For a ski-tow operator in Scotland? A bit less so, probably.
For the satisfaction of achieving something? Its as âworth itâ as any other time-consuming hobby, I suppose.
Whether itâs worth it or not depends on who you are, where you live, whatâs your occupation, what are your interests, abilities, existing committments, etc.
Itâs too bad the other thread got closed by the mods â the one where Chinese speakers claimed, wrongly, that those who donât bother learning the language are losers, and non-fluent speakers rightfully countered thatâs a bunch of hogwash and there are plenty of other worthwhile pursuits in life that can be worth focusing on INSTEAD of studying Mandarin â too bad, because I wanted to make a point there several months ago.
The point being that the single most important factor for whether youâll learn it or not, in my mind, is whether youâve got incentive and motivation. If you donât then forget it. And for years I didnât have much incentive/motivation because I had so many other things I wanted to spend my time on and I figured I would head back to the states any time and would forget most of it anyway, so it wasnât worth the effort.
But it finally IS worth it now for me, because my wife and I bought a house here, I finally recognized that Iâm not going back for at least 5 more years, my career opportunities are vastly greater here than back home and, while Iâve worked up very nicely to a terrific position in a great company, Iâve pretty much hit the ceiling in my field for a non-fluent-Chinese speaker, but if I can improve my fluency to the level where I can communicate about serious business matters and participate in business meetings in Chinese I can almost certainly double my salary, which is what I intend to do.
So, for me it is now worth it. But for plenty of people living in Taiwan (including my former self) who wish to go for long bike rides, read novels, write novels, make music, spend time with family, do taichi, go hiking, go to the gym, or countless other perfectly valid, legitimate and worthwhile activities, such that they donât have time to study Chinese (or even for those who simply donât care to) for them it clearly isnât worth it.
If one feels a need and desire to work at learning Chinese then itâs worth it. Otherwise, itâs clearly not worth it and thereâs nothing wrong with that.
Itâs just a skill, and there will always be people who can do it better than you (unless you are ironlady, or Taiwanese). Itâs great and I donât regret having that world opened up to me, but Iâd have had a different world opened up to me if Iâd learned computing, or Russian, or whaddeva.
Lots of folk here learn it for their family, after they realise they canât speak to their kids in their native language. I learned it because I had no family and needed to learn it to take care of daily life.
I go through phases. I have no interest in it for its own sake, and am learning Greek, Italian and Japanese for personal interest, right now. However, I am fascinated by aspects of Chinese culture. I just finished reading âTeahouseâ by Lao She, which was coolio, and I have this bilingual edition of a TCM introductory book, which Iâm into.
I drop it for months, when Iâm writing, or focusing on physical stuff like sport.
Anyway, just thinking aloud. It sounds like you are mining for arguments to either justify your own activities to your friends, or you are trying to influence their behaviour. Whyâs that?
If youâre living in Taiwan long term, itâs worth it.
For some people. Not others.
It can be quite helpful if you donât have any friends to hang out with. 
Wait, I think thatâs why I donât have any friends to hang out with⌠
It landed me a lovely wife. 
(ymmv)
And a third hand.
Learning Chinese is more work with less pay off that any endeavour anyone could possibly imagine. When I think about the number of things I could have done instead with all that time I want to cry. Then again sometimes itâs pretty cool. Go figure.
What about rolling a big rock up an endless hill?
Thatâs a pretty good analogy actually. Itâs difficult, itâs uphill all the way, and if you stop pushing for an instant it will roll back over you with complete indifference.
I figure the best way to gauge âworth itâ would be pay off.
Pay off forms:
Anything else?
I need a solid list of legitimate reasons.
*no idea how one would define this term when learning Mandarin Chinese. . .
I learned Chinese and did not get a wife, job, new cultural experience, sense of accomplishment or ability to speak with friends and family. I know Chinese, though.
[quote=âButtercupâ]I am a âwesternerâ who has learned Chinese on and off for about a decade, now.
It depends what you mean by âworth itâ. Itâs been invaluable for speaking with Chinese speakers and reading Chinese books and websites. Apart from that, itâs been a huge waste of time.
People who are crap at languages think Iâm âcleverâ, and Iâm sure it helps in job interviews, even though Chinese language skills are irrelevant in my work.[/quote]
How and where did it help in job interviews?
[quote=âDragonbonesâ]6. Ability to communicate with the local wildlife and adopted strays[/quote]Learning Chinese will not allow you to talk to animals, despite protests or testimonials from DB. I think the lad has gone a little :loco:
Maybe we should change his title to âstray whispererâ? 
[quote=âKevinhhhâ]I figure the best way to gauge âworth itâ would be pay off.
Pay off forms:
Anything else?
I need a solid list of legitimate reasons.
*no idea how one would define this term when learning Mandarin Chinese. . .[/quote]
All my brothers-in-law are married, have VERY nice jobs and can communicate with family and friends, as can I. None of us know Chinese. My satisfaction of accomplishment comes from elsewhere, such as having learned to play music and tie my own shoelaces. If I want a new âcultural experienceâ I visit a delicatessen.
I donât know what you mean by âlegitimate reasons.â Theyâre ALL legitimate. NONE of them are legitimate.
The BEST possible legitimate reason â the ONLY legitimate reason â is âbecause I want to.â
Matchstick man, the UK. They think itâs cool that I can do things they perceive to be difficult. Got the three jobs I applied for, took the one Iâm at now. Shrug.
sandman, I have long since realised that this is the only worthwhile and valid reason to do anything, other than wearing clothes and using toothpaste.