I have a pragmatic approach to foreign languages. A language is a tool, and I learn it when the tool starts paying for itself.
English paid first. As a kid, I played unlocalized games, so I had to pick up enough English to understand what was happening on screen. Later I started making my own games and wanted to promote them to a larger audience. That gave me a reason to keep going. By the time I needed English professionally, I had already been using it for years.
The payoff was bigger than I expected. English let me live comfortably in Thailand, run projects with people from across the world, and talk to almost anyone I meet. For a long time it looked like the only foreign language I would ever need. Billions of people understand it.
That is no longer a safe bet.
During my first visit to China, I was shocked to learn that the largest economy in the world, by purchasing power, does not run on English. Only a few people understood it. Some preferred to avoid it, the way the French do. Plenty of everyday situations assumed I could read and speak Chinese fluently, and I could not.
The friction followed me home. Some Chinese online platforms I use from Thailand have listings, licenses, and important specs in Chinese, and I was tired of using and trusting translation tools. Those two problems, the trip and the apps, finally pushed me to start learning.
One thing surprised me: learning a new language in your 30s is easier than I expected. I assumed my brain had already closed the relevant doors.
I’m currently around HSK 2.5 on the standard Chinese proficiency scale, a survival level with maybe 600 words and a few hundred characters. To get some serious practice, I bought books on Chinese philosophy and semiconductors.
The language helps enormously in everyday situations. Being fairly comfortable with it will probably take a year or more.
My daily routine is 30 to 40 minutes, mostly on the SuperChinese Android app. It is engaging and easy to use. It lets me do things the way I want, and it generally follows the consensus techniques on language learning.
Learning to communicate with 2 billion more people is a good deal, especially when they lead on most future technology fields.