Good luck grokking the four tones of Mandarin, it's tough, but doable. I was lucky enough to have been raised speaking Mandarin, though my skill isn't great and I probably have a thick American accent. donw, the traditional characters are beautiful, and easier to remember (though harder to write). But when it comes to China in specific, I've been told that the traditional/simplified character thing strikes up the Taiwan/PROC tension. It's a beautiful language, and there are plenty of movies that will get you to understand that. A girl I dated improved her Mandarin tonalities after we watched "Crouching Tiger," of all movies. However, many of the "mainstream" Chinese actors we're aware of here in the US do NOT speak Mandarin as a first language, and their accents aren't very good in roles where they're forced to speak Mandarin.