I'd just like to add that I have Thai and HK relatives ... my Thai and Cantonese is poor ... heaven help anyone wanting to learn Japanese ... it is so hard !!!
I learn English good. Once upon a time I took two years of french spanish and latin.
Now I only know how to tell if the bartender is swearing at me and bathroom related communication. Im really just banking on some sort of babel fish technology being invented some time soon. Ive heard Japanese is stupid difficult to learn good luck gropouce.
The link below is very interesting for anyone who plays starcraft....