[karmajin]

I did learn Mandarin for some time (I'd say my level is past beginner) and I can reassure you that Mandarin is a piece of cake compared to Japanese in so many levels. Japanese grammar is complex, Mandarin grammar is as difficult as English grammar to give an idea.. Japanese pronunciation is hard: I find some sentences impossible to say because they are like bloody tongue twisters, the tone/pitch accent is another struggle that will always make you sound as if you've lived in Japan for a week only. Mandarin has the tones, that once mastered (without exceptions), you can speak as fast as a mouse even in some cases, passing for a native. Writing... Japanese has traditional kanji plus lots of readings, Mandarin uses simplified kanji and they have one reading (there are very few that have more than one reading as far as I learned). All in all, Japanese is faaaaaaar more difficult, challenging and learnable in my expierence.