Back in the 80s, I asked Suzanne, a French student in her 70s doing a part-time BA degree in Chinese, why she'd chosen Chinese and not some other European language.
Her answer: "Some other European language??! I'll master it in five years, and then what do I do with my time?!? I've chosen Chinese because it is a life-long pursuit."
Maybe the term caveat emptor was coined with learning Chinese in mind?
