I notice on italki most Chinese is written in traditional characters. Alas, I am being taught in simplified characters. However, my Chinese teacher is from Taiwan, and she will be willing to give me extra lessons in traditional character writing and recognition.
Should I take her offer? It will be very expensive but it seems to be necessary to communicate with most people on here.
I actually reckon that most people on here use simplified characters. Most learners of Chinese use simplified characters, as most people will spend most of their time interacting with people from mainland China, so it's good to have a good grasp of that system. To be perfectly honest, to get the most out of Chinese, you should have a good grasp of both systems, that way you'll be able to read more and be able to communicate with more people. I don't think you really need lessons to learn characters, all you need is a website that shoes you a characters in both systems, a pen and paper and some willpower.
Laurence
