Android 4.0 is scheduled for release on 17 November and it is supposed to be much more suitable for tablets than 3.0 was. It may be worth waiting a couple of days and see which tablets with this new Android version hit the market.

If you buy any Android device, I strongly suggest getting a Hong Kong imported one unless you feel like fooling with the software to make Google Services work properly. Mainland China devices have been altered to pester Google.

I also own a Kindle e-Reader. In my opinion, a tablet and an eBook do not overlap in functionality. An eBook is not suitable for any computing, but its battery life (well over a month), its readability in sunlight, and its eye-friendliness are good reasons to consider purchasing one. Also they're usually smaller and lighter than an actual tablet, and far less expensive so not such a drama to lose.

I personally stay away from anything Apple, but that's just my taste. Apple products seem to make a fair amount of other users happy. Just be aware that the camera on both iPad versions is _under 1 MP_ and therefore completely useless.

So you have learnt some Chinese. That makes you not arrogant. I know a lot of people that refuse to ever speak it. That is arrogant. I come from a country where my native language has been oppressed by French for centuries (and in many ways still is). So it's an extremely sensitive thing for me. Live in another country? Do an effort to speak the lingo. No one will demand perfection, but even the worst language learners should be able to have a basic conversation. Unless you're mentally retarded, which you, I can clearly see from your discourse, are not.

Sure, some people will take more time than others, but every person with a moderately developed left hemisphere is able to learn another language up to a certain level.

Again, it depends on how you interpret the question. "Should I ..." does not ask for an objective response. It's not "must I ..." The OP is asking for opinions. I gave mine.

I find that your article raises valid and interesting points, but there are other reasons than career-related ones why one should learn one or more foreign languages. To me, but not necessarily to anyone, the most important is the brain-stretching exercise you get from it. Even though I'm getting older, I find it increasingly easy to get my mind around logical, linguistic as well as mathematical problems.

The question was never "do you need to", it was "should you". And yes, I think you should, if you want to reside, live or travel in China.

Of course you do not need to do anything. If we completely descend into the realms of relativity, you don't need to learn or do anything. Because in the end you will die and what will it matter.

Cultural imperialism is nonsense because it contains a notion that it's driven. This is about organic growth.

Yes. And this is why:

1. if you live or reside in a foreign country, it is plain arrogant not to know the other language. It will make people scream "foreigners out" in due time.

2. People think English as a lingua franca is irreplaceable. Nonsense. Sure, English has established a strong foothold due to its presence in many technologies and the spread of today's media helps carry it around (as did Latin once, as did French once). But the fitness of a language is also closely related to the fitness of its cultural and economical origin. Both US and UK are economically on the decline. English has only been a lingua franca for about a hundred years. In history, nothing lasts forever, but to contemporaries it seems like it will. Latin was toppled even though it was widely spoken in the entire Eurasian continent and beyond. Chinese may well become an important language in the century ahead as China gains cultural and economical influence. Characters may have to be abandoned.

3. Learning a foreign language is never a waste of time. It helps you understand language in general, stretches the brain and will make it easier to learn more foreign languages. I am fluent in five and find it surprisingly easy to pick up new ones now, even if they're not at all related.

4. It unlocks an entirely new world, new cultures, new people... It stretches your understanding of the world and its inhabitants. Language and culture are not easily separated.

5. As mentioned above, it increases your desirability to be employed and/or to make more money. It helps you cut it in tomorrow's real world.

6. You are able to communicate your culture to the Chinese. Think of how important it will be for your own people that the Chinese understand your culture when/if they take over the world in any way. Not feeling superior or inferior, but acknowledging and accepting each other's differences, and reach out to the other are key to cultural and economical co-operation without losing independence.

7. You could hook up with people from that country more easily.