Are tones in Mandarin important
At the onset I want to say that I want to learn to speak Mandarin the way it is intended to be spoken. I want to learn to speak it with the correct tones. Recently, I joined a number of groups on Face Book that are for sharing experiences learning Chinese. In most of the groups the beginners as well as intermediate learners complain about tones being the most difficult to learn in Mandarin. Just like many other matters people just say what others have said. Anyway, are tones as important as they are made to be?