I want to learn either Mandarin or Cantonese. I want a language that will give me an edge, will impress employers and that will be useful to me in the future. Mandarin appears to fit these descriptors.
I’ve heard Mandarin is easier to learn, more common in most of China and has more resources to help learn it. It’s also supposed to be increasing in popularity.
The only reason I’m even wondering which I should learn is because I have an inexplicable liking for Hong Kong. I also think Cantonese seems more fun. At some point, I’ll want to give up learning such a difficult language, but maybe if I’m more interested in it I’ll be more likely to stick with it.
If I were ever to become fluent enough in one, I would be interested in knowing the basics of the other one.