Learning Mandarin previously was certainly more accessible. In Auckland you can find many classes after work hours to learn spoken Chinese, and there are a lot of situations you can practice it. I haven't been able to find convenient lessons for Cantonese yet, so I'm mostly on my own in terms of directed learning.
Fortunately I have my partner and his mother to practice with. One of my goals for the upcoming months is to finish the FSI Cantonese Basic Course. Although Duolingo has released Mandarin Chinese, I probably won't be actively studying it at the same time - my pronunciation is already confused!
Short term goals
- Conversational Cantonese by end of 2018
- Complete FSI Cantonese Basic Course by March 2018
- Watch a whole series of HK Drama (undecided which one yet)
- Learn 500 characters by mid-2018
Long term goals
- Use Cantonese for 80% of at-home conversation
- Watch HK Drama and movies in Cantonese without the need for subtitles