oh, we are SO agreed in terms of the reading part. *g*

my parents spoke- still speak- Mandarin at home, mostly, but when i was growing up in the US, we didn't have access to Asian TV. aside from what books my parents owned, we had some newspapers at the Asian supermarket, a tiny section in the public library, and that was it, so speaking/listening comprehension is still pretty much all i have.

i remember my mom trying to teach me how to address my aunts' and uncles' birthday cards, and failing so hard at decent handwriting. she showed me how to write my real name once, but i just didn't get it- and after that she just gave up and told me to sign my nickname on everything. (and now, pathetically enough, i can't remember what the characters are for my given name. just the family name.)

so many regrets sometimes, and i only find more as i get older.