learn mandarin

I'm thinking Rosetta Stone. Looking at their offerings in Chinese should also narrow down you list of choices to something manageable.

It isn't cheap, but it is good. In some languages, they three or even five levels. I haven't looked at their Chinese offerings.

Glad you showed up.I was thinking Mandarin was becoming somewhat standardized, but didn't know it was the official language.

In the USA (not just NYC) Cantonese is heard far more commonly than Mandarin. That's mainly because such a large percentage of Chinese-Americans hail from the greater Hong Kong/Canton region. Mandarin is a Beijing dialect; since Beijing has been the national capital for quite a long time, it's small wonder that today it's recognized as the national standard. After all, most government business is conducted in Mandarin in Beijing.

You are right, Mandarin is the official language in China. I am from Sichuan, Sichuan dialect is similar to Mandarin, and all Chinese can understand Sichuan dialect without much difficulty. But few Chinese can understand Cantonese. Therefore, if you want to learn Chinese, you should choose Mandarin, at least Sichuan or Chongqing dialect.