I know that feeling. You’ll never get it back because you grew up.

That feeling you have now is because that era reminds you of simpler times, less worries, less cluttered world. Embrace what you do now, it will be the same feeling in 15 years.

I don’t think you know what private is.

Let me put it this way, maybe you’ll get it: being naked in your home with the blinds down and no one else knowing about it, is privacy. Even is everyone else doing it. Being in your home fully dressed with blinds down and no one else knowing about it is still privacy but you can’t claim you have more privacy than the rest because you have clothes on.

I have it on by bucket list to learn Mandarin and I’ve had 2 attempts at it.

I have not checked your app yet but this is my free 2c worth of experience,

1. Speaking, reading and writing are really 3 different skillsets that require 3 different approaches. If you mesh them together in your head to try and do them, you will soon give up, it’s easy to hard. More so for hard languages such as Mandarin.
2. You learn by doing it, whatever the goal is. You need to do it constantly.
3. Having to do it with someone is the key to success. Abstract work works but it is discouraging and 100% harder.

Did they release the files yet?