I completely agree with your post. I am studying Chinese for about two years (one or sometimes two hours a day, I think about 1000 hours in total). There is no way I can have long discussions. Problem for me are the tones and pronunciation. Sometimes my tutor doesn’t understand my words and I have problems understanding what he is saying although I know all the words. In my opinion, it is not possible to achieve real fluency after 6 months. You can say some phrases such as “What time is it” or “where is the train station?” but no way you are going to have a conversation with a Chinese about a political topic.
“Chinese is like a black hole” I completely agree!!
Unfortunely usablefiber. But I can guarantee you’ll have a great time when visit Brazil. Besides of that, I can give you some tips of wonderful places to visit, for example: Porto das Galinhas, Fernando de Noronha, Gramado (which is, by the way, my hometow), among others.
Just contact me and I will help you as much as I can.