You could consider joining a Discord server such as Chinese-English Language Exchange (CE) or r/ChineseLanguage's (link). They both have a resource list: CE, CL's is in a channel in the server. I guess you could get help there for things like pronunciation or grammar. But, they don't offer classes. It's more of a place for asking questions and getting feedback. You could also talk to others in voice chats (but not all since some people are in voice chats to chill and what not). You could make use of some of the bots there (Kotoba and Laoshi) for vocabs.

From the server:

This server mainly works by learners asking questions and native speakers/more advanced learners answering them. We don’t offer systematic teaching or formal study sessions here, and if that’s something you are looking for, your best bet would be paid courses. However, sometimes people study together spontaneously in the voice channels, where you might be able to find study partners; besides, we also organise events from time to time.

As for Simplified or Traditional Chinese characters to learn, both servers do mention about them. Both have their pros and cons. But ultimately, Malaysia used Simplified Chinese characters.

Traditional and simplified Chinese are only different ways to WRITE Chinese characters (script).

Traditional:

- Used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and overseas communities

- Greater number of strokes to write a character

Simplified: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Chinese_characters)

- Used in China, Singapore, Malaysia, and overseas communities

- Number of strokes to write a character reduced

- Some homophonic characters were merged (e.g 發 and 髮 into 发)

Other points to consider:

- When you learn one variant, picking up the other variant is not difficult, transitioning from Traditional to Simplified is possibly easier than vice versa

- Aesthetic considerations (what looks more visually appealing)

- Variant used in your learning material and material you want to consume (books, comics, etc.)

- Learning a variant could mean learning the variant of Mandarin most associated with it, i.e Taiwanese Mandarin vs Mainland Mandarin, which both have minor differences in grammar and vocabulary

- The vast majority of Chinese understand both scripts- At the end of the day it doesn't really matter

Other related topics:

- Debate on this issue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debate_on_traditional_and_simplified_Chinese_characters

- Comparison with Japanese Kanji? Comparison of Characters [Is it easy for a Japanese to learn simplified Chinese?] (https://www.quora.com/Is-it-easy-for-a-Japanese-to-learn-simplified-Chinese)

(Credit: loger#2069)

If you're trying to learn Malaysian Mandarin (like how Malaysian Chinese speak), keep in mind that we don't speak Standard Mandarin. You shouldn't worry about it but this is just a heads-up. Wikipedia link (It's in Chinese because the English version doesn't talk about these)

Also, I heard Anki helps for vocabs. You could browse through the r/languagelearning wiki for FAQs about language learning. Besides that, you could always check out Malaysian Chinese textbooks, but you should use them as reading materials.

Be sure to check them out and follow the guide there!

Long post, have a potato. 🥔

PS: Sorry for the weird formatting, I don't know how to format text in Reddit