My Chinese not so good

Nathan is still studying Chinese like crazy.  I still get a huge kick hearing Chinese coming out of his blonde head.  As for me... not so much.  I do know how to say, "I'm sorry, my Chinese is not so good." in Mandarin.  And it's only thanks to this song.  (Do you think the Chinese would be more forgiving, charmed even, if I were to sing it?) 

I really need to learn how to say "I'm sorry, my Chinese is non-existent." 

The State Dept is kind enough to let me learn Chinese through Rosetta Stone but with adjusting to having 3 kids and all, I just haven't had a chance.  And to be honest, I found that with what little I did study, Chinese didn't come to me easily.  It's just one of those languages where you need to make it your full time job to learn, I guess.  Maybe it's just me.  I took Spanish in high school and college and I still remember a good deal of it.  I guess I'm just better suited to Romance languages?  I can still sing the past tense verbs song to the tune of the Banana Boat song.

I've heard mixed things from friends in China though... some say knowing Chinese is a must.  But some say you can squeak by with a lot of charades and Google translate. Hoping for the latter.