Language requirement at duke

<p>I am a freshman at Duke. I am thinking of taking either Chinese or Italian to fulfill my language requirement. I am leaning more toward Chinese but have a fear of the writing aspect of the language. I have absolutely no knowledge of either language. Could you please tell me if the Chinese profs are difficult. Will I be able to get As for the elementary and intermediate classes?
I took 4 years of Spanish but had heard that the Spanish upper level classes are very difficult.
Any advice would be appreciated.</p>