@hans.castorp.tahiti,

The ultimate conclusion of following the 100 characters --> 42% understanding will produce the Chinese that's spoken by the American born Taiwanese that I used to know in the states.

Something like:

我很喜欢看 movies, 也很喜欢这个 director 的 movies. 我也喜欢用 video camera 去 shoot 我 own movies for 我的爸爸妈妈看一下。

You'd need about 70% or greater understanding to really grasp what's going on, I wouldn't put much stock in the 42% rule.