Keep on practising listening! AS you know, practice makes perfect! i suggest you listen to BBC/VOA/CNN or even VOA special programme if you are a new learner; and CCTV-9 is really good for Chinese learner. And try to be stick to your listening, because perseverance counts more than instant interest. If you have time, listen to some music, and try to write down some lyrics, or watch some shot clips of English TV shows. There are abundant sources for these, esp. on the internet. good luck!

well, you got intimated by them. it is quite normal for non-native speakers. the key there is always find time to practice your listening skill. listening is also one of the easiest to practice because there many tools available. you can either load an audio file to your ipod and listen to it like listening to music. good luck!

this is normal. it happens to me too when people speak chinese. it is probably because they speak fast. so, maybe ask them to speak slower (man dian shuo). or talk to them a lot and you will stop feeling nervous! you could also watch lots of mei guo dianying. this will help you get used to people speaking english fast

well... you can get some practice by watching movies or tv shows from any english-speaking countries obviously... also, I'd recommend that you watch them with english subtitles so you can see the correct spelling of the words. hope it helps...