Hi guys, yes, I have my chat meets, but this is just an extra thing I am doing to improve :) I find it helps me when it comes to chatting as I can get my mouth around the words better.

I did think of that James, but I completed 10 level 1 exams and they didnt push me too much at all. Thought I better have some challenge! I have about 4 weeks until this one so lets see how it goes! :)

Hi Mark, thanks for the link, I'll check it out :) just hoping I can pass! 

CcDd, good luck with your exam, I bet you will do great!

Thank you for this! Wow you took the highest level? I want to be able to one day too! I'll check out those website, I appreciate your tips :)

My best friend is from northern China and before him, I had never met a Chinese person before as I come from a small village. He told me things about China and his proudness inspired me and I wanted to know more. In the past years, I met his family and travelled to different provinces and had such amazing experiences. Meeting his family was so cool, as they do not speak English and they encouraged me when I spoke very bad Chinese! I think having good friends who speak a language is a great motivator - not only can you learn the language, but the culture as well :)

I think learning vocab is difficult, but to remember it fully, you just need to keep reviewing! English does have more words and even for native speakers, there will be words we come across, but don't understand and we have to guess at the meaning from the context. I try and make vocab learning into a game and test myself each day with words from the previous day, then again a few weeks later and try to beat my previous attempt! It's a bit geeky, but I have fun!

CcDd, you need to use 'a' with this construction as it appears only in the singular I think and indefinite pronouns are rarely left out in English. For example, you would say "there is a lack of funding for schools", NOT "there is lack of funding..." as that does not sound correct to an English ear.

花田布布, choosing the correct word is always going to be a challenge, as English is very keen on subtle differences! The best way is to keep talking to English speakers and whenever you find a situation, you can ask for guidance. As a general rule, avoid any word that is slang when you first start learning, just to ensure you don't offend anyone! :)

It's very interesting to see that we all have the same hurdles when learning a language and I hope we can all find some answers here :)