About Learning English

I recently realized how to learn English. Listening and Speaking in English need different skills. First,  in listening it is important  to recognize sounds of English. When I listen to English, I check the sound by comparing what I hear to my English sound database in my brain. (You can compare something to something. You can't compare anything to itself.) To build this database, I have to listen to unknown sounds repeatedly until I recognize the sounds as the words with meaning. Second, it is important in speaking to make sentences with correct grammar. This skill is trained by making simple sentences many times. This situation may be particular to Japanese people. Because sounds and grammar of English are very different from Japanese. Needless to say, both skills need the basic knowledge of English words and grammar.

Great work! You can express your thoughts very clearly :)

There is another interesting expression with уж https://www.italki.com/question/377059

"не так уж и" is a set phrase that means "not that ..." followed by adjective or adverb, so your answer was spot on! Let's break it down: - не is a negating particle, - так is an adverb that means "so", - уж is really tricky to translate, so I won't even try, - I would call и a "drama particle", since it kinda adds stress to whatever you say and makes it sound somewhat rhetorical. I found this info and more examples here: http://russian.morpheem.com/phrase/%D1%83%D0%B6-%D0%B8. UPD: Wikipedia writes that уж is a particle that denotes "усиление эмоции" - "strengthening of emotions".

Hey! you might find something interesting on http://maximumfun.org/. Try podcasts from NPR, such as Fresh Air (great interviews), Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and Ask Me Another (news-quiz and trivia shows), Hidden Brain, Planet Money, etc. Have I mentioned This American Life? Well, now I did. Radiolab is great, but you can get OD from it. Welcome to Night Vale is very special and dear to me. Stuff You Should Know is also very popular. Have fun!