By living in the country that speaks the language you study, you develop the accent of that country, you learn the slang, idioms and colloquialisms of the area. These are all things that cannot be learned by studying, but by actually conversing in the language with native speakers.

It means balanced or unbiased. It is their way of saying that they don't take sides in an issue.

You don't need an article before "ordinary people," but you do need an article before "ordinary person." (either "the ordinary person" or "an ordinary person")

Ethnic refers to national origin. Racial refers to the race of an individual. In America, especially in the south, these get blurred because they see anyone with dark skin as a "black" person. So although Indians are Asian, they are called Black and so are many Hispanics. Oriental people are considered to be of one race.

Because "hard" can also mean the opposite of "soft" it can be more clear to use the word "difficult" when you mean not easy.

In America we use it most often to mean send money.

It is grammatically correct to say, "few can rival iPhone: or "the iPhone."

It's a play on words. It sounds like peppermints and that's what makes it funny.