but my family has members from southeast Asia, sooo, instead of 国语 & 正体字, we prefer to simplified characters and 华文

I'm sorry, 华文 is the only correct expression for me since I ain't chinese, I am tainwanese.

actually 度 is a cantonese usage... there is a rule that 度 usually matches another character 邊，becomes 邊度 means where e.g. 你而家喺邊（度）？ you may leave out 度 but have to answer with 我喺呢(嗰)度，means i am right here （there）, to tell someone the where exactly you are. but if you answer with 我喺度，means I am here, or I attended (classes, meetings..) therefore, in the given example, it is possible to leave out 度，e.g. 我而家喺香港（多倫多，屋企），it is accepted usage sooo, quite often, the conversation would be: “你而家喺邊ahh？”“喺學校lor.” “你準備去邊玩？”“去公園度玩.” generally speaking，度 can be used for emphasis.

I agree with Mekey, when you simply compare those two characters, quite often, 做 would be used as a verb, and 作 is an adv. but you should know the meaning of a compound word is different from the separate meanings of its components. and a character may have several different meanings and is often more like a syllable in English. sooo, if you wanna learn more, you should ask me, lol....

我学习中文的经验

我学中文已经一年半了，不过我还有好些问题，例如：我口语还说得不好。还有，我还有很多语法问题。 我觉得我的朋友们都太客气了，因为他们总说我中文说得很好。 我认为他们说的这些话就是中国文化的特点之一。 我知道他们听不懂我说什么。 我怎么提高口语水平？