The most crucial component of confidence is exprerience. And for experience to grow all you need is to let time add to it unobstructed, as for a plant that grows in a pot. Time will add to your experience and your experience will also shine in your confidence. You can hurry many things in your life, but not experience. That will grow by itself if you have principle in your decisions. Consider lack of confidence as a privilege in your youthfulness.

As it appears to me the American pronunciation, say accent, has emanated from a universal blend of accents. So, native english speakers have contributed to the American Accent; German native speakers have contributed to it as well; likewise, Spanish, Dutch, Portugese, Chinese, Afro-american, Greek and Jewish accents have have contributed to the final blend of the 'American English' accent and context. Therefore, the Latin-Greek vowels which are loud, very distinct and accurately transcribed from text to speech and vice versa have seemingly dominated in the 'American English' accent against the whispering vowels of most native English accents which have developed long before the final establishment of the Late Middle English script. Personally I adore the quietness and discretion of the low loudness of British accents although 'American English' accent is much easier for me to pronounce and understand when communicating with universal English speakers.

I also agree that positive thinking has many benefits for a person, and even more benefits for the people constituting his/her communication environment. A positive or a reasonably optimistic character is someone who usually enhances the communication between people and creates a communication environment free of insult, profanity and dissension. On the other hand, a person trapped in attitudes of fear, aggression, irony, scurrility, hostility and revenge can soon become tiring and unpleasant in his/her communication environment. Thinking positively, allowing hope and kindness to constantly influence our thoughts and the quality of our speech always makes it easier with ourselves and the people around us.

"how do people ''perceive'' you?", such a nice argument! Without any intention to utilize terminology from psychology I'd briefly say that it means "what do people think of you, what is the lasting impression that somebody has following the initial interaction with you". What will someone think about you, how would somebody "characterize" you following an interaction/communication of, let's say, 10 minutes. As the fellow italki members suggest, there are many factors which may influence someone's perception of another individual, as clothing, voice quality etc. There are also factors, variables, which influence our own ability to perceive another. No two or more individuals can ever have an identical impression following the introduction to some certain person. People perceive others according to their own experience, knowledge and ideals. And in order to make this a little clearer I would allow myself a comparison of the human to an animal. A cat which is being introduced to a human will not account the fact that the human is literate since cats are not capable of grammar and literacy. A cat or a dog wouldn't account for the fact that a person has musical education, similarly, because musical skills are very primitively developed in cats in comparison to the musical skills that the average human possesses. Where as, a bird would be intrigued by a human whistling a sweet melody and account for him/her differently than for another who doesn't spell out melodic patterns. In other terms, people can hardly perceive much higher than their own ability and ideals.

I think my favorite season is Autumn, as it manifests in the geographical latitude where Greece is situated. Greek Autumn, from late September on, has very comfortable temperatures ranging from 18 to 30 degrees Celsius at sea level (7 to 24C in late November). The sky is usually clear, without clouds and there is occasional rainfall. The air in Autumn is excellent for outdoor activities. The sunshine hours are fewer than the dark hours. Above all, there's few things I can compare to the beauty of the autumn leaves, especially the bright yellow wilted chestnut leaves which cover the earth in late October and make the forest floor bright as shining gold. And the dimmer light of Autumn helps the fewer flowers which bloom in this season stay longer in blossom than the flowers of the Spring which are exposed to stronger light. I could be skating forever in Autumn!

Είμαι καλά, εσύ? 'ime kal'a, es'i? I am (doing) fine, (how about) you?

It has happened to me twice, or even maybe a third time. The first time, when I was about 19 years old, it was probably caused by the extreme stress of the preparation for the university semester exam, in a period where I neglected for long my otherwise careful nutrition and physical activity. The second time, a couple of years later, the "panic-attack" was manifested as an episode of 'manic depression' after I broke up with my partner and stayed for a period of over a month in a state of intoxication. The third time, 5 or six years later, was again a case of emotional disorder in a period of constant intoxication for over a month. Many years later, I can declare pretty confidently that a person who is carefully engaging in emotional relationships, eats healthy, doesn't neglect his/her physical activity and restrains from intoxicating agents (nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, halucinogenic and euphoric drugs) is not likely at all to manifest a "panic-attack" episode nor any other type of anxiety disorder. It's common though that it takes some years for most youngsters to appreciate a balanced lifestyle, doesn't it?

Ich denke dies ist eine zu allgemeine Frage für die meisten Menschen zu beantworten. Und es passt perfekt dazu zu erzählen von einen Vorfall der mir von kürzlich passiert ist. Gestern war ich bei einer Olivenölgewinnung in einer ländlichen Gegend etwa zwanzig Kilometer weit vom Stadt. Während meine Wartezeit auf mein Öl geliefert zu werden, inmitten der rauen Klang der Stimmen der Bauern und der lärmigen Akzent des tosenden Fabrikmaschinen kam eine junge Frau etwa zwanzig jahre alt, gekleidet in irgentwelchem Raga-Stil und hat mit mehreren Leuten da kurz gelabert. Nach einige Zeit als ich die Flaschen zu meinem Pick-Up trug kam diese junge Frau auf mich zu. Sie begrüßte mich und fragte mich, ob ich ein Ölproduzent bin und ich bejachte. Ich konnte durch den Klang ihrer Stimme sagen, dass sie eine gebildete Person war. Sie hat mir erzählt dass sie eine Studentin war und dass Sie und paar Freunden, Studenten auch bei der Olivenernte arbeiten wollten. So ein Vorfall war nicht gewöhnlich in der griechische Provinz vor wenigen Jahrzenten. Ich gab ihr ein paar kurze Antworten, dass es schon über die mitte der Erntezeit ist und meisten Bauer haben schon Arbeiter eingestellt und dass sie und ihre Freunden sollten am liebsten früh ab nächsten Jahr ein web-site dazu bauen wenn sie eine richtig organisierte Arbeitsverhältnis Unternehmen bauen wollen. Ich habe ihr noch gesagt dass sie vorsichtig sein soll weil die Bauer in den ländlichen gebieten, vor allem die ältere, nicht gewöhnt sind eine fremde junge Frau in Raga Kleidung auf der suche von Arbeit im Ort sehen, und dass die kleine Gesellschäfte in die griechische Dörfer sind doch freundlich zu Touristen die Geld tragen aber Können total unfreundlich werden zu junge, unerfahrenen Leuten die Geld verdienen wollen.