Update on Livemocha!

Boy, you need a pretty thick skin to do the writing assignments. I did my first writing assignment, clicked the button, and sent it off to be trounced upon by native speakers (I hope they are, anyway). There's nothing like instant humiliation! I had prattled on like I knew what I was talking about (or writing, anyway, or how I was writing it) and then five people leaped on it like a school of piranhas! Okay, one of them took back part of what he said, but Holy Cripes!
Bravely, I assayed yet another writing assignment and although I was very careful and didn't write as much, and the comments were brief, it was still like being stabbed through the heart. It actually brought hot little tears to my eyes!
You can say I'm over-sensitive ("You're over-sensitive!" Thanks a lot), but it was really hard on me. This is actually what makes it so hard on people visiting a foreign country. They remember what it was like in school to have every little thing marked wrong and they are afraid to say anything for fear of that humiliation of being wrong.
My husband recently played at a local music festival and did great, but all he remembers are his goofs. He was Mr. Pouty for almost a whole day after. It's no surprise that musicians become addicted to drugs from the pressure of performance. But I could identify with his feelings. I came out from reading the comments on my writing assignment and told him what I felt. "Why do you do it then?" he asked me. "I have to learn," I replied.
Of course, the difference is that he is thwacking himself over his own goofs and I have a whole social network of people sharpening up their red pencils to get at me.
And just like he will forget the goofs of this weekend when the new goofs of the next gig fill his mind, I will eventually toughen up my skin and forget the perceived criticisms of my attempts to communicate ... once I get the new corrections for the third assignment I've turned in today.
Is this a good way to learn a language, wincing and cowering? That remains to be seen. I will keep y'all posted.