I'd like to point out to OP that most of his/her listed limitations are also limitations most french native speaker have. Cultural differences from one area to

I'd like to point out to OP that most of his/her listed limitations are also limitations most french native speaker have. Cultural differences from one area to another influence the way french people speak a lot (I guess it's true in a lot of countries though). I sometimes don't understand half what my in-laws say, and we were born like 100km away from each other. This goes beyond colloquial speak like argot (which is mostly parisian anyway) or verlan. It's basically words from local dialects (like provençal, basque or breton) that became part of some kind of accepted local french variant which is for everyone involved just french and nothing more. The local variant aspect is not really blatant until someone from outside points out he/she doesn't understand a word that until then sounded very...basic to everyone else. The word for "mop" for example has like its own variant in every region. My point is: your limitations are a proof that you understand french almost as well as a native speaker that never really left his/her hometown. Which is impressive.