I learned english at 22, german at 25, and mandarin at 28, It took several years of daily studying for each language, but I did it, and I was able to use these languages in professional environments. Plenty of people do it in my experience.
You are exceedingly suspicious for no reasons, people just like to translate articles that they enjoyed reading, the vast majority of times that's the only motive.
The syndrome - with panic attacks etc - is the most severe response. Most people I know who've been to Paris with high or romantic expectations just get scammed, spat on, yelled at or robbed and feel a bit disappointed.
I've been to Paris a few times and when people tell me they want to go there for romantic reasons, I just tell them to go to Bruges instead. The Old Town of Bruges is exactly the way most people seem to imagine Paris: old buildings, reasonably clean, lots of street cafés and horse-drawn carriages.
Even the Eiffel tower looks better from a distance than close-up (mostly because it's really just a massive lump of steel). There are nice corners in Paris but if you haven't actually ever been to Paris before, you'll probably be disappointed by the overall experience.
I learned english at 22, german at 25, and mandarin at 28, It took several years of daily studying for each language, but I did it, and I was able to use these languages in professional environments. Plenty of people do it in my experience.