Is "there" here indicating "cooking the recipe"?

What's "pay attention to" mean?

"Pay attention to" means to concentrate on, take notice of, or consider something. Ex: Pay attention to the people crossing the road when you drive. Ex: If you pay attention to the last scene, you'll see her walking through the door.

What's "balance with" mean?

To "balance x with y" means to be able to do two things at once, in a way in which none of the two are compromised or suffer. For example, if someone says they balance their work life with their personal life, it means that they are enjoying both, without giving up any particular one of the two. Ex: I prefer to balance my work life with my personal life. Ex: You're so busy as a mom. How do you balance parenting with work?

Is "there" here indicating "cooking the recipe"?

Yes, "there" in this context is used to indicate learning the language while he is "cooking the recipe". Instead, he could have said "learning the language a little bit while I cook" or "learning the language a little bit from the cookbook", but he doesn't have to say either of these by using "there" since it is already implied.

How do you use "confused" and "mess" differently?

"Confused" means not to understand something well. We usually use "confuse" when learning new information. Ex: Math has always been confusing to me. Ex: Many English students are confused by the complex grammar. Ex: He was very confused when starting his new job. "Mess" means something full of problems, something to be dirty, unclean, or disorganized. We usually use "mess" when discussing a state of being or a situation that someone is in. Ex: You shouldn't have gotten involved with this mess. Ex: Their relationship is such a mess right now. I don't even know how they are still together. Ex: Her life became such a mess when she started using drugs.

Does the phrase "worse off" emphasize how desperate the situation is? Can't I use "worse than" instead?

The phrase "worse off" means to be in a worse situation than something else. "Worse than" expresses a similar meaning, but you are correct in that "worse off" emphasizes the desperation of a situation. So you could use "worse than" here, however, "worse off" makes the situation sound more dramatic and indicates that Europe had it way worse than something else. Ex: As a single mother of five children, she's worse off than you. Ex: Even though we have no money to give, we should help them because they are worse off.