(AmE, non-linguist) It's a little tricky to say would is the past form of will, as will is an auxiliary verb that doesn't conjugate normally. It does work with will as the wish meaning. Here is part of the problem, I think.
Will for the future is correct. I will go to MIT in 2 years.. If someone says I would go to MIT someday without further elaboration, I think it's not formally "correct", but just the informality of the spoken word.
The "correct" use is
*I would go to MIT if (I had the chance, the money, got in, etc.)
But I can see someone kind of saying it casually/thoughtfully
I would go to MIT. It sounds like a good thing to do.
Used to express a desire/wish, it's more in the form of
Would that I were employed and financially independent. I hate living at home still. - or I would love to live independently. (Implied: if only I could.)
Why would vs will? Will is more concrete, less conditional. I will love living on my own does not mean the same thing. It may be different for you, but in the US, will is something we ask youngsters, who have the optimism of youth:
What will you be when you grow up? Typical answer: I'm going to be a horse trainer/veterinarian/scientist/doctor/nurse/teacher/mother/father/truck driver/fire fighter/movie star, etc.
As we age, wills become woulds.
I would like to be a musician/writer/lawyer/activist/therapist, etc.
It is also seen as a less presumptuous/prideful way to express a desire. It's called a softening word.
(college student:) "I'm going to be a doctor." (Other college student:) "In your dreams! Do you know how hard it is to get into Med School?"
vs.
(college student:) "I would like to be a doctor. I hope I get in (-to Medical School.)" (Other college student:) "Yeah, so would I. That would really be great. Hey, do you want to study together?"
"This really annoys me a lot."
Yeah, I know plenty of people that let the way others speak really bother them. It drives me crazy when people say drownded or real-a-tor. Don't let on, though. It's not cool. I would (<- softening word) try to accept this as a foible of your adopted culture. Que sera and all that. Having a pre-planned reply to a particular annoyance might help. (Would you? Tell me a bit about that.)
Good luck, and welcome to EL&U. We are happy to answer questions about English.
I would be sceptical of any site that defines anything as synonymous with "shirking away", since that phrase makes no sense in English. "Shirking" means avoiding a duty, and is unconnected with facial expressions.
"Grimacing" is all about facial expression, basically on the spectrum between disapproval/dislike/disgust/revulsion.
The thing shared by wincing and flinching is that they are basically pain responses. Almost the same but not quite. One nuance is that wincing is more about actual pain received (pain here subsumes the mental sort, people even wince at bad puns), whereas flinching is about avoidance of anticipated pain. In some contexts it is considered cowardly, so that "unflinching" becomes a word for courage and determination, sometimes ruthlessness, whereas if there is such a thing as "unwincing", it's less common and a lot less likely to be heard in e.g. patriotic or revolutionary rhodomontade.
You ever had someone touch your eyeball? You can let them do it without flinching? It's not easy.
There is no obligation to have any facial expression when flinching. The body part under threat is withdrawn, that's all. Put your hand on a hot-plate, and you'll surely flinch, you may wince as well if it burns you. You don't have to grimace.
(I see this overlaps on Josh, who wasn't there when I started to compose)
Best Answer
You have arrived at a remote station and there's no timetable. You might ask 'How long will a train take to arrive here?' (or, more simply, 'When's the next train?')
You are trying to calculate the likely arrival time of the train. You ask 'How long would a train take to arrive here if it left Anytown at 10.00?' We use would for hypothetical questions.