Yeah, I think French and Italian (and pretty much any language not called English) approach the written form of the language very differently from the spoken. I only learnt formal French at high school (we didn't really cover slang), and I still find French slang pretty hard to pick up — it's like a whole different language! Whereas French literature can actually be easier to read as it's more consistent and logical. As for English, even work emails are now super casual. A formal work email is basically just a work email without any GIFs or emojis :)