Hi all,
Just to add my ten cents to this thread - I did my PPL in the States in a 152, and at the start I always used to flare that little bit too early, leading to a nice 'thud' on touchdown as the plane dropped onto the runway.
Looking back, I put it down to just being absolutely scared stiff of bouncing the nosewheel, and also the instructor beside me shouting 'hold it off' 'hold it off' to me as we came down.
With a little practice though, I found that the trick was just to let the plane keep coming down a little bit longer - I definitely developed a better feel for it once I started landing solo and had the chance to experiment a bit.
I guess it's a bit like when you learn to drive and you give parked cars a wide berth to your left as you pass (or your right in the States!). After a while you get a better feel for where the side of your car is, and you don't have to move across so much.