I’ve just come back to my “home base” after about two and a half years away and I was surprised at how hard it was to get back into the flow of the language. While away, I listened to the radio and wrote emails in the language, but except for the odd phone call, I hardly ever spoke.

I’m used to being able to express whatever I need to in this language without thinking much (which has its own hazards!), so it was a shock to find myself unable to say the simplest things sometimes. I could communicate fine, but not fluently. Most of it was that “tip of the tongue” feeling, but some was also strange grammatical errors that felt like somebody else talking. Meanwhile, I could understand with no trouble at all. Very frustrating.

It’s taken me almost two weeks to really get back up to speed again. Below, I’ve listed a few things that have helped me. If you have any suggestions for anyone trying wake up their hibernating language skills, please leave a comment, because I’d love to hear about them.

Here are a few tips I can pass on for reviving speaking skills…

Listen a Lot

Load up on auditory input. By “load up,” I mean get as much as possible and preferably all in your target language. You’re not trying to learn anything new, just bring up things that are already firmly planted in your memory. Reading helps, too, but listening lets you review more words faster. Chatty friends come in handy here. Ideally, talk with people who know you understand and used to speak better, so they aren’t tempted to slow down or simplify too much.

Adjust Your Thinking

Until you get your language skills back to where they were, try to think only in the language you’re re-activating. It’s probably impossible to do 100 percent of the time, but aim for as much as possible. This helps re-set your “first reaction” language so you’re ready to answer in the local language when someone speaks to you. I’d spent several months speaking a lot of Russian and based on the grammatical errors I was making in Hungarian, I realized I was trying to make Hungarian fit Russian grammar. That situation quickly improved once I stopped thinking in Russian so much.

Talk Anyway

If you mispronounce things and stumble over grammar, it’s only natural that multilingual people are going offer another language to try to help you (or themselves) out. I got this a couple times in the last few weeks and my tactic was to completely ignore the fact that they switched languages and continue in the local language. I wouldn’t try it with airport security, but talking to a cashier or taxi driver, you’re probably fine.

Of course, this works best when you’re fairly sure all you need is a few seconds to remember a word or arrange a sentence and then you can continue. If you’re having trouble saying anything at all, you might want to accept the offer of an easier language and save your practice for friends. It depends on your tolerance for trying other people’s patience.

If you feel uncomfortable because of your tongue-tied-ness and don’t have another language to use, try mentioning that you used to speak better, but haven’t had a chance to use the language in X-amount of time. It seems to reassure people that you can understand them and will manage to get your thoughts out if they give you a second.

Lean on Another Language

When you’re trying to learn a language, giving yourself time to remember a word or construct grammically correct sentences is good practice. Taking time to work things out for yourself helps you build mental connections so you’re more likely to remember the next time. When you already know, though, just asking will save you from a lot of frustration. If you’re talking to a friend you have another language in common with and you can’t remember a word or can’t remember how to phrase something, asking them to translate will get you back up to speed faster.

Ever been in this situation yourself? If so, what helped you recover your language skills?

Related posts:

1. Fear of Speaking a Foreign Language? Consider This When You Travel
2. The Communicative Approach is Bad?
3. Learning a Language in a Bilingual Culture: Getting the Locals to Talk with You

Yet we’ve all heard about or even met people who’ve lived in another country for years and still know only a few phrases in the local language. Part of what keeps some folks from getting the most language-wise from a stay abroad is a belief in a few widespread myths.

Myth #1: You’ll be Immersed

Traveling to a country where your target language is the official language gives you the opportunity for immersion, but nothing guarantees you’ll take that opportunity. If you’re spending all your time with same-language friends watching movies in a language you know well and avoid speaking because you’re “not ready,” you may as well have stayed home.

Solution: When you’re in a new environment, time goes fast and you can end up wasting a lot of it away from the local language before you know it. Instead of looking for ways to interact with the local language (those are everywhere), focus on avoiding any other language.

Myth #2: You’ll “Pick up” the Language

To some extent this is true, but only if you really pay attention to the language and use it on a regular basis. If you don’t make an effort to hold onto some of the language that surrounds you, it will just wash over you without your absorbing much.

Solution: Keep a notebook with you and jot down phrases you read or hear that contain new words or grammar structures you’re not yet adept at using. This includes phrases you don’t completely understand.

When you get the chance, look up the new words (or ask a native speaker about the meaning) and investigate any grammar that isn’t clear to you. Review them throughout the day.

Myth #3: You Won’t Learn Incorrect Grammar

First of all, we all know native speakers don’t always use correct grammar. That’s not really a big deal because as long as you’re learning from reasonably well educated people, a few “native-like errors” won’t hurt you.

The real problem is assuming that just hearing the language correctly spoken is enough for you to remember it that way and not use it any other way. Unfortunately, something known as linguistic interference (also called L1 interference or language transfer) throws a wrench into those works.

As babies we started with a “Zen mind” about language. We picked up our native languages based solely on what we heard because we had no prior assumptions. As adults, though, we make assumptions about how other languages should work based on what they already know about our own language. Those assumptions tend to override outside input.

Solution: If you have some good native speaking friends you talk to often, ask them to let you know when they hear you making a certain mistake repeatedly. Let them know important it is to you and how much you appreciate the help, so they don’t feel “rude” for correcting you. And when you’re not sure something you’ve just said is correct, ask.

Myth #4: You’ll have Lots of Chances to Speak

This depends a lot on the culture. In very sociable cultures, you may have more opportunities to speak the local language than you even want. If you find yourself in a more reserved culture where lots of people know other language, though, you’ll need to make a concerted effort to get in practice time.

Solution: seek out conversations. If you’re the reserved type yourself, check out these speaking practice tips for introverts.

Myth #5: Your Increase Your Knowledge by a Full Level

If your goal is to improve your speaking fluency or confidence, just getting out an using the language may be all you need. If, however, your goal is to move from beginner level to intermediate or intermediate to advanced, you may run into some trouble. As long as you use the language daily, without a doubt you’ll become more adept at using what you already know, but you may not actually learn anything new.

For instance, if you’re a beginner in German, you’ve probably studied plenty about the Simple Past and the Present Perfect tenses, but may not be able to use them correctly when you speak.
If you’ve never studied the subjunctive, though, you may not learn it just from “living” the language. So, stay alert for things you don’t understand and make an effort to investigate them further.

Solution: It’s really the same as for Myth #2 about “picking up” a language. Make a concerted effort to build your vocabulary and learn how to correctly use those grammar structures you only vaguely understand. When you notice something you don’t understand comes up frequently, take the initiative to learn more about it instead of waiting for it to “sink in.”

Related posts:

1. Foreign Language Learning for Introverts: Speaking Practice Tips for Immersion Situations
2. Fear of Speaking a Foreign Language? Consider This When You Travel
3. Overcoming Plateaus: A Return to the Beginner’s Mind

Don’t Let Yourself Get Stuck

Sometimes letting yourself get too comfortable in that silent period only makes it harder to get out. First of all, you slowly discover that it’s possible to get around without using the local language. You get so used to figuring out ways to manage without it that you forget how much harder it is to live that way than it is when you can talk to everyone everywhere. Needless to say, that alone can lower your motivation.

Another problem is that the people you interact with regularly get used to talking with you in a certain language. Switching languages seems unnecessary, and therefore socially awkward. How to you ask them to switch? What if they refuse because it’s too much trouble? What if they forget and switch back? Oh, the wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth! Better just stick with the language we’ve been speaking, eh?

Getting used to an intermediary language puts a psychological barrier between you and the local language that can be very hard to overcome, especially if you’re the type who doesn’t like to rock the boat. If you just go for it right when you arrive, sure it will be awkward sometimes, but you’ll never have to worry about working up the nerve to make a sudden switch.

Instead, you move forward a little at a time. Your first venture into the language doesn’t have to be much. It can be just asking for a kilo of apples from a fruit stand or exchanging a greeting with your neighbor. Grab any opportunity you can to jump in and then move on to more complex tasks as you progress.

Take Advantage of Your Second Childhood

Learning a language is one of the few times you get to be a kid again. Sure, no one’s going to clap and coo when you first utter “Mama,” but you might be surprised how genuinely delighted people will be to see you progressing “just like a little kid.”

It’s fun to watch someone accomplish something challenging like learning a whole new language and people want to contribute to that accomplishment. So they’ll feed you new words and “test” you with mini-conversations to give you a chance to impress them.

When you first move to a country, it’s understandable you won’t know the language. People who know you just got off the boat will cut you some slack as long as you’re putting in some real effort and making progress. So take advantage of that first three or even six months to learn voraciously. [Try this plan for getting conversant in a foreign language in eight weeks at Hubpages.] The praise and encouragement you get for “knowing so much already” will lower your affective filter (nervousness level, that is) more than a few awkward moments will raise it.

Once you’ve been in the country for a year or two, though, the fact that you’ve learned a little of the language is no longer impressive. If by that time you can hold a simple conversation, instead of “Wow, you’re learning fast!” you’re more likely to hear, “You mean, you’ve been here that long and that’s all you know?” Speaking less fluently than you feel you should becomes embarrassing, so you’re less likely to seek out opportunities to practice.

If you’re struggling to find ways to speak the local language where everyone seems to speak your language, check out these tips for talking with the locals in a bilingual culture.

Related posts:

1. How to Overcome Fear of Speaking a Foreign Language
2. Learning a Language in a Bilingual Culture: Getting the Locals to Talk with You
3. Five Myths about Immersion that Can Ruin Your Language Holiday

So, who’s right? Is it really possible to at least develop decent communication skills totally online?

What’s Possible Online

If you want to learn to communicate comfortably and maybe pass an intermediate level exam in a language, I think it’s safe to say you can reach those goals learning purely online. After all, every major language skill can be practiced over the Internet.

The standard language class focuses on four communications skills:

• Reading
• Writing
• Listening
• Speaking

The passive skills—reading and listening—are easy enough to manage online. Even in less common languages, you can still find newspapers, blogs, music videos and other interesting stuff to practice with. Writing isn’t too much harder to practice online with a keypal or email-based lessons. That leaves speaking as the main challenge.

Building Speaking Skills Online

The most efficient way improve your speaking skills online is with a tutor or a language exchange partner use a VoIP program like Skype of Yahoo! Chat. The idea behind a language exchange is to swap language knowledge. In most cases, this is great for free, casual conversation practice. It can also help build your confidence if you’re a little shy about talking to native speakers.

If you’re really serious about improving your skills and you don’t mind paying, though, a qualified professional tutor is a better option. Working with a tutor, you won’t have to worry about planning lessons or figuring out how to teach your mother tongue (a challenge in itself).

A paid tutor is also much less likely to show up unprepared or blow off lessons altogether because they had better things to do. Another benefit is that tutor can tell you exactly why certain things are said the way they are, whereas a native speaker may only be able to tell you what “sounds right.” That helps you grasp the logic of the language faster.

The Mindset for Learning Online

The Internet gives you access to almost everything you need to get conversational in a language, but there are a few reasons online-only learning may not be the best option for you.

Even if you’re enrolled in a well planned and carefully managed course, when you’re learning online, you still have more responsibility for your learning than you do in a classroom-based course. When you’re sitting behind your computer, no one is there to get your attention when your eyes glaze over during a listening exercise or ask you why you’re leaving class early. If you’re not really the self-motivated type (no shame in that), you’ll probably do better taking classes in person.

Learning a language online also isn’t ideal if you learn better in a social environment. If you just like to have people around to chat with and mutually encourage, at the very least you’ll probably want to join a local study group and pair up with a motivational partner.

Online language learning resources provide and they’re worth using even if you’re enrolled in a classroom-based course. If you decide you want to go for self-guided online language learning, check out the Faster Foreign Language Learning book for more tips on learning more efficiently.

Related posts:

1. How to Stop Procrastinating and Start Learning: Five Techniques to Try
2. How to Learn Second Language Without Stress
3. How to Set Goals for Learning a Foreign Language

Now, I do understand what the author is saying—you should get input and lots of it before you produce output. While I agree that that’s the ideal, there are a few problems with that and some reasons why the Communicative Approach is better in certain cases.

Language in the Real World

I’m very utilitarian about language learning. Most of us don’t learn under ideal conditions, not all of us can reasonably stick to one language until we “master” it, and we don’t always have the luxury of waiting until we’re comfortable with a language to begin speaking or writing.

Often, life throws us into situations where we have to sputter out whatever words we can and hope they work. And we certainly can’t wait until we’ve had 18 months of exposure to native speakers before we venture the word “Mamma.”

Language Class is not for Input

Presuming you’re a reasonably motivated adult learner, you have the foresight and wherewithal to get your own input. You can listen to audio lessons and music, watch movies, or read the newspaper. You have the Internet, the library, and the bookstore for that. You don’t need a professional native speaking teacher or even a partner.

But unless you’re studying in-country, your language class is probably the only time you have to speak and write and get useful feedback. That is why so many teachers make speaking the focus of class (speaking, because it’s like pulling teeth to get students to write).

Most students would get thoroughly annoyed with us if we just handed out newspaper articles to read or put on a video and told them to watch. “We can do this at home!” they’d protest, and they’d be right.

The jump-in-the-deep-end Communicative Approach isn’t perfect, but it is practical for today’s world. Imagine a nurse looking for Spanish lessons so she can talk with Spanish-speaking patients. She’s not going to choose a course in which she’d have to wait a month to begin speaking. She needs it yesterday.

Be Greedy with Input

Personally, I see no reason to hold back on input. You don’t have to understand everything you hear or read to benefit from it. Early on, if you listen to a song and understand one word, hey, that’s great!

The author of Antimoon is certainly correct that you won’t build your vocabulary or learn new grammar by repeating what you already know. This is why so many “conversation classes” improve fluency (speed and ease of speaking), but fail to move the student up a level (from beginner to intermediate, for example). Unless new words and grammar a systematically introduced and practiced, you won’t improve.

Being deeply immersed in real life is the only substitute. Of course, you can learn from only conversation in something like a homestay situation where the sheer volume of input outweighs the lack of lesson planning. But we’re talking 6+ hours of active conversation day in, day out for months.

What Really Counts

So if you’re trying to learn a language fast, it’s worth it to start communicating as soon as you can. If, however, you’re an academic or hobbyist with years to dedicate to attaining perfection, you have other options.

Related posts:

1. Fear of Speaking a Foreign Language? Consider This When You Travel
2. How to Learn Second Language Without Stress
3. How to Revive “Forgotten” Language Knowledge