So, I’ve just had a proper conversation with a Spanish couple I arranged to meet at a cafe. Very useful, not least because it banishes the nerves incurred by speaking a foreign language; I felt much better about my Spanish by the end of the session. There was much less pressure because it was a ‘no-penalty’ situation – unlike being in a cafe or asking for directions where the communication is linear (you ‘need’ to get it right). Listening was also interesting, in that I couldn’t understand everything, but I was getting the gist. With regard to language development, is this how language comprehension advances – gist crystallises into full meaning?
Anyway, it was well worth doing, and I’d advise all other learners to do the same, as it’s a no pressure way of using the language for that which it was intended – communicating with people!
