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I love the grammar. I can sight read out loud very well. I can take dictation (at the appropriate level). I can explain the linguistics and semantics of the language. But I cannot speak it or understand what anyone is saying to me. Mrs P just dives in there, spouts words out, mispronounces things, uses the incorrect endings, and gets herself understood far more than I do. She has more chats with strangers than I've ever had.
Throwing words out is the way to go I think. At least you are saying the words. Waiting until you get things "exactly right" doesn't work. Which is a bummer for me.
stevep-
Have you ever done a course with a group before? When I first started to learn French I found it really difficult to just dive in a blurt things out, I was always over analysing and getting worked up in my own head.
When you're thrown in a course with a load of randoms and you just have speak, it doesn't take long to just lose all the inhibitions you had. Needs to be an immersive course though, no good if they let you speak English.
Gewürzt
I've tried a few.
Ended up with my partner more or less laughing her ass off at each one I got. She says academically, they're fine enough, but it makes you difficult to understand by any Spanish speaker. Grammatically too formal.
Her recommendation, which isn't ideal for everyone, is go to a Meetup event.
I'm loud and obnoxious, so it's easier for me to just throw words out at people, but it doesn't work with everyone.