Learning a foreign language

“For Japanese, I would say I realised I was fluent when I moved to Tokyo (from another part of Japan). I had to find an apartment, set up utilities, go through contracts, visit the hospital, ring up various places, start a new job etc. and I wasn't conscious of doing it in my L2 at all. I can take communication in Japanese for granted now, just like I do in English, and focus on the situation in hand, rather than my L2 getting in the way.”

“My tangible goal has been to be able to navigate a town/city in Quebec and maybe order in French. I figured that was realistic and practical, plus I'd be able to get consistent practice for regular and basic interactions, which in turn gives me the drive to learn. I try to read basic articles on the web and listen to local radio broadcasts we can pick up, but none of it seems to be helping long term. The best progress I ever made was when I had to spend a couple days in Longueuil - I stuck myself outside and listened to how people ordered food from the food vendors, shopped in local stores, etc... it felt like the learning I did had purpose and I saw practical application of what I had learned. The problem was that it ultimately felt like simple mimicry in the short-term and I promptly forgot everything when I was no longer immersed.”

“The first week I was in Turkey, I went to YouTube to look up "10 words of survival Turkish." The two words for "thank you" take six syllables to say. [...] I learned them. My goal was to learn three words a day. [...] I am still a beginner but I can make myself understood with people who don't know English, even with my rudimentary grammer.”