Almost all intermediate language learners can now speak their target language a fair amount. While slow, they now have both the skill and confidence to interact with native speakers and be understood.
The next hurdle for most intermediate learners, whether they’re mastering French, Spanish or some other foreign language, is usually either of these two items:
- They’re still having difficulty understanding native speakers. If you’re in this situation, you probably just lack more practice interacting with native speakers — a common problem with learners whose primary conversation partners are fellow second-language speakers. Fortunately, there are many ways you can address this: go out and interact more, watch movies in the target language (making sure you understand the dialogue, of course), listening to songs and other similar activities.
- They still translate words and phrases in their head before speaking. This is a major problem for many language learners, whether they’re working with a private tutor or a language training software. The best way to remedy this problem is to continually practice thinking in the target language — that’s the only way you can begin to process thoughts and ideas without translating. It’s hard work and you’ll probably feel like pulling your hair a few times. Do realize it’s a necessary step if you’re aiming for real fluency.
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