How did you do it? What level of fluency would you say you achieved? How long did it take? What advice do you have?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ChicagoSigMan,

Not really applicable to what you are probably asking about, but:
Korean, 47 weeks, five days a week, tested at the 3/5 level; IIRC that was the minimum required to graduate (5/5 fully fluent). I have forgotten most of what I learned and used 50 years ago.

Learning other languages has been my greatest ... struggle. Many kids who spent as much time in France as I did came away virtually fluent; not me (although I can read it to a degree). I didn't study German in Germany, but after five years living there many people got better than I. I have had a little formal training in Spanish, but again no particular ability.

I've had to learn Hebrew at 55.
So I can understand my engineers and speak a little.
I cannot read it yet.

No. Never had an affinity for languages. Struggled in college with two years of French - didn't help my GPA.

When I was hired to oversee a landscape crew of Spanish-speaking men back in the 70's, I had to learn some elements of the language on the fly to get anything done. I would not claim to be anywhere near fluent, but I can still curse like a Spanish sailor, and understand maybe 50% of an overheard conversation (as long as they aren't talking too fast).

From my experience, I would say that total immersion is far more effective than any number of formal classes.

I've set myself to learn Spanish in earnest. I've always had a very little bit but I'm going to be conversational by my birthday in August.

The .gov taught me "INS Spanish." Or rather, they taught me basic rules of grammar, a medium-sized vocabulary, and a collection of scripted questions that were fantastic as long as the native speaker replied with one of the scripted answers. Dad-- who learned Russian and Vietnamese courtesy of the U.S. Army and DLI-- gave me the most helpful language advice of the year when he recommended going full immersion off-duty with my classmates... no English allowed. It was frustrating, entertaining, and hugely helpful. Until you repetitively use a language "in real time" it's unlikely to take.

If you're not in a position to actually "immerse," try to follow TV shows in the language. Children's shows and news are good (news announcers are often surprisingly good with their enunciation, if you can track the speed, and children's shows usually stay with a vocab level appropriate to a 5-ish year-old). For reading, "general circulation" magazines (the local equivalent of "People" or some other entertainment rag) are also likely to be written for a not-overly-literate audience. When I last had to "test" for language proficiency points, I was ILR 3-- basically competent, but clearly not native-- and I can still easily meet that for listening and beat that for reading comprehension just via TV and reading on 'net. Speaking... out of practice.

There's always dating a native speaker (no, seriously) but that'd require buy-in from your wife if you're married.

I'm self-studying Old English (Late West Saxon) now, which makes "native speaker" or "Find a TV show" slightly more complicated.

quote:

No. Never had an affinity for languages

Same here but my wife is fluent in Russian & English. Taught German & was a Czech tour guide. Also studied Spanish.

Semi-adult. I studied German for 3 years in high school and.another 3 in college, plus dated a German girl for a couple years. I got semi-fluent, but since I didn't use it at all for the past 2+ decades after leaving school I've lost nearly all of it other than the grammar rules and random vocabulary that I retain. I could probably still have a basic conversation or ask basic questions.

I was not blessed with an aptitude for languages.

I lived in Puerto Rico for 5 1/2 years, and Barcelona for a year and a half. I tried to learn, but I speak Spanish like a pre-kindergarten kid.

My wife and I lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico for 12 months over 2 winters. We hoped to learn a little spanish. Unfortunately most the locals spoke pretty good English so we didn’t get very far.

During childhood spoke, read and wrote in Swedish. Many decades later trying to re-learn it, it is a struggle. Mix it up with high school German. Language easy for kids to pick up, hard for this geezer.