<p>I am really good at my foreign language class. I find the assignments really easy, and I ace all the vocab quizzes and grammar quizzes and reading comprehension quizzes. I am good at reading French out loud from a paper and always have a keen sense for the pronunciations.</p>
<p>But when it comes to speaking the language in an impromptu manner, I mutter and babble it like a fool! My teacher makes us speak the language at all times, so when I have to ask her a question, I always mumble and stumble on the language really badly. Also I am so bad at understanding what she says. She probably thinks I'm so stupid!</p>
<p>Why am I like this with foreign languages (good with the assignments, bad with impromptu orally speaking/listening)? What can I do to improve (without actually going to a foreign country, because I can't really afford that)? </p>
<p>I take French, and the problem with French is that I don't know any fluent speakers of it besides my teacher (and I don't want to embarrass myself in front of her) and there are very few other students who take it.</p>
<p>You probably approach the language from a “wrong” angle. You KNOW it, but don’t GET it. </p>
<p>Most people learn languages the way you do (text and vocab-based), but it really won’t get you to the final stages of understanding/communicating. You’ll never develope a true feeling for the language that way.</p>
<p>I’ll try to give you a little advice: You seem to already be pretty far with your French. That’s a nice basis to start working with.
Now first thing: try to forget those vocab lists. Seriously. Do what you need for your quizzes, but lists take vocabs out of context, they ignore the feeling that swings with them when used. Just confront yourself with the language on an audiovisual basis, the nicest source would be movies. Often DVDs have a language-selection, so you could switch them to French (also try looking for some Filme Noir). I learned a basic Russian from scratch up through movies, that wouldn’t work for you, but seeing that you already have one and a half foot in the langua you might try it.
The problem when you only know a language on an academic level often is, that you still construct your sentences in English in your head and then try to translate it in real time while you’re speaking in the classroom. You’re destined to stumble that way. When I write or speak in English, I think in English, when I’m in France, I think French. Literally in your head. Try to get that going, maybe repeat complete phrases you picked up somewhere. It might take years or just 10 movies to get it right, depends on how good you are with that kind of learning. But it will make you a lot more fluent.
You have nobody around you who speaks French, so try listening to French music (they have some nice hiphop or pop music, whatever you like), watch French movies (39,90 was such a nice one) or maybe listen to audio books. </p>
<p>Reading WONT help you a lot, dictionaries will hurt you. Try to get a vocab from the context, not the context from the vocabs.</p>
<p>I should maybe add that I’m a slight linguist. I learn fast and easy from observing natives (and or movies/music), that doesn’t work for everybody. So while I have a hatred for vocab-learning and have no idea about grammar, you may need to adjust your approach according to your needs.</p>