<p>Over the course of my life I've had a real nack for foreign languages. I plan to minor in French, but would like the ability to speak it fluently after college. Is this possible? I've taught myself through school and visits (traveling) to read and and write french semi-fluent, but speaking is a challenge to remember the word order and phrases I want. Will the college language course offer me the ability to speak this language after years of study? Will studying abroad help me? I've found through traveling you actually pick up bits of a language through a period of time. </p>
<p>I've found I can actually read and understand Spanish and Italian through French. Over the course of my life, I can actually read a decent amount of German and Dutch too. I suppose I picked these up by traveling when I was younger.</p>
<p>I don't know what I am saying is the reading and writing comes easy, but practicing fluency of speech and structure is something I would like to improve.</p>
<p>well, i would definitely think that 3-4 years of college romance language should make you fluent. But if you want native fluency, then study abroad/living abroad is a must.<br>
I dont think it is this way with most (that you can be "fluent" from 4 years of study). But i think with romance languages, it is definately much easier for us english speaking americans to speak. Learning something like Japanese, mandarin, arabic, or hindi would be much more difficult.
But yes, with 3-4 years of college french/spanish/portugese/italian, you should (i would assume) be able to hold a perfectly non hesitant conversation with someone.</p>
<p>It's not a MUST but it helps. By the way, as a linguaphile myself, I can tell you that language classes SUCK. They honestly do. I've learned German from null to Goethe in 8 months in Austria, but some AP German kids at my school can barely hold a basic conversation. Uh?</p>
<p>One of my favorite sites from people who actually know what they're doing. And PM me if you have any questions or want another opinion. Good luck!</p>
<p>I really agree with you Miss Silvetris. In high-school it seems kids would never pick up on the language and it gets quite annoying when they rather ask you than the teacher for help. I suppose I was lucky to be able to travel and pick up as much as I did in my time. I plan to live and study abroad once or twice even during my course of language studies in college.</p>
<p>Actually, I've been in the same situation as CollegeFresh. I studied French for 9yrs, but from my background, I had sound writing/grammar skills, but my speaking was abysmal.
I've only taken one French class in college so far. Study abroad might help. I've spoken to students who may not have time to study abroad during college but definitely plan to travel after college to gain fluency. Also, Middlebury has this cool summer language school, where you're under oath to speak no English, except the language you're learning.
Again, travel is not a sine qua non for fluency, but it certainly accelerates the process.</p>
<p>Also, I read in an old French book that the key to fluency is discipline - making a conscious effort to memorize everyday phrases, replies and sentences, until they become second nature.</p>
<p>Thank you CollegeFresh for agreeing. It just makes me sad to see some people give up because they weren't learning very much by the way of fluency in high school courses.</p>
<p>guys, there are a million different ways to learn a language but some of the fastest and most useful are getting actual exposure to your language. I mean DVDs, books, radio, news, etc. NOT "French Reader Written for Mentally Handicapped English-Speakers" or "500 Japanese Verbs That You Must Memorize". Textbooks are fine to start off with, but real fluency comes when you get real exposure, whether it is through an exchange or the above materials.</p>
<p>I know Japanese has a bit of a bad reputation these days with the 'anime' and 'otaku' crowds and what not, but this guy write absolutely excellent articles. He learned the entire language in 18~ months and has given me some of the best advice I've found. Check it out if you're curious!</p>