Some people can study a foreign language, yet continue to struggle at holding conversations in a natural manner. After all, holding your own during personal interaction requires thinking on your feet and composing your statements quickly – something many newer learners might struggle to do.
For many students whose language education focuses on grammar and translations, this can be a common problem. Since their training is more traditional and academic, it may be more suited to other language applications than your average street conversations.
Those who’d like to develop a stronger ability at conversing in the target language, should really look towards more immersion-type lessons, as you can find on some conversation-focused workshops and a few sophisticated language learning software.
What qualities should you look for when taking on these types of lessons:
1. A focus on verbal communication skills. Different language programs focus on different things. For your purposes, it obviously serves you best to take on ones that put spoken language skills at a premium.
2. A focus on authentic and natural conversations. Some language programs focus on formal language, while others concentrate on core elements that you can use for specific situations (e.g. travel). Your personal choice should be one that fixes its attention on organic and natural conversations.
3. Plenty of time devoted to practice. You want a language program that’s more grounded in practical application than theory. It’s tough to develop solid conversation skills without round after round of immersive practice.