Having a hard time understanding what people are saying when you’re talking with them using a new language? That’s not an unusual, especially for learners either in the beginning or intermediate stages of language study.
There are many small tweaks you can do to improve your ability for comprehension. You can work on your vocabulary, ask the other person to slow down, listen more intently and other common advice. We suggest trying them out to see if one or more hits home for you.
There’s one technique I’ve found to be extremely effective for speakers at all levels, though, and it’s something I recommend you implement in your own practice. That is to look for what you know during conversations.
By that, we mean listening for what you can understand and using that to tie in with the rest of what’s being said. When someone speaks, just keep an ear for words and phrases that you know, combining it with what you can discern from their tonality and body language.
Don’t let your limited knowledge of a language intimidate you. Instead, put all your focus on figuring out what you can and trusting your instincts. Doing so will give you confidence in further experiences, apart from sharpening your comprehensive abilities. Sure, you’ll mistakes — plenty of them. If you stick with the process, though, you’ll find yourself progressing at a much faster rate, compared to just continuing vocabulary work all by yourself.