Am I suited for language learning?
English

Am I suited for language learning?

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The question posed here lies partly in my introverted nature (and my laziness). I guess I noticed the first indicators of that in the context of language learning a while back. While I'm able to pick up language well enough (given that there's enough input), I don't know if I can progress at the same pace with the current approach. A recent chat in English showed that I have a problem with recalling some words on the fly or even transforming my passive vocabulary into an active one. The fact that I don't interact with native English speakers definitely plays a role. I heard a guy the other day who is not a native speaker but does interact with native speakers. The way he speaks and the expressions he uses speak volumes. His speech sounds natural and he can describe things in a natural way, like a real English speaker would do. I guess it's because he gets to retain vocabulary by practising the language directly with native speakers, reusing and repeating the words that have been said right after coming across them. In a way, I can apply the same technique here, I can create sentences containing the words and phrases I recently learned. Let's say, I watched an episode of a series and I wrote down sentences worth noting. And now I construct my own sentences with words I want to remember. The thing is, I'd still need something that would keep my brain from picking the words off the "shelf" of my active vocabulary and moving them back to the passive one. Ideally, a conversation would be great for this. Different topics would come up and trigger certain words, reinforcing them. But then again, it's hard to find conversation on the internet. Additionally, I might have a hard time bringing myself to "study" language, rather than acquire it. Mind you, I spend most of my free time binge-watching and occasionally seeking conversation, so... I don't know, maybe I should use a more clever approach, try harder, or change the way I do things?

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