To want to be fluent in a second language?

[Jelliots]

Has anyone successfully learnt a second language as an adult from scratch without actually moving to that country? Can it be done?

im Duolingo level at the moment but as soon as I try to watch anything in my chosen language im totally lost! I’ve nearly finished the Duolingo course so clearly it’s not going to cut it! What else could I do? Can’t afford private lessons

Yes I have. I am fluent but have an accent.

https://lingopie.com Maybe try this?

I used lots of different resources as I got bored otherwise and found local speakers to practice with. What language you working on?

I would like to know the answer to this, too.

My friend lived in Paris for a year and became pretty much fluent, having never spoken French before (although not helpful to us).

I was amazed!

Thank you, do you have to pay for it?

vorrei parla italiana!

Which language?

You need interaction to develop the skills required for fluency.

Can I ask , do you have a good grasp of English grammar?

I am relatively fluent in Spanish. I'm working on it with Duolingo, but I did study it in high school.

Do most kids take a second language there in high school? In the US they do.

Why not learn British Sign Language? 😊

I moved to France with little more than 'schoolgirl French' and was at C1 within a year, fluent in two.

Immersion is key, but assuming you can't actually just move to a country, speaking as frequently as you can with native speakers and absorbing the language in a real sense through books/newspapers/TV and films/music etc is the next best thing.

I'm currently learning Italian this way and making good progress!

YouTube has loads of good resources and you can check social media for local language cafés etc.

What language are you interested in?

To get good at speaking practice speaking.
To get good at reading, read text at your level plus a tiny bit harder
To get good at watching TV, watch TV (at your level, or level+tiny bit)

Playing Duolingo will only make you good at playing Duolingo

Edit: forgot to say, yes I believe it's possible to achieve a satisfying level in a second language without living in a country where it is spoken.

Italian ☺️

Yes ☺️

I go to face to face classes, watch TV and read books in the language I am learning. As well as Duolingo. If you can't go to a class, there is a lot of online tuition - individual and group available. I am making progress!

I started off with Duolingo & the Coffee Break Italian podcast & got fairly good basics, but I’m afraid it was classes that made the real difference when it came to speaking & writing.

You could find a language exchange partner or pen friend for free at somewhere like

www.conversationexchange.com

Oh i would love to learn a language, for those who are fluent in a second language that they've mastered, which do you think is the hardest to learn?
Good luck OP i love listening to Italian and the accent x

There are reddit subs for learning Italian, language learning and there is one called WriteStreakIT where you can post writing and someone will correct it for you.

I'd recommend language transfer!

I think lots of people learn English by watching lots of TV and cinema, I don't know if it's starts with subtitles and then progresses.

Have you made a typo here? Because this means "I would like he/she speaks Italian."*

You mean, "Vorrei parlare Italiano."

If it's not a typo and you didn't realise you need an infinitive here then I suggest swatting up on English grammar too as a PP implied.

*Although actually it doesn't as you've also misspelt "Italian".

If you google FSI language difficulty you will discover that the Americans have done a list, categorised into levels according to how hard a language is for an English speaker to learn. (Level 1 includes French, Spanish, Romanian and Dutch, level 5 includes Arabic, Korean, Mandarin) Personally I think they are all hard, it takes a long, long time to develop language skills. You have to enjoy the journey.

I’m learning a second language & eternally grateful that my English teacher drummed things like verbs, nouns, prepositions & possessives into us! Would really struggle without it (and it’s hard enough!)

Yeah I did German in school, I reckon I could pick that back up quite easy

Italian ☺️

I married a German and we used a OPOL approach with DC, which has meant a lot of immersion at home. A bit extreme but it worked...!

I did learn the language at school (and took it at GCSE) which helped to a degree but only so far.

English and German are in the same language ‘family’, so you may find it easier.

Reading books will help, as will watching movies in whatever language you’re trying to learn. Both will help familiarize you with it being spoken.

What does it, is immersion ime. I grew up bilingual due to my parents (both Slavic languages), but while I had a decent grasp of English I didn’t become fluent until I lived in the UK and was immersed in it.