I have noticed that when I am in uncomfortable situations in which I cannot remember a word or use the wrong one, this negative reinforcement actually makes me remember it better. It is as if I need to be put in a slightly embarrassing (towards myself) situation to push myself more to retain stuff. Has anyone else felt that way?
That’s not necessarily true. I can still retain stuff much better just being in positive situations. To me, face to face communication beats any sort of language mode when it comes to remembering things. What I have noticed is that I can recall real life situations visually even after months and years have passed by so were phrases , expressions and sentences spoken by people… For me, assimilation in my target language country will do wonders for my language abilities. Last night I listened to a hour length podcast, understood 95% of it, but I can’t recall a single phrase, expression and sentence at a whim. Probably because I could not connect with the speakers on a personal level.
asad100101
It is interesting what you said. Currently I work with some people from Bulgaria. I have had some chats with them (they speak Czech well). They told me some sentences and vocabulary in Bulgarian just for fun. I remember them effortlessly. On other hand when I listen or read Russian, which is similar to Bulgarian a lot, remembering of words is harder.
Strangely enough, while I make a heap of mistakes when speaking Dutch, I don’t get embarrassed. Still, in that challenging environment I do learn a lot.
well. I think maybe it works for you. For me, no way. haha. anyway, if you can feel better, just keep do it.