I think for me the biggest hurdle in learning other languages is the difference between what my brain thinks and what it knows how to say in my target language. As a relatively well spoken and well-read native English speaker, my brain tells me that I want to say something like this:
“I love learning languages because by learning a new language I get a special insight into the people who speak that language,. get a feeling for the land that the language came from. I gea piece of the soul of that culture. With that insight, with that piece of soul, my understanding of the world and of myself grows a little bigger than it was.”
However when my brain tries to get my mouth to say that in one of my target languages, what comes out is “Ummmmmmmmm….” And then a long awkward pause before I say “J’aime les langues” or “Is maith liom na teangacha” I like the languages.
Then I kick myself for being clumsy and remind myself to think more simply.
It is hard though, to simplify the way you think, it is for me anyway. I encounter this problem quite often in my life outside language learning. Once my nephew (He was about 5 at the time) came and asked me what a black hole was… So I told him…. I told him it was the collapsed core of a dead start that had become so dense that nothing could stop it from collapsing on itself until it just tore through Space-time and made a singularity.
About the time I got to that point I noticed his glassy-eyed stare. I had lost him. So I restarted.
“It’s a dead star that has such powerful gravity that nothing can escape it, not even light.”
This was much easier for him to digest.
This relates to learning languages because I feel you have to compartmentalize your brain when you think about speaking a new language. The way I visualize this with my languages is like this.
In English I am a 35 year old American with some college and a boat load of self-learning.
In French I am more like an 8 year old. I can have conversations and communicate but please don’t expect me to understand technical issues.
In Irish and Norwegian I am more like a toddler. I can name animals and colors, and sometimes I can tell you what I want to eat.
It sounds silly, but since I have started to think of my own language abilities in this way, I stopped expecting more of myself when speaking. I still make mistakes in this regard… The other day I decided to practice my Irish by translating a story told by Peig Sayers. When I ran into trouble I could not solve after several hours of looking, I posted my translation and questions to an Irish learning group on Facebook. They answered my questions, but they also overwhelmingly said that what I had tried to do was akin to reading Shakespeare. Think of my language age in Irish. Would you give King Lear to a 2 year old?
In French I can do a bit more. I know I am at about an 8 year old level because I happen to work in a third grade classroom full of 8-9 year olds. Sometimes I write their writing assignments as they are doing them, but in French.
It can be very hard and sometimes boring to restrict yourself to a more simple way of thinking and learning when you first start. However its important, and you can find simply written and spoken things these days that can help you a lot. TV shows tend to have pretty simple language because they want to engage as many different kinds of people as possible, so get on Netflix and Youtube and find shows in your target language. I also use Podcasts to help me with listening comprehension and not being bored. If you are learning French you should check out the “French Voices” Podcast.
http://frenchyourway.com.au/category/frenchvoices
This is done by a French native who lives in Australia. She has conversations with other native french speakers about the things they are passionate about, and I highly recommend it to anyone learning French.
For Irish I recommend the Motherfolóir podcast.
https://www.headstuff.org/motherfocloir/
This is a super entertaining podcast not so much about grammar or vocabulary, it’s even predominately in English, but I have learned so much about the culture and linguistics behind Modern Irish. On top of that the hosts of the podcast are fecking funny!
For Irish immersion there are a few podcasts out there but my favorite thing to do is listen to Irish Language Radio.
https://www.rte.ie/rnag/
I still cannot understand the vast majority of what is said here, but its great practice to get the flow of the language so that when you speak it you don’t sound like William Shatner as Gaeilge.
So keep it simple! You are doing an amazing thing! Keep at it and don’t worry. Own your mistakes and put your neck out there!
You’ve got this, and so do I!