keepcalm1 wrote:I would say when i do think of how to say things in German, the vocabulary is there mostly but the word order is not correct which puzzles me how its that bad.
keepcalm1 wrote:I agree that the solution is to speak more, however lack of vocabulary isn't the problem, it is forming sentences and past the basics (usually found in textbooks) I find it difficult to prepare my reply in a meaningful conversation D:
You understand the language, you have the vocabulary, but you just can't get it out in the right way when you try to speak? I'm going to go against the general opinion here and say take a short break from trying to speak. Instead focus on writing skills for a while. Set a personal challenge to write a short and simple paragraph regularly, and perhaps submit it on Lang-8 to get it checked. When writing you can take more time to think about word order, look things up, find model sentences to use, etc. As you improve at writing your ability to form sentences for speaking should improve as well.
Building on that, you can use Boris Shekhtman's technique he calls "language islands". Write a couple paragraphs about a topic you want to speak about and then memorize those paragraphs. Then when you get into a conversation about the topic and you find you're struggling, you can switch to a chunk you've memorized to give yourself a bit of confidence and a break from "swimming in the open waters".
EDIT: I can't believe I left this out, but shadowing will also be very effective in loosening your tongue. It should help you because you don't have to worry about forming the sentences for yourself at this point. I was not a fan of shadowing, but I was surprised how much easier it was for me to speak Hindi after I spent a month or so shadowing Assimil lessons before a trip to India.