iguanamon wrote:You don't mention which language.
Either French or Italian. Generic advice is fine.
Actually preferred, since hopefully this thread will be of assistance to others not just me.
iguanamon wrote:work through it, everyday.
I have watched a lot of series in both French & Italian. Including all the various Star Trek series in French, Engrenage (Spiral) all 8 seasons. 8 seasons of Carabinieri in Italian (4 times), 2-3 other detective dramas, lots of cooking shows, etc. I've completed 3 super challenge film sections for both French and Italian which is over 450 hours in both French and Italian which I have logged, but I've probably watched double or triple that amount in reality. But I think the "work through it" is the thing I haven't done. Not "intensive watching". I just watch and rewatch, without sub-titles.
lichtrausch wrote:Be an active consumer during these activities.
Yeah, as above, I don't tend to stop or lookup things. Historically, I either understand them or I don't and if I don't then I watch it again.
mokibao wrote:but can't say anything elaborate because it takes such a long effort to produce stuff without making mistakes
Actually, this isn't a problem I have. I've done literally 1000+ of language exchanges and I don't have any issues with speaking to people or sentence construction. My issue is normally not understanding them when they speak quickly or about an unfamiliar topic. To be honest this tends to be only about 2-3 minutes of a 30-minute conversation nowadays. To be fair we are normally speaking about things which aren't new to me. Friends, family, work, etc. Although on occasion people challenge me with things like "describe how an aeroplane flies".
mokibao wrote:at some point you have to read high-level, literary texts if you don't want to be functionally illiterate in your target language.
Again, I've probably read well over 200 books in French or Italian, and I don't mean "the little prince". I'm currently reading a 350-page science fiction book in French and a 3000-page history of Alexander the Great in Italian (I've been at this one awhile). I've read 3-4 Stephen King books in French and tons of other stuff. I don't read classic literature simply because I prefer modern writing. But I have read a lot of Jules Verne in French. Looking at a couple of pages of my French SciFi book (I underline words I don't know) it looks like I have about a 3.39% unknown word per page rate. I only sampled 4-5 pages though of one book. The Italian book is worse, but that is because of terms like phalanx, chariot, trireme (ships), javelin, swords, spears, clubs, maces, axes, catapults, siege towers, and battering ram, etc
I have never taken any tests, so I don't know what level I'm actually at. Could be A1, could be B2, could be C2. I have no idea. Looking at my reply above, you'd think that I'm already "advanced" so what is the problem? I certainly don't feel "advanced" and I'm not sure these online tests are very accurate. I am aware of the Dunning–Kruger effect, but I don't think my self-assesment is biased by competence. Although hanging out with super talented polyglots may have an impact on what I consider advanced.