I believe you and that you are diligent/dedicated. This projection is about another year/year and a half of work though. Don't mistake this for me saying 'I know your position better than you', I'm not saying that, I just question if you are replacing the need for engagement with more preparation.
I started my exact journey 18 months ago. I was a zero beginner. Technically speaking all my reading is done with corresponding audio. 2.8 million words I have read so far I also listened to the text. The only book which is an exception that I read last month in full reading mode was "Supergute Tage order Sonderbare Welt des Christopher Boone" and not using a dictionary at all. However, I understood the gist of the book. It is meant for A2.
I imagine that you now read pretty fluently in German and that this came from reading.
See above point. Some texts are easier to read and with some texts, I still have problems with. In regards to my true reading ability, I can only say with full confidence when I read the 5 million mark.
I think that you also want to be in a position to be talking to people around you without anxiety/difficulty??
Yes. I am not in this position as of yet. It depends a lot on what kinds of questions are being asked from me and if they do require lengthy answers or one or two sentences/phrases. If a shopkeeper asks me "do you want Spice"? I can easily reply "A little bit". But when I need to deliver more information on the fly this is where I struggle.
More one-way 'safe' listening might not deliver this for you. An analogy I would make is between swimming theory vs swimming practise. You need to know what to do, what to recognise beforehand, but swimming doesn't occur until you engage with the water. Only then do you apply and adjust. Similar for riding a bicycle.
I understand where you are coming from. I am trying to apply newly acquired knowledge within my restrained capacity. For example, when a shopkeeper asks me a question, I try to answer it with a different stock phrase instead of the usual one.
I have doubts about the view that says massive listening input leads to more than recognition/understanding; that what you understand you can also reproduce and it just waits for speaking to switch on.
I was also under the same impression as yours, however, I never learned any other language under this military-style discipline and intensity where I was spending 6-8 hours every day in my TL and kept at it for the next 18 months continuously. This mass immersion approach is very unusual for me as well and the recommended period is 2 years. I spoke less as per the method, however, the quality of sentences coming out from my mouth is interesting. Having not done any "deliberate" speaking practice I can come up with advanced vocabulary where native speakers make a note of it in a conversation is an interesting case study. The same thing happened when my subconscious mind had come with a vocabulary word and used it correctly in a conversation with my doctor and being a native speaker of German he had to look it up in an online dictionary. Then he used the same word to explain his thoughts. Similarly, a banker at a local Deutsche Bank was asking survey-type questions from me and I used a word she was not expecting from a foreigner so she was surprised that I could come up with such a natural phrasing even I was so surprised by the ability of my subconscious mind.
As a result my younger brother understands to some level, but can't speak/reproduce because he has never had to. In some respect you need to 'learn on the job' where all the knowledge isn't already present waiting to be employed
My hostel is located in a retirement house where I get to sit with old ladies and men. I tried speaking from day 1 but nothing came out of my mouth absolute nothing. Also, I could not understand them either. It was all noise to my ears.
I wonder if he chooses to interact on a daily basis what will happen after being exposed to French passively? Will it be really hard for him to activate it in comparison to someone who is starting with a clean slate?