Immerse myself in that target language environment as much as possible, from movies, music, TV shows, etc. Even small things, like setting your phone language to the target language, joining events, or finding ways to talk to people who speak that language.
You're definitely hitting on something important here, and there is a term for it: input based learning. It's the way we all learned our first language, and deviating from this is part of the reason why people think learning a language is impossible outside of a "critical period". That is, the way our brains are wired to acquire a language is not the method most people in academic environments use to learn their second.
This is the method Langiri is built on. Lots of input, but with an "adjusted to your level" angle, rather than diving right in to far too difficult "produced for native speakers" content.
I don't like the current environment where influencers claim that they speak 8-9 languages; maybe some do, but I doubt it.
Most of them are talking about something different than what you or I think of as "speaking" a language. Many of those influencers just want to sound like they can speak the language well enough to get by in some pre-defined situations. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, if you travel often it can be more useful to be able to order food in a way that is easy for the waiter to understand next week than it is to be able to have an ad-hoc conversation about general topics next year.
One other thing, language anxiety. I "knew" Spanish for a long time in the classroom sense (memorized sets of rules and words) and I always felt "performance anxiety" when trying to speak, like I was building toward a passing or failing grade with each syllable. After a lot of Dreaming Spanish I could get some work done at the house in Spanish, because it now felt like a fun game rather than like I was being graded.
Speaking too early can be a detriment for another reason too. You end up guessing, and those guesses stick. Michel Thomas emphasized this in his courses, that it's okay to guess vocabulary, but nothing else.
Any early speaking really should be done in the presence of a native speaker who is not only able, but also willing to correct those mistakes before they become internalized as bad habits you have to break later. If you wait you will be able to hear your own mistakes. That's the self-correction piece, and you don't have it yet if you start speaking before you've started to really internalize what "sounds right".
the best way I found is actually dating someone who speaks the language that you are learning.
When this works (and is a practical option), it works spectacularly because you get a ton of input that is catered to you. If they try to be nice and switch into your language, or they just want to practice it with you, it undermines the effect. Done right it can be the ultimate form of cross-talk, which is a strongly encouraged step while learning via ALG - you speak your language, they speak theirs, you both get tons of level appropriate input in your target language, and nobody is forcing either of you to produce the new language before you're ready.
You're definitely hitting on something important here, and there is a term for it: input based learning. It's the way we all learned our first language, and deviating from this is part of the reason why people think learning a language is impossible outside of a "critical period". That is, the way our brains are wired to acquire a language is not the method most people in academic environments use to learn their second.
This is the method Langiri is built on. Lots of input, but with an "adjusted to your level" angle, rather than diving right in to far too difficult "produced for native speakers" content.
Most of them are talking about something different than what you or I think of as "speaking" a language. Many of those influencers just want to sound like they can speak the language well enough to get by in some pre-defined situations. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, if you travel often it can be more useful to be able to order food in a way that is easy for the waiter to understand next week than it is to be able to have an ad-hoc conversation about general topics next year.
One other thing, language anxiety. I "knew" Spanish for a long time in the classroom sense (memorized sets of rules and words) and I always felt "performance anxiety" when trying to speak, like I was building toward a passing or failing grade with each syllable. After a lot of Dreaming Spanish I could get some work done at the house in Spanish, because it now felt like a fun game rather than like I was being graded.
Speaking too early can be a detriment for another reason too. You end up guessing, and those guesses stick. Michel Thomas emphasized this in his courses, that it's okay to guess vocabulary, but nothing else.
Any early speaking really should be done in the presence of a native speaker who is not only able, but also willing to correct those mistakes before they become internalized as bad habits you have to break later. If you wait you will be able to hear your own mistakes. That's the self-correction piece, and you don't have it yet if you start speaking before you've started to really internalize what "sounds right".
When this works (and is a practical option), it works spectacularly because you get a ton of input that is catered to you. If they try to be nice and switch into your language, or they just want to practice it with you, it undermines the effect. Done right it can be the ultimate form of cross-talk, which is a strongly encouraged step while learning via ALG - you speak your language, they speak theirs, you both get tons of level appropriate input in your target language, and nobody is forcing either of you to produce the new language before you're ready.