Debbie Noel

Hi, I studied French and German at uni, so I'd say it's not a barrier in itself. Though I do remember being told to use a mind palace type technique to remember new words and I found this a very convoluted way of embedding new vocabulary (obviously I was not seeing what others could). Instead, I just repeated words a lot (drills) and used each word in context (writing and speaking). Immersion really works! Go live somewhere and anyone will pick up a lot in just 6 months. What they might but be so good at is grammar... I was better at this and realised I was just good at decoding and using structural rules - less interested in actually talking to people!