Miercuri says:
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I can read in French without having to consult the dictionary very often, but I can never seem to find my words when I try to speak it and I can hardly understand it when spoken by natives, unless they speak really slowly.
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I sympathise. I've translated two 300-page novels from Estonian, but am always wary of speaking it - partly because I often don't understand what they say back. Older people enunciate very well. But younger people mumble terribly. Otherwise, I
am pretty good at speaking two languages: Swedish and Dutch. There, I can more or less cope with most accents. And I can read several more - with or without a dictionary.
Because languages come in groups or families, Miercuri will have a big advantage over native-speakers of English or German when learning Catalan, Portuguese or Spanish.