Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackEleven
Let me be the first to say a year is a pretty lofty goal to become fluent in a language, especially so different from English. ...
That said, I commend you for trying to learn another langauge. I think its something more of us should do. Best of luck to you.
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I will agree with this. Learning another language is a great thing, but be prepared to have it as a life-long committment. I have been living in a Mandarin speaking country, as well as taking 10 hours of University Mandarin courses every week for the last 6 months, and studying independently on top of that as well. Even though I am now conversant (as long as the conversation doesn't get too deep or specialized) I am no where near fluent. This is also my fourth language, and I am a person who is generally good with languages.
I also have a degree in linguistics and have spent quite a bit of time studying adult SLA, and statistically it would be very difficult for you to achieve such a high goal in such a short time.
I don't say this to be demotivating, but because maintaining high motivation is probably the most important part of learning a second language as an adult, and in order to do that you should have a realistic idea of the challenge so that you don't feel like giving up once a few months have passed and you're not speaking as you'd like to. If you take it on with realistic expectations you can ultimately certainly achieve fluency.
Good luck. Remember, as an adult one of your greatest strengths in learning a language is that you can do it in a systematized way. Pay real attention to the formal grammar, and follow the system given to you by a competent teacher. Then just stay determined and you will eventually reach the goal.