Stages to Learning a Language!

Having been here in Macedonia for some time, I thought I'd share some stages I've encountered whilst learning a foreign language.

1) Not having a clue what anyone is saying. They could be laughing at you or anything but you have no idea.

2) Being able to say "yes", "no" and "I don't know".

3) Making use of the above words - this leads to much more advanced communication as you learn to let a person talk and occasionally nod or shake the head and say "да/si/oui/po etc." or "не/no/non/jo etc." so that people think you understand. Note this stage can last a long time, even as the vocabulary increases. However, one word that you don't want to hear during this stage is "разбираш?/ capisci?/ comprends?/kupton? etc." which reveals you've been found out.

4) Once passing stage 3, one can engage in more expert conversation - the weather, the football, politics, salvation etc.

5) Being proficient and fluent in the language. Note, however, don't assume you have reached this stage too soon. You may be able to have great conversations about the speed of light and the condition of your soul, but then you speak to a friend's parents and you feel like you are back at stage 1 again. This is when you again excercise the abilities reached in stage 3...