Originally Posted by misspoptart

I speak Spanish and Turkish pretty fluently. For Spanish, it's largely because I've lived in Spanish-speaking countries and I have worked in Spanish-speaking environments. Since making friends who speak Spanish, using it every day has kept my skills alive and well.

I live in Turkey, and it's a work in progress. I'm never really "forced" to use it, so I'm at more of a conversational/functional level. I can't read or write very well.

I also understand Arabic and Japanese. I studied both of these languages for 3 years each at the university level. For Arabic, my skills are very literature and book based. I can read and write, but I'll be damned if anyone asks me to speak. Beyond that, it's necessary to learn a dialect, separately from "modern standard" arabic (MSA), which takes time. Learning MSA for use in today's world is like learning Latin to use in Italy.

For Japanese, I can read about 200 characters and I taught myself the syllabic alphabets at 14 or 15, so they'll stick with me forever. I can understand most Japanese people talking and I can interject a thing or two, but I'd put me somewhere at a pre-intermediate level if tested. This is largely because I never studied in Japan or wrote essays in the language. I also lost interest in Japanese culture after university so it's fallen into disuse.

I dunno if you were looking for advice or if you were just curious about other people's experiences, but from my rambling you can largely take away "use it or lose it". It's not worth learning a language if you're not going to do stuff in it. That is, make friends, work, watch movies/listen to music, or even study the history of places where it is used.

Anyway, I love learning languages. I'm addicted and I can't stop!