Although I've only recently been listening to Steve Kaufmann's podcast, I have access to many he's done in the months before I heard of him. Kaufmann is a polyglot...he speaks some 20 languages at last count...who founded a subscription-driven website, LingQ, that uses his techniques of language learning and offers it to others: I recently signed up and like it. One of his earlier podcasts, from a couple of months ago, dealt with mistakes that language learners make. Listed, they are:
(1) Expecting you can learn fast (don't have unrealistic expectations).
(2) Expecting to never forget words or grammar patterns you have learned (but learning is itself a process of forgetting and relearning).
(3) Trying to master the grammar rules in detail up front (nothing wrong in looking them up from time to time, though).
(4) Expecting the language to become clear too soon (patience, patience).
(5) Sticking with learning content that is too easy (good for review but need to challenge with more difficult material).
(6) Thinking you can get by with just a few words (once a native speaker starts to talk back to you then you'll realize you need to learn a lot more).
(7) Thinking you should speak well even if you don't speak often (it takes a lot of practice).
(8) Being afraid of making mistakes when you speak (Kaufmann just came back from Poland where he gave two interviews IN POLISH and laughed about all the mistakes he made).
(9) Speaking with only non-native speakers (non-native speakers tend to limit the range of their vocabulary).
(10) Dealing with the challenge from native speakers when they want to practice their English on you (either find some willing to speak in your target language or make an arrangement to alternate languages with those wanting to speak English).
Steve Kaufmann impressed me by his emphasis on the gradual assimilation of large amounts of words by reading and listening. From time to time, I'll let you know how I'm doing on the LingQ site...
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