Quote Originally Posted by oatmealia
How much do you all believe that immersion expedites the process of gaining fluency? For an intermediate/advanced student, that is.
1,000,000,000%!!!! I personally believe that without immersion, you will never (or almost never) become fluent. But fluency actually comes very quickly when you're immersed. Take my wife, for example. When she came to America, she did not speak one English word. Within 6 months, she could have reasonable conversations. WIthin a year, I'd say she's 90% fluent. Now, after 7 years, most people do not even notice that she's foriegn. Of course, she came to America at age 17. If you start later, it takes longer, and you retain you accent longer.