3.4.2.1.1. Learn to converse on chosen topics

With your first LRP, you want to continue achieving your daily goals for new vocabulary and sentence patterns, using comprehension learning methods. In addition, you can devote part of each session to free conversation. During your preparation time, decide on a topic--something you would like to be able to talk about outside of your sessions with friends or people you meet. In your session, attempt to conduct a conversation with your LRP on that topic. During the conversation, refuse to switch to English when you get stuck. Both of you should jot down the things you are unable to express or understand. After the conversation, go over these jottings. In some cases the problem will be due to your not knowing specific words or phrases. In other cases there may be a sentence pattern that you need to learn.

Prepare comprehension activities for your next session through which you can learn these words or sentence patterns. (You may want to use home-made drawings, even simple stick figures, in the comprehension activities.)

The next day, you can attempt once again to have a conversation on that topic, or maybe conduct a conversation in which you talk about all you learned in connection with that topic the day before.

If you have a second LRP who does not know English (or any other language you already know well), then you will have another opportunity to have a lengthy conversation on the topic of choice. In addition, as you visit friends, you will have a third context in which to discuss the topic, now that you know how to discuss it.