There are several theories as to why some people learn many languages with relative ease, while others struggle learning even one foreign language. Some think it's an inherited trait, other that it is a set of genes, while other say that any child can easily learn is taught at a young age.
In my experience there are people who can learn from books or CD's and people like me who can pick up a language much like a parrot or a sponge. Just dunk me into the language and I'll usually come up spluttering a few words within days :~)) But I know people in foreign countries who NEVER get the hang of the local lingo, even after years of residence.
Another helpful asset is not being afraid to make a fool of yourself by using the wrong, word, grammar, tense or other blunders. Natives will always respect you for having a go and will often help you with corrections. This can however get a tad trying if they persist to diligently !
I've always found it helpful to watch children's TV programs at first. It's clear on screen what's going on and fairly easy to get the gist of what is being said. But the greatest initiative is to want to be able to TALK to other people. I could not envisage living in a country where I could not converse with others.
TIP: German is a language with lots of tenses and I found it helped to mumble those in the beginning !! Diese, das, dem .... nightmare !
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