Alas, although I have a reasonable ability to read written French, and I can generally understand oral French (if spoken slowly and deliberately by a fellow anglophone), I unfortunately have very little facility in speaking French or composing a French sentence.
It is mostly the verb structure which does me in. My French vocabulary is fairly broad, but without a proper understanding of the verbs, it is impossible for me to knit my thoughts together into a proper sentence.
As far as following a French conversation, native French speakers have accents that I have difficulty with and they generally speak way too fast.
Reading French text however is another thing. I can go through the text at a comfortable speed, mentally translating along the way. This is an interesting mental exercise that I enjoy. It is a challenge but I'm usually quite successful at it.
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