I’ve studied languages (Spanish, French, and to a lesser degree Italian) since I was in high school. But while I’m fluent in a reading knowledge and can speak these languages relatively well, I’ve struggled with understanding then conversationally, unless the speaker talks very slowly and pronounces the words more plainly than the way normal people converse.

I live in North Carolina, and there’s a fair number of native Spanish speakers locally. (Not much on that score for French or Italian, but we take what we can get). But since I don’t have close friends who are native Spanish speakers, getting better by talking with people can be hit or miss.

If you’re at least elementary level proficient in a language, you can use this method to improve your skill at understanding whatever language you’re wanting to get better at.

What you’ll want is to use online videos in your target language.

1. Start by locating videos. I look for Spanish language videos and in the search I add “con subtitulos en Español” (“with subtitles in Spanish”). Adding that proviso in your target language helps a little bit in keeping out English subtitles, which I don’t want.
2. Avoid teaching videos, ones designed to help you learn the language. Unless you’re a complete beginner, those won’t be that helpful, since they are artificially slow. The one exception? The “Easy Spanish” series which involve conversation with people on the street. These are well done and fun to watch and available in a variety of languages.
3. Good videos? Look for ones that are fun. Soap operas are good. Likewise children’s shows. News shows can be amazingly good. Experiment. This can be hit or miss, depending on what language you’re looking at. There’s a lot of videos to pick from in Spanish but if you’re trying to get better at Mongolian (a language I’d like to learn) there’s a lot less to be found.
4. Settings: obviously, subtitles in your target language. Make sure the subtitles are large enough to read easily.
5. Playback speed: regular speed may work for you, but if even that’s too fast, try watching on .75 speed. In most cases, that will sound pretty normal. While going to, for example, .50 speed will usually sound so slow that your ability won’t improve much. Try to do a speed and settings that are mildly challenging. Not too difficult, but not easy.

Language learning is not easy, but it’s worthwhile on a lot of levels. Use these videos to make your learning both easier and better.