I lived in Germany for five months a few years back, part of a student exchange program. I could get by with my german, but I was so reluctant to ever say anything.
Finally after about three weeks of this, I finally joined in and prefaced my comment by reminding people of my german skills. I stumbled along that week, but the next week my confidence sky rocketed, causing my ability to communicate to sky rocket as well.
Just dive in. You can only regret sitting there an not saying anything. You will never regret just trying. And with a new language, doing is the only way to learn.
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