Based on years of experience with language learning and teaching, I'm tempted to say that European patterns don't generalize to North America. I never saw even

Based on years of experience with language learning and teaching, I'm tempted to say that European patterns don't generalize to North America. I never saw even one North American student gain anything resembling fluency by using these techniques. And I've seen hundreds flail. What I'm describing is how the people whom I've known to achieve fluency actually did it, where fluency is defined as being able to understand conversation between native speakers and hold one's own in it. It's hard to exaggerate how far multilingualism is from the norm here. No doubt the reasons for this go far beyond individual effort or technique.