I learned by getting into conversations that forced me to speak the language. It's amazing how quickly you remember the basics if you don't want to look foolish

I learned by getting into conversations that forced me to speak the language. It's amazing how quickly you remember the basics if you don't want to look foolish or sound like an idiot. Reading and listening use different types of memories so that's not enough to learn it. You have to actively recall to learn the language. Also, keep in mind that there is no such thing as permanent fluency. You have to continue to practice it if you want to always be fluent. Even native speakers will lose their fluency in a language if they don't speak it. I've seen that a lot with kids that learned their parent's language at home but decide that the will only speak English once they start school. They eventually lose their fluency. They might understand their original language but will definitely have trouble speakng it.