>>One other thing I noticed in Israel after going through basic Pimsleur Hebrew caurse. Very often I was able to understand many things people were saying, just by understanding several words in a sentense. It didn't allow me to have a conversation in their language but it was rewarding. And this is what I hope to accomplish when I go to France; to say things that I know how to say in correct French and hopefully understand when they tell me to go pound sand <g>.
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>Exactly the experience I had when I was learning Hungarian on the job. While there were a couple of guys who knew Serbian, they weren't there all the time - so I had to make do with what I knew, and to learn fast. After a few weeks I could understand what was the sentence about - though not what it means. I'd know it's about a car and a wheel, but couldn't know whether it was "I bought new tires" or "I hit a curb and bent the wheel" until a few more weeks. By about sixth week I said "I'll start speaking now". That's when the fun began :).

The good thing, for you, that you were learning on the job, immersed in the language and culture. This is what I would love to do to improve my Spanish. My dream is to go to live in a Spanish-speaking country for a week or two with a family and so on. Maybe after I retire <g>