>I suspect in my case, it's more my timidity in using the language (Really, you can all stop laughing now. <s>), and perhaps a lack of fluidity.

I'm not known for being timid either. :o) However, when I was stationed in Germany, I had a 2 week German survival class and that was it. At that age I had already taken French and Russian so I had the ability to learn different languages, but not enough knowledge or skills in any single one to speak well. My Spanish immersion training came much later. I could understand well enough though. I must've looked German, because every place I went people just naturally spoke to me in German. It was scary; I was afraid to say anything. But as soon as I started speaking, they would look astonished and start speaking to me in English stating how they just assumed I was from that area. I guess because I was always trying to learn the language, they would take the time to carry on a conversation in German with me. It was frustrating, because my mom came and stayed in Germany for 3 months and she has a natural afinity for languages. No training and she was speaking well enough to be understood almost immediately. My mother had the natural ability to mimic the sounds and inflection to sound like a native. They never spoke German in the house when she was growing up (during that time period everyone wanted to speak English and not appear to be an immigrant), but her mother was born in Germany and her grandmother spoke German at home so she must've picked up more of it than she thought. We visited my grandmother's home town in Germany but after my mother saw all of the really neat places in Germany, it was just another city :o)

I had a great experience both times I visited Holland as well. I wouldn't dare try to speak Dutch though. Way way beyond me. I've always wanted to travel to Norway (my grandparents on my father's side were both from Norway and they spoke Norwegian at home), but never had the opportunity.