One of the most fun things to do with your developing language skills is to talk to native speakers of that language that you happen to meet. This is especially fun to do when you travel.

When I want to meet Russians to practice speaking Russian, I often wear a Russian-flag lapel pin on my collar. You could easily do this for most languages that you might be interested in.

The people who notice your flag lapel pin will be interested in that country, and you will make some fun new acquaintances. Some of the people who notice your pin will be native speakers of that language. People who aren’t interested in that country will probably not even notice your pin.

Flag pins are easy to buy online. Just do a web search for the term “flag pins.”

Some other fun things would accomplish the same thing. For example, you could have a t-shirt made with words in the language you want to learn that say, “Talk to me in [insert your favorite language here].”

This is a good thing to do even if you are an absolute beginner. When you meet someone who speaks the language you want to learn, say something nice about their country in their language, and you will make an instant friend.

Don’t wait until you are fluent to start meeting new people and having fun with your new language. Have fun right away!