On listening and speaking

I always wondered what kind of langauge learner I was.  In linguistics classes, I learned that there are traits a good language learner has, and I would always try to figure out which category I fell into.  There was the category that seemed to imply that (pardon my paraphrasing) extroverts made better language learners.  It always depressed me a little.  I don't think I am an extrovert.  Sometimes, I prefer listening to talking.  I would pressure myself in language situations to be more outgoing and talk as much as I could.  But when, for whatever reason, I didn't have the energy to do so, I would feel guilty about wasting a good opportunity, and not being a better language learner.  This has been going on inside my brain for years, but just the other day, while walking down the street, I remembered another thing I learned while teaching Spanish at the University of Pittsburgh.  Listening comes before speaking.  To be a good speaker, you have to be a good listener.    If you are super active all the time and speak at every opportunity, when do you get to listen?   

I am not about to write a theory of second language acquisition based on this experience, but it does make me feel more justified in my approach to language learning.   All roads lead to Rome.  The important thing is to keep walking.