Changes

Immersion should make it brutally obvious that there's a lot to learn. If you are hitchhiking (especially in rural areas) you You will have frustrating conversations where you understand NOTHING. This is especially common in rural areas where dialects and thick accents prevail (and the people don't come in contact with foreigners often). Don't worry about it. ! Keep practicing. Supplement the immersion with additional studying. Learn all (and practice using) those tenses you skipped in step 2. Keep using the hand method, and keep talking to strangers. Learn new words as you need them. Keep on trucking!