Intermediate Spanish Verbal Communication: HELP!!!!

[Misfate]

Alright, so after taking a placement test for my spanish class, I qualified for Intermediate Spanish (Hurrah!). There is just one problem: while I do excel in reading and writing of Spanish, I happen lack in understanding of verbal Spanish (with some individuals speaking rapidly) and communicating back (being extremely nervous that the wrong words may slip out). Does anybody have any suggestions on how to improve in this?

 

[Ereth]

Honestly, the best thing you can do is practice listening and speaking. You won't improve in these areas unless you actually spend time practicing.

 

[Aspieistj]

I had two years of high school Spanish back in the early 60s and still love to try to read, listen to and speak the language. I found myself in the seat next to a Spanish speaker on a flight from Miami to Kennedy and enjoyed trying to talk with him. He spoke no English and was happy to do any talking while in flight. We had fun and I think it made his flight as a refugee to a new country a little easier. I am sooo glad I remembered enough vocabulary to ask " Mas despacio, por favor." He slowed down his speech and I was able to comprehend pretty well. It was a night flight and he eventually fell asleep for a while. When he woke I wanted to call his attention to the gorgeous moon that was sitting just outside my window but I couldn't remember the word for moon. I managed, "Como se dice la palabra-----" and pointed out the moon and he immediately enjoyed the beautiful "luna." Do you have cable that provides Spanish language programs? The dialog is always too rapid for me to understand a lot, but I do get the gist of what is being said. Good luck!