If you really want to learn a foreign language the best method by far is immersion – that is, you take a couple of months out of your job if you can, rent cheap apartments in Rome or Paris and actually go to live there as a foreign student.

It sounds crazy but you can spend years at night classes and still barely be able to pass the time of day. It is natural that when you are with people who speak the same language as you, it is more difficult to have a go without feeling stupid. You do not really get stuck in to speaking the language unless you are among native speakers.

Of course, you will make mistakes initially, but that is the only way you can learn. Live with people who do not speak English so that you are forced to have a go – or starve! In no time at all you will be fluent and able to hold a conversation with the best of them.

It may sound like a big step – and a huge expense – but if you come back fluent then this will also enable you to either find a better job or progress in your current job if they need a speaker of a foreign language.

And of course you not only get to grips with the language, but the culture and the very heart of the country.