I rock... I suck

I'm at a funny stage in my language learning. For a little while now I've been able to understand pretty much 100% of 40 minute sermons, without making any particular effort. Obviously this is really nice. And yet, I still find that I don't always know what people are saying in conversations - sometimes I can do little more than catch the general topic. It's weird and sometimes discouraging.

The other weird thing is how much the context affects what I can say. In the unreal, quiet, concentration of my Spanish lessons I can say a fair bit and get a good portion of it right. But when I go to speak in a social setting, I find myself incapable of thinking very much at all about how to do it. Most of the grammar I know goes out the window and I'm left forming these ugly, confused sentences, relying on the graciousness and intelligence of my listeners to decipher what I've said. I think it happens because the very fact of being part of a social situation uses a lot of my energy. I think it's to do with being an introvert. Anyway, it's weird and sometimes discouraging.