To those who speak a second language

for 20 years I was able to survive in spanish (my third language) because I've traveled a lot in Latin countries, usually for a few months each trip. since almost a year I have a spanish speaking girlfriend and I have learned more in the last months than in my whole life before that. spanish in itself, as you already know, is a fairly easy language but the hard part is understanding them when they speak because they speak so damn fast. I think the only way to become fluent is immersion and relationships, then you get into the every day conversation and slowly get used to the speed at which they speak. I understand my girlfriend most of the time ( because she tries to speak slower and pronounce well) but other people are still hard to understand, but I'm getting there.