I don't care much about the accent I speak with as long as I'm understood. But I really love the British accent, the one that you can hear in Trainspotting (it's Scottish though) or in Human Traffic... The way they say "Wha appen'd" instead of "What happened" or "Oi!" instead of "Hey!" is just awesome!

I think you sould have something common to talk about with a possible language partner. It could also be quite hard to aggree on how you two organise your "partnership": since it's a language exchange you should use both your and partner's languages in your communication. I would support Arthur here: a professional or community tutor will estimate your level and give your the subjects to work on during the session.

1) dorera, approfondira

2) oublierai

3) mettrai, garderas

4) attacherai, nourrira

^_^

I went to a foreign business trip once, the main communication language was English, obviously. It lasted just 4 days but when I returned I was catching myself that I can't properly construct a phrase in my native language! So I think it's normal and your brain is just fine :) Maybe it's because the vocabulary (even though it's your native language vocabulary) goes down to long-term memory and it gets harder to revoke it from its depths...

I usually follow the method Arthur proposed. But I print the text out, underline unknown words and then translate them after finishing a chapter and write their meaning above them. I noticed that the closer to the end I get the less words I underline.

Hi Gabriel!

Try this one: http://laits.utexas.edu/fi/

I started learning French on this resource. Grammar explained in fun, logical and memorable manner, and there are some useful tools too, like conjugation reference for most common verbs.

Bonne chance! :)