Whether you're someone who works with languages every day or who only uses them from time to time, language is a skill, like any other, that requires practice to maintain or you can quickly find that it becomes more difficult to use. You might find yourself searching for words that once came easily or doubting the structure of a sentence which you've used dozens of times before. So how can you keep up your proficiency level in a second or additional languages?
Of the four core language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), listening is perhaps the easiest to practise every day. If you struggle to find time to dedicate to language practice, you could try listening to a news bulletin, audiobook or podcast while travelling, or maybe wind down at the end of the day by watching a film or listening to music in the language you would like to practise. Watching online videos about language learning or your other hobbies can also allow you to practise language by combining your interests.
Finding opportunities to speak a language that isn't commonly used in your country can be a challenge, but technology means that there are other options available in addition to the more traditional methods. If you are lucky enough to have friends or family who speak the language you want to practise, you could meet up with them or give them a call, and if you can't find any humans to talk to, you could always consider chatting to your pets in another language. Local education providers, language teachers, interest groups and cultural institutes also often run conversation classes either in-person or online, and there are a number of apps which you can use to connect to tutors and native speakers so you can practise speaking another language without having to travel.
Like listening, reading in your second language is something that can be practised if you ever find yourself with a spare moment, and can be worked into your daily routine. If you are a social media user, you can follow people who write about your areas of interest in your second language, and you can read news articles published by foreign-language news providers wherever you are in the world. If you have a bit more time to spend reading, you could also look for books and novels in your favourite genres or subscribe to magazines or periodicals. If your day is so busy that you don't have a moment to spare, you could even set your phone and other electronic devices to display in the language you would like to practise.
Finally, there are also plenty of opportunities to write in another language, whether for yourself or when communicating with other people. If you make lists or notes for yourself, swapping languages is an easy way to fit in some extra practice, and if you keep a diary, you could write a paragraph or two in your other language every time you fill it in. If you have colleagues or friends who can speak your second language, sending them a text or an email is always a good way to keep up your skills, and if you don't currently have contact with anyone you can practise with, you could use a reputable penfriend website to connect with someone new.
While it can sometimes seem impossible to find time to keep up a foreign language, and it is certainly harder when you are not surrounded by it every day, there are lots of little things that you can do to keep it fresh in your mind and maintain your enthusiasm for using it.