I have the same problem.

My written English is quite good, but my spoken English is very bad because 
I've never practised it intensively, like I have with my written English.

I'm under an everyday illusion that I understand spoken English fine. Here 
in Denmark we don't have voice overs for foreign movies and TV and while 
there *are* subtitles, the simultaneous exposure to the original language 
still works as practice, to the point that many people will notice if the 
words have been translated in an counterintuitive way. If subtitles are 
missing, I can still understand 98% of what is said just fine. However, my 
guess is that I don't understand native English speakers very well at all. 
At least, that's what happened when I was in England many years ago. While 
you normally don't notice it, spoken English in movies is *far* better 
pronounced that how people talk in real life.

This is my biggest fear when I'm going to the Game Developers Conference in 
San Francisco in two weeks time: That I'll find myself utterly unable to 
understand what most people are saying except if they speak slow and clearly 
to me, and that I'll sound like I'm bad at communicating due to lack of 
practise with speaking the language...

Rune
-- 
http://runevision.com

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