I'm curious about how non-native speakers learn to speak well in their countries. Aside today's technology, they don't have the access to spoken language. But people lived hundreds years ago could speak in different languages. Do you find reading along can be able to speak well?

I'm curious about how non-native speakers learn to speak well in their countries. Aside from today's technology, they don't have the access to the spoken language. But people living hundreds of years ago could speak in different languages. 

Do you find that reading can lead to speaking well?