By the way, Texas has more acres of forest land than every state you mentioned as being nature-y and forest-y and having more incentive to care about the environment. The only state with more forest than Texas is Alaska.

Like someone else said, Texas is too big to make generalizations.

> Listen to the language, even if you don’t have a clue what’s being said – and you’re not even paying close attention

I totally agree that this is helpful. Playing Spanish music while I work was one of the things I credited helping me learn so quickly.

> Don’t try too hard with the grammar

This, too. When I first started learning, I tried to remember all of the rules that I was taught in high school, but it was easier to just remember how the words are used in different contexts. Asking native speakers the whys behind the languages usually just results in frustration.

> Have a drink…

My verbal fluidity increases significantly when drinking. This probably has to do with letting go of the worry about sounding "dumb" while conversing in a different language. Most people are very forgiving towards people speaking in their non-native tongue, but it's still hard not being self-conscious. Alcohol helps.

I don't know about the other points, as I learned in an immersive environment by the seat of my pants.

Dealing with the trauma has opened up a richness inside my head that I didn’t realize I had. I can visualize almost anything I imagine, and I’ve began drawing. I’ve always had very good spatial reasoning, sense of direction and audible memory.

I’m still working on being fully present, though.