Vocab learning is the biggest barrier to communication

I’ve been learning Arabic for a couple of years (UK-based, trying to reconnect with my heritage), and I’ve hit a bit of a wall.

I’ve done Duolingo and I use Anki daily, so I recognise quite a lot of words. But when I try to speak or understand real conversations, I can’t recall them fast enough to actually use them.

It’s made me realise something:

I don’t think I really “know” a word unless I can use it in a sentence without thinking.

Lately I’ve been trying a different approach where I:

• pick a word
• try to say 2–3 sentences using it

And honestly… it’s humbling. There are loads of words I thought I knew that I just can’t use at all.

It feels like the real problem isn’t learning vocabulary, it’s being able to retrieve and use it under pressure.

I’m wondering if anyone else has hit this?

Are there tools or methods that actually help bridge that gap between recognising a word and being able to use it in real conversation?