How can someone understand a language but not be able to speak it?

Question

How can someone understand a language but not be able to speak it?

In: Other

Answer 1

Not an expert, but I would guess because when you’re speaking it, you have to recall the language and grammar and words completely from memory. But when you’re hearing it, you just have to remember what the word means and you don’t have to know every single word because you can usually figure it out from context.