The easiest way to settle into the new language is don't stress it.
My brother didn't speak a word of German and only understood some of the basics when we went to stay with relatives in Germany. Took him about 3 weeks and he was conversing in the Language telling his own stories with ease. He did nothing to prepare.
When you encounter new words do what a PhototReader does... listen for meaning often the rest of the phrase willhelp you to uncover the meaning of the word. Then just use it in a sentence or phrase of your own as quickly as possible it makes it easier to remember the word when you use it haow it is generally used. Don't get too hooked up on new words so much as the words generally used in conversation repetition works far better than anything else.
When you listen for word in another language you will often notice some similarity to the Engish word and words from European languages. And if you've learned Spanaish you might find a similarilty or two in Italian.
While learning the language is great if you're only there for the summer have fun the mind was able to take care of learning your first language when you were a baby, it can help a lot now.
Alex
