I'm really starting to feel more and more confident with my Russian.

I found out recently that I can maintain long conversations with natives, as long as they’re speaking rather clearly and don’t use too strange metaphors.

As it happened for English years ago, I noticed that this feeling of confidence only came after a phase of letting go of my high expectations. That’s how, instead of focusing on what I don’t understand, I focus on what I do understand, and speaking feels much more pleasant.