I took a break with learning English a week ago. It wasn't intentional; just my personal situation led me to that pause. It's always interesting to observe how quickly your confidence decreases during such pauses. It feels like in a couple of days after taking the pause, various fears begin to attack you and your ability to speak. At the same time, I really think that it might be a good instrument to step aside and see what your real level of proficiency is. After taking a pause we usually speak less confidently, but the vocabulary and grammar we use reflect what indeed sticks to our memory. Judging by the number of stops I've done while writing this short text, my proficiency is still far from perfect. That's sad; but the train goes on.