Talking to people who actually speak the language is a huge help, because they will use more complex vocabulary naturally if they aren't stupid, and the best way to learn a language is to make yourself use it.
this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2024
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I'm only text to people online. Probably good practice, but I'm too unsure of myself to speak others
Well unfortunately you won't ever really learn how to speak the language if you don't speak it to others.
You yourself just admitted you reached a barrier and can't make more progress.
The next step to learn is to get over that anxiety and actually speak to someone.
Read a lot! And watch many videos or movies on similar subjects so that you learn how to pronounce those words. Then you could write about the videos/movies, or share your opinions about them online. Extra points if it's something you actually like and know a bit about.
Just a quick warning: sometimes not even native speakers know the "proper" pronunciation of certain words, so you'll hear a variety of accents and pronunciations, from this just pick your fighter, whatever sounds better to you I guess. Also, sometimes people can be mean online, don't mind them.
Source: I got my english from books, games and youtube, then got a bit of practice from speaking with friends and working at call centers.
Also, sometimes people can be mean ~~online~~, don't mind them.
Anecdote: I learned speaking French for like forever? I'm Dutch so I have some accent and an old French women (in the south),while I ask for some help, said I need to learn to speak French in a very mean tone just because I don't have their stupid south accent ! 🤨
Speaking to people is a great step. Even texting helps. Here's a thing I used to tell my students when I was teaching English: if you speak and hit a word that you don't know, find a way "around". Don't get hung up on one word. You'll get comfortable forming sentences, navigating around words you don't know. That'll help with fluency.
Song lyrics? Shorter investment, and songs are fun to repeat, not boring.
already tried, but yeah
If you want some advanced English, try out Bad Religion, and make sure you have a dictionary handy.
Conversation with someone who natively speaks English but also speaks your native language as a second language, mutually assured learning.
Another one is english crossword puzzles. They will expand your vocabulary and somewhat help with usage and meaning. It does require a fair amount of pop-culture knowledge, but you can Google the hints and find crossword solution websites to help. It also exposes you to words that conversation won't typically have and synonym words to more common words.
As the other commenter said, speaking to people who speak the language is one of the best ways to learn a language.
When I was preparing for the IELTS exam, my tutor told me that I needed to speak and think in English. It was easy at home because my wife and I had to take the same exam. We talked in English for quite a while, and whenever we needed a word, we hit the books, even during the fights.
Now to the "thinking in English" part. We were encouraged to have our inner monologues in English. Everything we thought about should be in English. If we had a problem with that, we should go to the dictionary.
Last but not least was the exposure to the "media". All the movies we watched were subtitled at first, and eventually we watched movies without subtitles, often rewinding the difficult parts. Same with music.
Nowadays, the so-called AI assistants help with the correct gamma and spelling. But I still use an analog dictionary when in doubt.