How are you learning English? English

Hello!
It will be interesting for me to know-how you are learning and improving your English.
As for me, I do:
1. Study words with Anki.
2. Read adapted books.
3. See easy movies (Extra, Private detective Jack Stark, Family Album), still don't comprehend normal movies 🙁
4. Listen to lessons A.J. Hoge
5. Do exercises from Essential grammar in use Murphy.
6. Almost don't write and speak, because anybody don't want to do it with me helpsmilie
That's all for today, bye!

What? Nobody studies? Everyone knows it like a natives? Oh, only I alone don't know, loser(((

Edit by Andrey_spb .

In finland we have to study english in school. We start studying english when we are nine years old.
Nowadays...
1. I listen lots of english music.
2. I read english newspapers and magazines.
3. I talk here nonsense. (Altough everybody ignores me)
4. I watch english movies. Or something with english subtitles.

Still in school (as well as studyind english there.)
I can't think anything else... interesting... 😃

Edit by villasukka .

Hi all!
That's what I do to improve my English:
• I like watching my fav TV series in their original language;
• I always listen to English songs and I love translating them by myself, so, at the same time, I can learn new words;
• sometimes, I enjoy myself writing articles about news from all over the world and reading books;
• I often write emails or letters to my pen pals
• since my mum has lived in Australia for few years, I also speak English at home with her.

That's all, I think. 🙂 In Italy, more or less, it's compulsory studying it from the age of six to the age of 18/19.

Have a good day! 🙂

To villasukka
We also learnt English in school, don't remember exactly, but certainly from the age of twelve, then I studied it in a university and now remember only an alphabet and some simple words( But to be totally honest I didn't have a desire to know it too then)
There is a theory that it was a special system of education that didn't allow to study English that people couldn't communicate with people from capitalist countries.
"London is the capital of Great Britain" - it's phrase knows everybody in Russia, who learnt English and school, but unfortunately nothing else.

To all: if you don't mind, please, fix my mistakes in posts)
Good luck!

And how do you know how to use right articles and prepositions - just memorize?

To Marisid_
A long time ago we translated our favorite songs with a dictionary (then there was no internet here), but didn't understand anything because of lots of idioms in them) After translation it seemed to me very simple.
For example, try to translate from Russian to English this one of my favorite poems by Mayakovsky and get such a result as futher (compare):
In Russian
Дым табачный воздух выел.
Комната - глава в крученыховском аде.
Вспомни - за этим окном впервые
руки твои, исступленный, гладил.
Сегодня сидишь вот, сердце в железе.
День еще - выгонишь, можешь быть, изругав.
В мутной передней долго не влезет
сломанная дрожью рука в рукав.
Выбегу, тело в улицу брошу я.
Дикий, обезумлюсь,
отчаяньем иссечась.
Не надо этого,
дорогая, хорошая,
дай простимся сейчас.
Все равно любовь моя -
тяжкая гиря ведь -
висит на тебе, куда ни бежала б.
Дай в последнем крике выреветь
горечь обиженных жалоб.
Если быка трудом уморят - он уйдет,
разляжется в холодных водах.
Кроме любви твоей, мне нету моря,
а у любви твоей и плачем не вымолишь отдых.
Захочет покоя уставший слон -
царственный ляжет в опожаренном песке.
Кроме любви твоей,
мне нету солнца,
а я и не знаю, где ты и с кем.
Если б так поэта измучила,
он любимую на деньги б и славу выменял,
а мне ни один не радостен звон,
кроме звона твоего любимого имени.
И в пролет не брошусь,
и не выпью яда,
и курок не смогу над виском нажать.
Надо мною, кроме твоего взгляда,
не властно лезвие ни одного ножа.
Завтра забудешь, что тебя короновал,
что душу цветущую любовью выжег,
и суетных дней взметенный карнавал
растреплет страницы моих книжек...
Слов моих сухие листья ли
заставят остановиться,
жадно дыша?

Дай хоть последней нежностью выстелить
твой уходящий шаг.

One of the translations in English:
The smoke of tobacco ate away the air.
This room is but a chapter in Dante's inferno.
Remember, here's the window where
I first stroked your hands with ecstatic yearning.
Now you sit here, your heart clad in armor.
Another day - you'd scold me and throw me out, I believe.
Broken by shiver, pushing with ardor,
my arm would finally find the sleeve.
Running out of the fog of the hallway, wild,
slashed by desperation,
I'd cast my bones on the street.
Don't let it go that far,
my dear, darling, kind,
let me now take leave.
Anyway, my love is just
some heavy gear that
keeps hanging on you anywhere you go.
Let me at last howl out the tear gas
of bitter, offended moans.
If a bull is worn out by his load, it would leave
to repose itself in cooling waters.
Besides the love of yours, I have no ocean,
but even crying won't entreat your love of a rest I want now.
An elephant, tired and looking for peace,
kingly would lay in the sands parched by the glare.
Except your love, I have
no sun, but I don't
know with whom you're now and where.
If you'd vex a poet just like you can,
he would change his loved one for money and sheer fame,
but no chink can make me happy except
the most sonorous chime of your most dear name.
But I won't plunge into a well hole,
nor drink some poison,
nor pull the trigger at my temple perchance.
Every knife over me is but pointless,
no blade has power except for your glance.
Tomorrow you'll forget that once I had you crowned
and branded with love the flowering soul,
The whirl of fussy days, when flying all around,
will blow my pages about in shoals...
Maybe my words in the dry leaves' rendering
would make you pant for breath,
to stop you would help?

Let me at least with last-minute tenderness
pave your receding step.

Edit by Andrey_spb .

This poem is also part of a song by Сплин, if I'm not wrong! A friend of mine has suggested it to me 🙂

Yes, Splin made a music and sang it as song.

As for me I've been learning English in every possible way since I was born... I guess 😛

Advise for you guys: find a mate whom you'd be able to talk to everyday, in English of course, and would be nice if it's someone from real life, not a penpal

Hi ! I'm French (and it is a well-known fact that french people do not speak english very well :/) and I learn english too, so here my advices to improve your english :

1. As you said, learn your lesson and your vocabulary, make cards with your vocabulary written on it and read it regularly. You can even glue them on your wall, for exemple your bedroom or your toilets, thus you'll see them everyday.

2. Listen english/american radio, like BBC or NPR. Personally I do that every morning while having my breakfast ! At the beginning it is a little bit hard and discouraging, but then your brain is gonna use to it and you will be able to understand.

3. Watch TV program in english ! and watch your movies and series in english ! (An advice : if you don't know the serie "The 100", you should tryit, this is awesome !) The only subtitles allowed are in english, of course ;P

3'. Watch videos on Youtube in english ! You can even find english teacher's video on it !

4. Read every thing you can find in english on Internet. Personally I read a lot of fanfiction, thoses stories written by fans, for exemple, Harry Potter or Vampire Diaries fanfic ! And of course, it does not replace a real book !

5. Find a penpal, this is really fun to chat with someone at the other end of the world ! You discover his/ her culture, habits, way to live, what he/she loves...and you improve your english ! And if you two really appreciate each other, you'll maybe try to meet each other in real life !

6. As I said previously, chat with a panpal, on Skype for exemple...

7. And for your holidays, try to leave in a foreign country, for a language travel for exemple ! You'll meet people there, and you'll have friends in a foreign country ! If it scare you too much to leave alone, try to leave with a friend !

8. SING IN YOUR SHOWER IN ENGLISH !!!


Xoxo, I hope my advices will be useful !
😛unk

To Liobleka
Thanks for your response. I'll try to see "The 100"
And how do you know how to use correctly articles and prepositions - just memorize?
1-3 - do it🙂
4 - it's hard for me to read a normal books (if I have to use a dictionary through the word I don't get a satisfaction from reading).
5 - can't find anybody here( And I'm a bit afraid of speaking (learn words every free minute, but they always evaporate from my head when I speak)
7 - economy crisis destroyed our holiday plans to travel abroad and now only work, only hardcore! (Now only Karelia with tents and there are no people there
at all).
8 - How? It will spoil my balalaika!
Sincerely,
Andrey

you can practise your reading and listening skils on this website: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/

Hello,
what a interesting topic!
dear Andrey I dont write my method... it's better don't tell bad and wrong things.
I read every words yours and of everybody answering to you.
I think, I believe it will be good have one or more friends to talk with (but I'm knowing it's very difficult to know these people...)
I installed skipe but never used it....
I believe new experience in this site.
ciao ciao

By chatting with foreign People and watching movie in English...i need to practice my oral skill tho

By learning it at uni + singing songs + chatting here, I need to improve my oral skills but I hate English 😮)

I watch a lot of series and I just like to speak or think to myself...

I watch a lot of series and I just like to speak or think to myself...
Hi!
But if you isn't advanced in English, who been able to check and correct you, when you speak to yourself?

Anyone wanting to improve on their English, I'm from Canada and willing to try to help! 🙂