- Don't agonize over learning lots of vocabulary every day- it's no worth! You'll probably not be able to remember so many words, anyway. Instead, try to remember just A FEW each time and use them immediately afterwards. That way, little by little, you'll gather a pretty good amount.
- There's no doubt that grammar is essential, however, don't worry too much about studying it over and over again. With daily reading you'll quickly familiarize with it. This truly enhances your intuition when writing.
- Use interesting stuff. You know what you like, so go for it! Reading boring textbooks is nowhere near as good as those ones you choose. I mainly read children's books (for basic vocabulary) and travel blogs (for slang and more elaborated idiomatic expressions) along with translation ones. Find those that attract to you! Thanks to the internet there's plenty of stuff available- more than ever! So, take advantage of it!
- Audio-books are superb, namely those aimed at kids. As a general rule, it's always easier to remember something said in a cartoonish funny voice than in an expressionles flat one, right? You're far more likely to remember something said by Heidi or Peter Pan or Donald Duck, for example, than something said by Tony Blair, aren't you? ;)
- Subtitled films are another good option, too. Although there's the music problem in there, which in too many occasions prevents you from hearing what's being said. That's why I think audio-books overtake films. (Furthermore I'm an absentminded who remains staring at the images and doesn't pay attention to the dialogues. I must admit to being a bit weird! hahahah)
- And finally, there're fantastic web pages around that'll help you to improve your English for free! I've lately been using www.wordreference.com and the more I use it, the more I like it!
What are the tricks that best work for you? What are your methods?
