Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: I’m already fluent in English. How can I improve further?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 99 posts

Ask HN: I’m already fluent in English. How can I improve further?

#1

Post by matanrubin »

I’ve been reading, writing and speaking English as a second language ever since I was a kid. I can conduct hour-long conversations at work or when on holiday with native speakers without getting tired or feeling strained. I give presentations, tell jokes and would sometimes even speak in English because I find it easier to express my current thought in it. And yet it doesn’t feel like a mother tongue. I still feel some sentences are direct translations of the way I would say something in Hebrew, and that a native speaker would have said it differently. I’m also aware of my grammar not being perfect. Knowing which preposition to use is sometimes challenging.

So, how do I improve my English further? What’s the next step after reaching this level? Obviously online classes wouldn’t do. The only option I could think of is living in an English speaking country, but that currently not an option.

PS this entire post was written without any help from online resources, so you can take that as my current level of English writing. If you spot out anything you might have articulated differently, it’d be great to hear! Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: I’m already fluent in English. How can I improve further?

#3

Post by _fwu1 »

My biggest struggle is to sound like native due to lack of daily practice with native speakers. There is not enough resources on this one while there are plenty of resources for beginners / intermediate levels. In my native language, I can comfortably phrase one sentence in multiple ways, make it sound casual or less casual, while in English, I think I don't know enough about making myself sound casual.

Re: Ask HN: I’m already fluent in English. How can I improve further?

#4

Post by jotm »

> I still feel some sentences are direct translations of the way I would say something in Hebrew, and that a native speaker would have said it differently. I’m also aware of my grammar not being perfect. Knowing which preposition to use is sometimes challenging.

Just learn how to do that properly, and maybe learn why certain things are spoken/written the way they are (the history behind English is quite fascinating). Google exact match is a godsend for this :D

> The only option I could think of is living in an English speaking country, but that currently not an option.

That may actually turn out to be a major disappointment. Native English speakers don't care about how they speak (or even write). Aside from your accent, which may never improve, you will likely be better than half of the country you'll be living in :D

On the accent: You can sound native, but always a bit off to anyone paying attention. Physiological differences due to growing up with another language in the very early years. Perhaps constant everyday training and speaking only English can help.

Re: Ask HN: I’m already fluent in English. How can I improve further?

#6

Post by itchynosedev »

I found that living with a native English speaker in the same house does teach you a lot of intricacies of the language - pronunciation and grammar. However, it's a deep territory of diminishing returns. In Europe, everyone's English is kind of bad (a lot of people are fluent, of course, but almost never above the level you want to reach), so there are not many people to appreciate your fluency. I found it to be more enriching to learn a new language instead, that gives massive appreciation of the languages you already know.

Re: Ask HN: I’m already fluent in English. How can I improve further?

#7

Post by saagarjha »

Have you tried reading a lot of English text written by fluent native speakers? I find that this is a great way to learn idiomatic usage that you can then emulate. (Disclaimer: I’m a native speaker, but this is how I’ve improved my language skills. Also I’ve started writing more.)

Re: Ask HN: I’m already fluent in English. How can I improve further?

#8

Post by yiyus »

Practice. Reading will always help you (with any language), and watching movies and tv will train your ear. If a totally immersive experience is not an option, I do not think there is much more you can do. It is normal that a foreign language does not feel like your mother tongue, you will probably keep improving but there will always be some difference.

If your goal is to improve your writing too, I cannot recommend enough "The elements of style" by Strunk and White.

Re: Ask HN: I’m already fluent in English. How can I improve further?

#9

Post by rgoulter »

If you'll tolerate nitpicking (EDIT: I don't consider any of this worth pointing out other than nitpicking):

Rather than "would sometimes" as "will sometimes".

I'd rephrase "current thought" to "thoughts" or "train of thought".

I'd rephrase "I’m also aware of my grammar not being perfect." as "I'm also aware that my grammar is not perfect."

"but that currently [is] not an option" (presumably a typo).

Re: Ask HN: I’m already fluent in English. How can I improve further?

#10

Post by jjgreen »

I looked at you post carefully (I do some copy editing, so I'm used to looking for errors), I couldn't find any. I'd not believe someone who said they could tell that you weren't a native speaker. The only thing, very slight, I'd probably say that "I'm also aware that my grammar is not perfect" would be a little more idiomatic, but that could be an AmE/BrE thing.
Post reply on HN