Ask HN: How did you become fluent in English?

This is great, but you're missing out on spoken English.

I think one of the biggest obstacles in speaking is overcoming the fear of saying something wrong, or not being understood. At least that was the case for me. Once you get over that fear and get a more "I don't give a crap" attitude towards if what you're saying is correct, and instead just say it, you've come a long way and it will help you improve.

Simple version of what I'm trying to convey:

Try to not be afraid to say something wrong, just speak your mind. Don't worry about grammar when you speak. It will come naturally after a while.

Personally I learnt most my spoken English through co-operative computer games and speaking to other players over ventrilo / mumble or in-game voice comms. The fear of saying something wrong or being misunderstood was minimized in this online setting, sitting safely at home but still communicating with real people.

You're right. English is not my native language, and I learned it in the school, which included speaking, albeit not too much.

The steps I outlined is how I sharpened my skills after school, during my non-educational life, in a spontaneous manner. I understood these steps years later, and share them whenever there's a chance to share.

I've practiced my speaking skills in the university via presentations, and during my work travels. Also my work requires me to send a lot of English mails, which tend to progress conversation-like. Since they were the things which came to my way rather than I consciously selected, I have no reproducible way of practicing spoken English, so I knowingly omitted those.

I grew up in Italy. Among EU countries, Italians have one of the worst English accent and vocabulary, because Italian TV "dubs" every single movie and TV show ever invented. In fact, you often hear that "Italian dubbers (e.g. voice over actors) are the best in the world".

In my teenage years, my father gave me an amazing present: for two summers, he paid to send me to study English in Scotland once, and in Sussex once. I did learn some English, but most importantly I associated English with "ability to travel and see the world".

My English was quite good for Italian standards, and quite bad in general, until I got to age 18. I then decided I wanted to learn English really well. My resolution became to watch movies only in English, and to read only in English, for years. It worked.

Finally, in 2003, I won a fellowship to study for one semester at UC Irvine. When I came back, my English was at a very good level.

From 2008 onwards, I worked for US companies (Amazon, VMware), and have been living in San Francisco since 2012.

Looking back, I believe it was "hard" for me to make these decisions and put the effort in, compared to my peers. I was also fortunate to have a family that supported me and loved me dearly.

When I go back to my home town (Assisi, in Umbria, Italy), I always think about this. Ah, life. Sliding doors. Decisions. Etc.

If you're reading in a different language, try readlang (I'm not an owner, just a happy user.) It's a browser plugin that does 2 things: (1) inline translation, including of phrases, so reading becomes much much less painful; and (2) every word or phrase you look up, it saves as a flash card for you to review. It's well worth the $5/month.

TV shows (mostly Friends) and movies, first with subtitles and then without. Also, singing in English.

Between these three, I acquired the day to day vocabulary, pronunciation and rhythm of the language.

Works for other languages too.