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

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

#14
post #12

Browse https://www.urbandictionary.com/ look for games like https://research.google.com/semantris Play online games with teamspeak

Would not recommend casually browsing the former to get better at English. Looking up new terms that you encountered on social media, maybe.

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

#15
I think I'm at a similar level as you, I can speak and write fluently but I suspect that I'm not always using the right words in the right context.

In my experience, the only way to really get a feel for that is to have conversations with native speakers. I had some native (Canadian, British) speaking colleagues in the past, at a time when I falsely believed that my English was near perfect, and it was amazing how much I noticed that I still had to learn.

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

#16
I'm also a 'non native' speaker of English and it has been my second language from childhood.

For me the question is - for a global or a widespread language like that of English, is there any characteristic which can be defined as 'native'. English speaker from Scotland would sound very 'non-native' in Australia and vice versa.

I would imagine for a languages like Mandarin or Russian which is spoken in a particular geographical region with homogeneous population can have that characteristic - "Spoken like a true native". But for languages like English not so, same could be true for languages like Spanish and Hindi (3rd most widely spoken - contained in a geographical region but spoken among very diverse and non-homogenous population).

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

#17

Study "The Elements of Style" ( https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-William-Strunk-... ), a classic on better writing. It will teach you about how to really write for the reader and not for yourself.

I also recommend Steven Pinker's Sense of Style[1], as a more modern and definitely more interesting to read alternative.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Sense-Style-Thinking-Persons-Writing-...

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

#19
> The only option I could think of is living in an English speaking country, but that currently not an option.

Speaking from personal experience, I think all this will do is change your speech patterns and modulate your accent ever so slightly.

You likely read/write English better than a native English speaker already. Some of the language/grammar I've encountered from my English colleagues in both formal and informal written communication is absolutely terrible, and I attribute that to them "learning" English by way of speaking and "incorrect" colloquial usage before perfunctorily running through their English lessons at school.

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

#20
post #12

Browse https://www.urbandictionary.com/ look for games like https://research.google.com/semantris Play online games with teamspeak

Would not recommend casually browsing the former to get better at English. Looking up new terms that you encountered on social media, maybe.

also urban dictionary contains a lot of obviously joke definitions where you need to already know the word to see it is not the actual meaning.
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