Letter to a friend leaving for Australia, asking advices for learning English Dear Marie, You must be very excited, I'm very happy that you took the plunge. Thanks for asking me advices, having moved to New-Zealand taught me a few tips on learning English. Regarding your conversation skills, nothing beats practice. Even if you don't have any native English speaker neither in your relatives nor among your friends, Internet can help you. Try to find a language partner online, many websites aim at meeting people who have a shared desire to learn a foreign language. Personally, I ended up on Italki and Skype. Likewise, your listening abilities will only improve over hours of exercises. Luckily, this point is easier, given the amount of websites where you can listen to radios and download podcasts. Watching movies or TV series with subtitles is also a good start. I use to listen to podcasts during my commute, which is very time effective. Learning vocabulary is a long haul task, personally I keep track of words, expressions or idioms I've learned in what is called flashcards. This is a very convenient way to keep learning new things, without being overwhelmed by all the material collected over the time. Try Anki, a free software that you can install in your computer, mobile phone or use directly through its website. I hope these advices may help you building a better English before leaving, I wish you a good luck to find your feet in Australia, if any questions pops in your mind, feel free to ask. All the best,