13th of April. Learning English Hello to anyone who reads (will read?) this note. Hope you are doing well. I've been registered here since 2012, but almost haven't been using it. I don't know why. Maybe because I never focused much on writing and speaking in my language learning. But I feel I need to change it. I know many words in English. I think I have a solid vocabulary, but the problem is I rarely use it. For example if I read an article or a book, I know many words. But when it comes to writing or speaking I use plain words and phrases and have to look up a dictionary often. Many useful words and phrases that I know lay passively somewhere deep in my brain. So I decided to pay more attetion to my writing and speaking skills. If you are a native speaker (preferably American English) and interested in learning Russian language and culture, please let me know. I hope I'll write here as often as I can. Today I'd like to write about how I learn English. Generally I love learning and discovering something new. I have a passion learning English. I also studied German many years ago but forgot it almost completely. I liked it also a lot. But due to lack of time I don't practice it. But I hope to find time some day to learn German too. I try to learn English every day. Here what I do. I learn grammar and do exercises (I use Upstream Upper Intermediate book and a couple of Russian grammar books), note down and learn new words and short texts by heart. I also read books. First book that I read now is The Catcher in the Rye by J.Salinger. At first I listen an abstract by audio and try to understand it aurally, then I listen to it again and read simultaneously, looking up unknown words in a dictionary. The second book that I read is Hawthorne on painting. It's a book consisting of famous notes of a great American painter and art teacher Charles W. Hawthorne. I also read blog articles from people that I subscribed for and some articles on the Internet. Next - listening. I watch a famous American show that I love - Friends, youtube vlogger - Casey Neistat and some podcasts. Sometimes I also watch films without subtitles, as I'm into films. But watching films and shows is the hardest part for me, as people speak so fast that I hardly understand anything. Sometimes when I feel like an English expert and proficient speaker after spending all day learning, I switch on a film and almost fall into depression after I realise how little I can understand. But I don't give up and keep learning:)