How to be an advanced user of English? I am an intermediate user of English. I found it very very hard to advance into higher levels, especially when speaking about difficult topics. These are what I am doing to improve my English: Reading: I read the Economist and try to learn new vocabularies from it.(I love how it writes. Very beautiful wording.) But the thing is I forgot them very quickly...unless the words repeatedly show up. Listening: TED speech are what I like to watch. I used to listen to BBC or VOA, but some of the contents are too dull to follow...Do you have any recommendations for listening? Writing: I write regularly in Italki. And I found it very rewarding. Speaking: Still italki language partners and teachers help me a lot. I think learning language is all about imitation and memorization. The best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in that language speaking environment, but I don't have plans for going abroad within 2 years. Do you have any suggestions for me ? Thank you!