Spaced repetition - one of the best ways to learn new words Spaced repetition software helps me remember new words. Actually, thanks to its unique algorithm, it's difficult to forget the new learned words (assuming you use the software regularly). What's the main principle? The system is based on well known flashcards. A word in your native language appears, you say the translation in your mind, than you click on some button, the correct translation appears. Based on difficulty by recalling the word, you evaluate your performance on a scale (from Bright to Null or from 1 to 5 - it depends on the program). After that, the program automatically schedules next repetition. The better the recall was, the later the repetition will be scheduled. If you recall the word in next repetitions, the time to next repetitions will gradually grow up. If you forget the word, it will be repeated sooner. Search for this stuff in the internet, you'll get more useful information about it. And I recommend you at least to try a program using the spaced repetition. I use Supermemo both on computer and in my mobile device. Supermemo is very complicated and user-unfriendly, but there are also two free and friendlier programs - Mnemosyne and Anki. And my personal experience? It's no problem to learn e.g. 1000 new words in a month. And thanks to the scheduled repetitions, I don't forget them. In the course of time, the speed of learning new words slows down a little (because the repetitions take time).

Word order in english sentences - don't make silly mistakes anymore Maybe 10 years ago, my english teacher learned me one of the most useful words - SVOMPT. It's a mnemonic that helps you build a correct english sentence. Just have a look: SVOMPT S - Subject V - Verb O - Object M - Manner P - Place T - Time T (Time), as the last letter, can also be at the beginning of the sentence.

Did italki help you? I wonder if italki actually helped you get some friends for talking... I mean real talking (iTALKi), not just writing each other or asking questions. Although I am a new member here, I tried to contact a number of people to talk with (skype or msn). I talked with only 2 people - one of them could barely say a sentence in English (in spite of "intermediate" level in her profile), the other one is OK, we talked a while. So, that's ONE call of maybe 20 contacted users... Do you think italki really fulfills its purpose? I am a bit disappointed...

Accent in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian? Where does the accent of the Telmarines come from?

What are the ways to build up the active vocabulary? except for speaking... Is there any textbook, e-book, webpage etc.? As I've written in my notebook entry, I have good passive vocabulary, but the active one (which is used mainly for speaking) is pretty poor...No, you don't understand me. There are two types of vocabulary - active and passive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocabulary#Passive_vs._active_vocabulary). Words and phrases from the active one come on your mind in milliseconds, so you can fluently use them during speaking. Recalling the words from the passive vocabulary is much slower and therefore it's not suitable for speaking. I've read in english a lot and have seen a plenty of english sitcoms and movies, but this didn't help me to speak a lot.

Poor active vocabulary - frequent problem? How to build it up? (It would be great if you'd comment this post, not just correct it...) I think I'm not the only one with this problem. At school, our teachers emphasised grammatics and learning words by heart. That was also the main part of tests. We did only a little of hearing exercises and very few speaking activities. On the one hand, this helped me to get through some english books, learn from english textbooks on the university, I've also read plenty of articles in the internet... That helped me improve my passive vocabulary. Nevertheless, I didn't understand spoken word a lot - I realized that at watching movies (despite understanding english subtitles without any problem). So, I watched some sitcoms, many movies, some podcasts... And my hearing comprehension improved a lot. My speaking skills are still very poor. At this time, I don't care a lot about pronunciation. I just have to shift some passive vocabulary to the active one. I hope you know what I'm talking about. Do you know some exercises, webpages or books that would help broaden the active vocabulary? There is a Czech e-book named "Speak as a spokesman" with plenty of interestening exercises and tongue twisters. They help native speakers build up the active vocabulary. (This helps e.g. by oral exams, it improves expressing ideas... It just enhances your speaking skills a lot.) Is there something similar for English? I know that the best way to improve speaking is to speak, but now I really don't have any opportunities... (If you have the same problem, you can contact me and we can talk a bit via skype or msn...)