Letter to a friend leaving for Australia, asking for advice for learning English

Dear Marie,

You must be very excited, I'm very happy that you took the plunge. Thanks for asking me for advice, having moved to New-Zealand taught me a few things about learning English.

Regarding your conversation skills, nothing beats practice. Even if you don't know any native English speakers the internet can help you. Try to find a language partner online. Many websites aim to connect 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 with hours of practice. Luckily, this is easier, given the amount of websites where you can listen to the radio 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 with what are 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 this advice helps you to build better English before leaving, I wish you a good luck finding your feet in Australia. If any questions pop up, feel free to ask.

All the best,