how long can i control another language ?

Well, I'm from Thailand. And English is in the basic course for student in Thailand. Start from Kindergarten, they start to teach A-Z and some of easy words. After that we spend most time in Primary school to learn words and some of basic grammars[6 years]. And in high school there are lots and lots of grammar, lots of vocabulary. The teachers really teach lots in grade 10-12 to get student ready for entrance exam. For now, I think I could communicate with my English, but I think I'm real bad with grammars. I could say I don't really care of it. Just to get listeners understand is enough for me.

I was 11 when I started learning English, and English was a mandatory subject from the 5th to the 9th or the 10th grade. After that I when to high school, I chose the language line, and I studied English, German and French. I have studied English for 8 years (from the 5th grade to the end of high school) After high school I travelled a lot and lived and worked in Italy, Estonia, Poland and Scotland. In Italy I spoke Italian, but in Estonia and Poland I often had to use English, because I wasn't very good at Estonian or Polish. Scotland was the best place to practice my English, and it very useful for me to live there for a while.

Well,more than ten years study.In my university, english is my major.Anyway,have a good comand of any kind language is not an easy job.Just enjoy the study process and the culture where it roots.I love study different language and will carry this throughout my life if possible,especially the European language.Glad to meet u,hope you will get a great success in you studing journey.

You need to read. Read newspapers and read them out loud, it might also help if you found a conversation partner, there are all kinds of free sites where you can do this such as http://www.lingozone.com to hear native pronunciation you can visit http://www.forvo.com or http://www.lingvozone.com Forvo is just a collection of words being pronounced, Lingvozone is a software company that has free open source dictionaries and then English dictionary has audio for practically every word.

By the way, I feel it is not proper to use "control" in the title. But English is also not my mother language, so I am not quite sure about it.What your comments who speak English as mother language?

I think it is difficult to learn Englsih well in China. When I studied abraod for the first time, I even have problems in daily communication. I couldn't catch a word in the class at all. After several years living in Europe, I feel much better now.

well, English is my native language, so I guess you might say I've been "studing" it all my life.... I don't really know any other languages, but I found it amusing today when my client asked someone on the phone is they spoke Spanish in German! If I hadn't been so busy I'd've been dying laughing! I know enough Spanish to tell some kids that "no nino's, gatos" "no children, cats" and I know a few words in German. I also can do some Signed English and some American Sign Language because I worked with some deaf people years back.

Well, English is my native tongue, but I have experience learning French and Spanish. I started learning Spanish and I took 6 years of it, but after six years I am still only conversational in it. If I have to talk to a person in Spanish (and there have been plenty of scenarios where I have), I have trouble with it and it's hard. However, I can understand Spanish pretty easily and can listen to what people are saying in Spanish even if I can't respond. French was a bit more natural for me and came easier. I've been studying it for 4 years now and I am semi-fluent. I can speak it, think it, write it, and hear it fairly naturally with only few pauses (the accent is a whole other thing that we won't get into right now). But that took time and a lot of work. It did pay off, though, when I met a couple guys from Morocco and I could speak with them in French and hear their stories and everything, it was great. So, I guess all I can say is that it takes a long time. English, in my opinion, is a ton harder than both French and Spanish. I know that if I hadn't been born speaking English I probably would not have been able to learn it well. It does take time and effort, though. You speak English well enough, in my opinion. Better than some native English speakers. :) Just keep trying and you'll get there eventually! Best of luck.