Improving my English; where to start?  

You're absolutely right. I have already learned a lot through discussing on-line but mainly through mylot whilst I am pretty new here.

May I ask, what is the reason you aren't bilingual?

I will check it out, thanks mye.

Should anyone know other good sites, don't hesitate please speak up. :)

your welcome,.thats the better one site i think,.coz they will give you the secret on how to speak like a native speaker

I have even found a way of getting the whole course ( I don't mean the email only course) for free. Maybe I could start a new discussion based on this one telling you guys how it was you who recommended me a course which made me write and speak like a native speaker.

Thanks once again mye.

Besides your tip being the best one you can give it's one of the better ones here. I am planning on asking some people to skype with me in order for me to get even more familiarized with English. :)

Are you interested?

Sorry but I don't use skype or any other messaging software, I think you should make a post and see if anyone else would be interested in helping you. Also if you can you should offer them an incentive like pay them some money or say that you will be on of their referrals and you will be active. If you do that then you will get more people interested in helping you but for me I can't because i don't use those software and I don't think I am a good teacher/mentor.

I see your point but how sad that people are more likely to do something to help you if you offer them an incentive Times are changing in the wrong direction.

Yeah I know, if was able to help I would but I won't know my way around the skype messenger program. I needed help a lot of times and everyone was helpful and when they heard that I got no money to pay them they stopped helping me. People want to recieve something when they give something away, for example people want an incentive for helping someone out.

I'm fully agree with you as I'm also experiencing that. Everything is about money and earning things, it's the only reason why mylot has become so popular beside the fantastic community here.

It's a good tip though when I would be desperate to improve my English, well I can say I am eager but definitely not desperate. Kudos to you mate.

I believe getting familiarized with a language is important indeed. I already read lots and lots of articles and discussions on the internet and besides surfing I also watch TV, so I bet your tip is good since lots of people rate my English as decent.

Thanks lizshab

Seems to be a helpful site to me. I might use it for grammar references and such.

How long have you been using that site?

I've already tried it but mostly I can't hear the person I am talking to mostly. I am willing to give it another try though. Should someone have skype and speak English on a native or close to native level contact me please.

Thanks steve!

The problem is that they don't emphasize speaking English in the Netherlands. Sometimes you're told to talk with your neighbour in the class in English but that happens seldom and if it happens you get to talk with someone who doesn't understand the slightest bit of English. Sometimes it also happens they pronounce words in a way, and they are even sure they are pronunciation it correctly, that it's just wrong and inaudible, as a result of that they laugh at you for not understanding what they murmur.

I think I'd better practice it using skype rather than listening to murmuring classmates laughing at me whilst it is anything but my fault.

Your contribution is very appreciated.

Most of my friends don't speak English too well, so that might be a bit of a problem, but it might be a good way for me to gain confidence as people will compliment me for my English level I think. But in general I find your tip to be very helpful. :)

If I am right you are no native English speaker either, how did you learn English?

Also through reading and listening to -audio- books and talking with friends or at school?

It is probably not bad for my vocabulaire but learning via this method does not get me familiar with the usage of words in sentences and thus it is rather needless.

Thanks for your reply.

Thanks for the compliment. I indeed feel I need to practice more with speaking but I bet that if my writing is decent speaking will follow as well as you said. I've been thinking in English as much as possible for a few years now and I don't really translate my texts while writing in English so perhaps I am further in English than I realize.

Cheers mate.