My journey of learning English

My first language is Serbian.

I started learning English when I was five- or six-years-old. Some twenty-five years ago.

There were many things that made no sense to me in English. I didn't understand why verbs related to he, she, it required an s in the end. Articles made no sense, and I still struggle to use them fluently. I understand the rules, but the instincts take longer to form.

Looking back, I see a number of points when my English considerably improved.

Learning well enough to read full books in English took years, but once I got there, my writing, speaking and understanding improved, too.

The next big jump was living and studying in the US for a year. Not only did I build confidence in speaking with native speakers, but improving my academic writing and presenting added another layer to my ability to navigate English. I learnt a slang, abbreviations, and all the shortcuts in communication you'd never learn in English classes.

Over the past few years, I've used English every day in my work. I've built upon my writing style, having published a number of articles in the language. People who edited my writing have offered invaluable insight and taught me where my writing feels cumbersome and unclear. Editing other people's writing has also been helpful: as a reader and editor, I now feel the hiccups, and have enough knowledge of the language to offer an alternative.

I believe that this goes for learning any new language. Surround yourself with it: if you can't be in the country where the language is spoken, watch movies, listen to music or YouTube videos in that language. When you can, read in the language and take your time translating word by word. If you have a chance, make friends with native speakers, and ask them for help.