Leviathan08

I say watch Family guy! =D haha

On a serious note, once you get here and have conversations with Americans you'll pick up our lingo just fine. Don't be afraid.

boho_girl

I don't know if anyone mentioned it,
but if a conversation is a problem (and for most of us non-natives it is), then try to see if there are any native speakers or at least someone who speaks English very well around you. And try to ask them if they'd be willing to practice conversation with you.
For example, I live in a very touristic town, so each summer kids in my town befriend tourists and communicate on English. You'll make new friends and improve your English skills.

Or, if you your town doesn't have many tourists or you're not as outgoing, try to visit some chatrooms where the first language is English and try to voice chat with some native speakers. (of course, you will need a microphone and speakers or a headset with a microphone.)
Yahoo has one of those, but you'd have to get an account first. It's easy and fast.

Practicing conversation before arriving to USA might ease your problem a bit.
Before I went to USA, I thought I had good English skills, yet when I found myself in that country, it took me some time to form a sentence or to continue a conversation because we didn't practice enough of conversation on English classes and every day conversation included many things that I am not used to talking in English.

And I noticed that many people made mistakes by socializing only with people from their countries and always kept speaking their native language and that resulted, of course, in their inability to speak properly even after a full year of living in the USA.

But as everyone has already said, after about three-four months of living in the USA, your English (all aspects) will improve dramatically.
Only, of course, if you've been communicating in English and not on your native language with people from your country only.

gagilord

I am pretty sure this has already been suggested, but I couldn't be bothered to go through all the posts so I'll say it anyway. I have one suggestion: read, read, read, read anything in English that you can get your hands on. Good luck!

**lover**789

Everyone's been giving great advice. I think one more I would like to add is to read editorials. They're better than regular newspaper articles because editorials are written more informally, so you can get some idea of how people talk. I really like Reader's Digest (you can get it online), which has some easy to read, but interesting articles.

Also, I think once you come over to the US and are in contact with English speaking people everyday, you'll naturally pick it up quickly. Don't be afraid to practice your English once you're in the US! I know some people who are afraid to speak English in public because they are so self-conscious that their English is not good enough. Don't be like that. Practice makes perfect, especially when you're practicing with native speakers.

Good luck!

UnleashedFury

From the looks of it, you're already better than a good portion of people in America. I guarantee you over half of my high school couldn't put together something as well as you did there.

I understand that speaking is different from writing, though, but, as others have suggested, just become acquainted with American culture and slang. Just having to speak English on a day to day basis will make you many orders of magnitude better, so don't sweat it.

anh1vodoi

I'm international too and I think I'd use the Writing program regularly.
As for spoken English comprehension-wise, I think my obsession with GossipGirl is enuf :P
My speaking needs a brush up thou, I'm actually planning on taking a college-prep course this summer - that is, I study with a tutor who thinks of ways to prepare me for college in the fall. I think we'd talk and write mostly.

Patsygirl

do you have a friend in the US that you could call and talk to? Even having a simple conversation like 'how have you been doing?' can help get you used to talking like an American, and listenung to someone talk like one

montanaro

Well, I've been offline for some time, analyzing suggestions and putting some of them into practice. Hope that helps. I think I will soon come up with a summary that probably will be useful for others who are like me.

leetxy

When you go to the states or are in your country, try to go to a Toastmasters International Club.

Toastmasters International - Home

LeZeph

Watch lots of movies in English with the English captions on. This is what helped my French.

eli

Find a subject and/or author of great interest to you - does NOT have to be great literature. And then read read read.

the_hitch_hiker

If you can afford it, get some IELTS/TOEFL/Spoken English classes?

happymomof1

I haven't read all of this either, so maybe someone else has made this recommendation before. In which case, I apologize for the duplication!

Voice of America has some good material online including live and recorded broadcasts:

VOA News - VOA News - Voice of America Homepage - News in 45 Languages

Some is recorded in "Special English" which is a more limited vocabulary than you will eventually need for real life in the USA. However, if you master that vocabulary you will have a strong base for your future learning, and you will be able to deal with just about anything.

namayani

Before I went of to study abroad, i was very worried about my english and I was trying to think of ways I can improve it.

I found out that just being in a place where you have no other option but to speak english just does wonders.

my advices are:
1. once you get to college and you talk to people, do not think to much, in terms of "Oh is this grammatically correct?", "How does it sound?" etc. That was a big problem for me ( I was too afraid to say "goodnight" to my roomates the first night). Once when I stopped thinking, I got the fluency very fast. Reading and listening english all the time just makes you pick up that sense of "right structure" etc. I also often found myself using words that I just picked up and know i'm using them properly, but wouldn't be able to translate them to my own language. That feels really cool.
2. Ask if you don't understand. Ask if you notice sth you don't know the name of. I had huge problems with food stuff, like spices, vegetables etc. so I would just ask.
3. once in US, do not forget to use your language. you are gonna be loosing it slowly. and that doesn't feel very good.

crystal90

well. I'm also an international student who is attending college this fall.
After reading through all the posts before, I found out that most of them are more focusing on how to get along with a daily English, speaking, listening and communicating stuff. but not so much emphasised on studing and cultural aspects.
For me, i live in a big city here with a really prestigious University, so I started to make friends with the american students who were doing their oversea studies here since I knew that i was going to US college.
Actually I've had an American boyfriend for several months. Basicly we speak english with each other everyday, talking about different stuff and making fun of each other. (He's back to States yesterday though...sigh~)
I'll say that I can understand 99% of his english, but with other americans especially from south is range from 80% to 95%, Don't know why.
My main problem here is about reading and writing. I really want to get good grades in college, coz I'm still thinking of transfering to other better colleges . My vocabulary is very very limited.also the american culture and history is an obscurity for me, even it's so short like only 200 years.
Like each time I tried to watch stuff like the daily show. I even though I understand what they say, I can't laugh coz I don't know the background of that thing or who in hell they are laughing at.
I have had a basic knowledge about US geo, history, and social background. Much more than most Americans to my homeland- China. But it's not enough for any conversation in a deeper culture or politic base. I still havn't found a quick and efficient way to resolve it. And I'm desperately mad for my lack of knowledage, and my lliteracy.
besides my writing skill is really really bad. My essays are such a horrible mess, with limited phrases, inaccurated words and cliche.
Can anyone help.