hello,,,,, i'm also a turkish person out here in wild but i've come to realize that my english isn't good as yours. do you have any tips??????? i mean i read a lot and most of the time it's either philoshopical essays or articles abt government but i still talk and write like a.... typical 14-years-old white girl.

selam yavru, 

[my thing with english is sort of weird (as will be my advices, wait for it), i never stayed/studied abroad and although my english education started in the 4th-5th grade i was actually placed in the lower class when we were tested for proficiency, and am sort of v dyslexic and have never been the most academically successful when it comes to english among my peers and my high school’s education wasn’t in english, so considering all these obstacles, i think you can definitely get your english to whatever level you want.]

the first thing i did that i think worked was to. watch. a. lot. of. interviews. this is not a thing that i did to improve my english specifically (i just love watching certain ppl speak) and some of my choices are v specific to my interests (jeremy scahill, mary karr, mary gaitskill etc) but i can give you a few more accessible ones (cate blanchett, daniel day lewis) it doesn’t matter if you don’t understand everything they’re saying, you will, in time. but i think it’s important to find someone whose speech is like a literal performance of what they think and absorb it and sit w it for a while (also it helps if they’re fascinating) this substitutes having an actual native speaker around that you can learn from via quiet observation, and even try it (the way they speak) out on yourself (but always remember that you’re borrowing) which brings me to my next thing.

talk to yourself, at home, practice alone, try to say what you’re exactly feeling/thinking, look for possibilities, don’t try to translate from turkish, at least not always, explore english’s specific possibilities. 

take chances w language, i do this a lot, and use google incessantly to see if that particular way of saying something is used a lot or at all (put it between “ “ & look at the # of results, google books results to see how it’s used/if it’s correct etc) and don’t be freaked out if you’re not following grammar religiously (unless you’re writing a paper or smth ofc), i personally love the specific quirks non-native speakers have when they speak english, you don’t have to obey this ~imperial~ language mot a mot and if some native speaker asshole tries to correct your grammar honestly fuck them (all the ppl who tried to correct my grammar were insecure spineless men tbh) laf uzadı ama demek istediğim, make it your own thing. 

ok this is a lot less doable but find english speakers and talk w them and be friends w them if possible (if they’re nice and you genuinely want to be friends ofc lol). i know this can be a bit intimidating if you’re not comfortable w how u speak and expats can be such arrogant assholes but definitely try to do this.

the reason why i’m focusing on speech in these tips is bc i think there’s smth fundamentally fucked up abt how language is taught, developmentally we all start w speech and then learn to say cool shit on paper but first of all, language has to be a real thing for you, a thing that you do w your body regularly. but in the meantime substitute real life speech w writing in english online, here, in forums, or whereever, you know. if it’s intimidating to do it w native speakers, find a fellow non-native english speaker. 

some more basic tips include watching tv series/movies with english subtitles, if that’s hard to do, maybe watch stuff you really love and love to rewatch so you already know what it’s abt etc. and also obviously, read (this is boring i know) and not only articles/essays but like, novels, poetry etc. like go for it, i don’t know your taste but if you like the quotes/stuff i post, pursue them. articles/essays tend to have a very bland style unless the essayist is really brilliant. 

oh and also podcasts, and not only ~white american~ podcasts but brits, australians & people of color too so you’re exposed to how english can be done differently and maybe that’ll inspire u. 

ok, that’s all i think, you can always ask me to clarify smth ve bana bu dil meselelerinin nasıl gittiğini yazarsan/haber edersen çok sevinirim