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by thisislife2·2y ago·view on hn ↗
To converse with somebody you need to improve your vocabulary. So make it a habit to daily read a good English newspaper (you can also read the BBC online daily at https://www.bbc.com). When you come across a word you do not know, use a dictionary to find out what it means. Write it down in a notebook. Also ask others who you meet that day what the word means. This will help you remember it better, and also give you a topic for conversation.

Move on to reading books - you can start with simple comic books like Tintin, Asterix, Archies etc. if you find reading "boring" at first. And later move on to kids / teens novels (I'd recommend British authors like Enid Blyton and JK Rowling). These will also give you an immersive experience to western culture.

Another enjoyable way to build up your vocabulary is to watch English TV series with English subtitles.

Finally, you do not need to be embarrassed about trying to talk with someone in broken english. You are trying to learn a new language and you should be proud of that. There are so many people in the world who can speak only one language, and they don't realise how much it limits the way they view the world. People are often unkind because of their narrow worldview. It has nothing to do with you because you are actually expanding your worldview, and it makes such people uncomfortable because they have never tried to do so. Just find somebody else to talk to - there are kind people everywhere.