I get asked this a lot...Ms. Shy, how can I improve my written/spoken English? My answer is always be the same, use it; I mean read it, listen to it, write it, blog it, sing it, romance with it, swear with it...bottom line, you don't you use it, you lose it.
A language is a 4-pronged tool - listening, speaking, reading and writing and for this tool to be fully functional, you need to keep all four in constant use. Set it to a side and it will rust. If and when there is a breakdown, you may need to speak to a service consultant (i.e. language teacher/walking dictionary) So if you are keen on becoming a proficient user of a language, take the effort to make sure that all the parts are functional and geared to maximum performance.
There is no short cut to using a language well. The only pitfall I have witnessed throughout my years as a teacher, is the ego. People don't dare sometimes because they fear loss of face (eastern concept of embarrassment). Take baby steps if you are unsure, just never stop using the language.
An analogy of how good you can become at a language is like these two dancers you will see in this video clip attached.
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