You could take a course in your country with the British Council. The British Council offers courses in many countries for children and adults. Find out about courses in your country here:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-learn-english-your-country.htm

You could take a course in the UK. Find out about studying in the UK here:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-learn-english-uk.htm

You can also improve your English by:

• regularly reading
• newspapers or magazines in English. Read an article or two each week and note down new vocabulary and structures. Visit NewsDirectory, a portal with links to English language newspapers and magazines from around the world.
• watching English language films
• visiting LearnEnglish and other websites for language learners. Visit twice a week and take a look at the items and activities that sound interesting to you.

If you're taking a course, then use every opportunity to speak. Make sure you always speak English in class.

Here are some websites that will help you with your pronunciation:

http://www.faceweb.okanagan.bc.ca/pron/

http://www.soundsofenglish.org/

Find out about using chat and voice chat on:

http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/chrisfry/

You can also improve your speaking by:

• visiting or taking a course in the UK
• listening to as much English as possible
• finding an English speaking friend!

There are some sound files and listening activities on LearnEnglish. Have a look at the home pages of stories, poems and songs on both LearnEnglish Central and LearnEnglish Kids

The BBC World Service Learning English website has some listening activities:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/index.shtml

And there are lots of websites for listening practice:

http://www.esl-lab.com/

http://www.englishlistening.com/

Here are some other things you can do to improve your listening skills:

• visit the UK

• watch films/TV in English

• listen to BBC radio programmes online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/

• listen to BBC World Service radio programmes: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/index.shtml

• listen to songs in English. Most music artists have their own websites with music clips and lyrics.

• listen to Selector, the British Council radio station which is in many countries around the world: http://music.britishcouncil.org/selector/

• find an English speaking friend!

Write something for LearnEnglish - a poem, an article, a story, or give your opinions where invited in our magazine articles.

Send an ecard, and use the pen pal to find some messages:

Here is a website that can help you with your writing:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

You can also improve your writing by:

• reading as much as possible in English. Note which structures are used, and learn them.
• using written texts as a model. For example, if you need to write a fax for an order, then use a fax that somebody has sent you as a model for yours.

Make sure that you read something in English regularly.

The LearnEnglish Central magazine is updated every week. Visit the section each week and look for a topic that interests you.

There are also lots of stories and poems on LearnEnglish Central.

You can listen to the first pages of some of the stories. Read as you listen. Do you have an idea of what the story will be about? Print off the story, and try to read it without looking up all of the words. You can look at the words later.

Many of the poems have sound files. Listen to them if you can and read at the same time to get an idea of what the poem is about.

You can also improve your reading skills by:

• reading English medium newspapers and magazines: http://www.ecola.com/
• reading books and novels in English. You can read stories written especially for learners of English (readers). Order readers from one of these online bookshops:
• http://www.ebcoxford.co.uk/
• http://www.keltic.co.uk
• http://www.bebc.co.uk

Remember that you are practising your reading skills whenever you use the web in English, so use the web to look up news, and information related to your interests: sport, music, films etc

With LearnEnglish Central Grammar you can:

• read descriptions of many areas of grammar
• try lots of activities and games related to grammar
• ask your grammar question
• browse through Chomsky Park. Why are some sentences grammatically correct but impossible? Can you write and send in your own sentences?

Here are some other sites that will help you with grammar:

http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/index.cfm

http://www.ruthvilmi.net/hut/LangHelp/Grammar/

You can also improve your grammar by:

• identifying the areas that you have problems with and working with those areas
• working through a grammar book with practice exercises. You can order these from online bookshops:

• http://www.ebcoxford.co.uk/
• http://www.keltic.co.uk
• http://www.bebc.co.uk
• reading in English and making notes on how structures are used
• not worrying too much about being accurate!

LearnEnglish Central has word games about all sorts of topics, and a new word game is added each week.

Here are some online dictionaries:

Cambridge Dictionaries Online

Longman Web Dictionary

You can also use the web to look up a bilingual dictionary, and to get a web translator:

http://www.dictionary.com/

Here is a website where you can practise your vocabulary:

http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/vocabulary.html

You should keep records of the new words and phrases that you come across. Some people find it easier to remember words if they're grouped into categories (eg words about holidays etc). Review your records regularly. Your records could include:

• type of word
• pronunciation of word
• the words that it goes with
• the part of speech and other grammatical information (eg if it's a verb, what's the past tense etc)

You can improve your English by:

• regularly reading newspapers or magazines in English. Perhaps you could read an article or two each week and note down new vocabulary and structures. Visit NewsDirectory, a portal with links to English language newspapers and magazines from around the world: http://www.ecola.com/
• reviewing the notes that you make regularly
• watching English language films
• regularly visiting LearnEnglish and other websites or language learners. Visit twice a week and take a look at the items and activities that sound interesting to you.
• using free online resources, such as dictionaries and grammar references
• using English language websites to look up information that interests you (news, the latest on films etc)
• visiting your local British Council, and seeing what facilities and services are offered besides courses (libraries, study centres, arts events etc): http://www.britishcouncil.org/home-contact-worldwide.htm
• keeping a learner diary: note down what you do and when, how useful it's been, what you've learned etc, and this way you'll be able to find the best resources and methods for you

Above all, make sure you ENJOY what you're doing, and TIMETABLE activities into your week.