Hello everyone, my name is Yuka Tanaka.
When I was 6 months old, I moved to England because of my father's job.
After living in London for 7 years, I moved to the Unites States of America and stayed in New York for 2 years.
I came back to Japan when I was 9. Currently, I am in my 3rd year at Sophia University where all classes are held in English. Moreover, I went to England as an exchange student last year, and I studied at the University of Sheffield for a year.
Ever since I came back to Japan at a young age, I have always been putting an effort in improving my English through various ways.
Firstly, I have been watching a lot of films. I would borrow DVDs and watch it with no subtitles. At times when I have understanding difficulties, I would normally watch it once with subtitles and then again without. This enables me to improve on my listening skills. Even if there were certain words which I did not understand, I am also able to imagine and think about the meaning by context.
Second, I like listening to English music. At first, I only listened to the rhythm. However, after listening for a period of time, I was able to understand the lyrics of the songs.
In the end, I will understand what kind of song the artist is singing. By doing this, it gives me motivation and sense of achievement from bettering myself.
Watching films and listening to music are not only things which you can do normally, but is a really fun way to improve one's English skills. Please give it a try and improve your English while having fun!