Learn through your ears and have fun in the process.
When it comes to acquiring languages, one thing is for sure: we learn more passively than we realize, we certainly learn more by listening and reading than by speaking. It does not matter whether we are talking about our fist language or not, this is how it happens nonetheless.
We are basically a product of our environment, linguistically speaking. The reason why we speak the way we speak our first language, is because we naturally picked words and phrases people around us used. The number of words and phrases we pick up as children growing up, the variety of subjects, along with developing or not the habit of reading a lot, will determine how well we express ourselves.
It is reasonable to believe this is true for our second language too. We need to learn foreign languages in a way that approximates the acquisition of our first language, that is, listening a lot first and then reading plenty. Make sure you use audio-books in this process. They can be great resources if you enjoy.
In my opinion, watching movies is one of the best ways to keep in contact with English as a foreign language. Not only does it improve your listening and vocabulary but it also shows you some of the cultural aspects of the language, which is really valuable when it comes to making the difference when speaking.
You can also use subtitles/captions in English so that you can reconcile the appearance of the language – spelling – and the sound of it – pronunciation and other aspects of accent.
Although movies are fun, we sometimes don’t have that much time available to watch as many films as we’d like to. If that is the case, you have the option to watch TV shows, like Lost, Heroes, CSI, House, Dexter and so forth. Each chapter normally has about 45 minutes, demanding less of your time. The only problem about those “cliffhangers” is that you depend on the previous chapters to understand the current one. However, if you don’t like cliffhangers (An episode that ends in suspense), then I’d suggest you watch “The Twilight Zone”. The chapters are independent of one another and are about 20 minutes long.
Most important of all, make sure it is fun and interesting to you. This way you will do better, no matter where you live.