How Did You Become Fluent?

I grew up with Western social media.

Immerse yourself in the language. Watch movies, listen to music, or follow social media influencers in English. Focus on speaking which is the skill most learners neglect, but it’s critical for fluency.

The middle school I studied at was pretty fancy and offered a few profiles to choose from, including philology, which I had chosen. Also, my mother is a teacher of English, so she helped me a little bit here-and-there. English was one of my favourite (or "favorite," if you're from the US) lessons (or "classes," if you're from the US) at (or also "in," mainly if you're from the US) school. I finished my general education with a pretty sold B2. In 2022, I moved to the US for permanent residence, so I had a lot of practice and also took 3 English Language Proficiency lessons/classes at the university I'm currently studying at. Prior to the university classes, I had scored 125 on the Duolingo English Test; just shy of C1, which starts at 130. The score can only change in the increments of 5, like, you can't score 126–129, just 125 or 130. After 3 English Language Program/Programme lessons/classes at University, as well as living in the US for almost 3 years, I currently sit at a comfortable C1, although I hadn't done any new tests to get some number. I guess I took this writing here a bit too seriously. Anyway, yeah, challenges. During my journey from B2 to C1, I didn't really face any. I just got a bit better at everything with time and practice. Well, the writing tasks were tough, but they wouldn't have been much easier to do in my native language. I wouldn't really say I overcame them as challenges; I still hate the pedantic academic writing, although I can do it decently. How did I stay motivated? I didn't. Well, had I got bad grades, my scholarship would have been gone, so there was that. Useful resources? Nothing in particular. Life in the US

My GF is a non-native English speaker but definitely fluent - she grew up in Romania and was raised on a diet of cartoon network, American sitcoms and mandatory schooling. I'm British and we both live in the UK, so it's still cute to me to hear some of her Americanisms and notice how her vocab is becoming more British the longer she lives here!

Honestly? My parents just made me learn English from a young age, and I've been engaged in English social media for a long time further reinforcing it. You just have to learn at your own pace, you'll become fluent eventually.