Just realize in Houston, we refer to everyone as sons of b****es. <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j9AwhjW3t4Y"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j9AwhjW3t4Y" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
I came to US when I was 15 from Korea. I am still struggling with English after all the education I have received. I can say that my listening is almost perfect.. my reading is pretty decent as I do read books pretty often. But when it comes to the speaking department, it still gives me a major headache. I would recommend that you read plenty of books (not the magazine.. not the sports page.. read a book .. read a book ). It is the best to talk to natives and have them correct you everytime you make a mistake. That is the best way to go. Another words.. make friends with natives. and read a book
No.. you should really worry and work hard at it. If you just want to become another asian person working at a gas station, yeah i guess the immersion is the way to go. If you want to get invovled in the community and speak your voice, doing presentation at the work, and for your career advance, education and hard working are the only ways. Instead of memorizing vocabularies, it is better to write them in a sentence and try to feel for the word.
Read some skin rags like Maxim or Stuff and your IQ will drop enough to be able to read spoken English.
at least you know english already. when i left china, i was 14 and half. the only english words i knew were "hello", "how are you", "thank you", "goodbye", and "sorry". didn't know how to pronounce anything, nor any grammar at all. now, when i entered college, all of my friends thought i was born in US because i don't have any accent at all just be patient, i would say, personality is important too. if you talk as much as i do in real life, you will have a real easy time
