What is the best way to improve your language skills?

Why does the English of some well-educated US residents for whom English is a second language not progressively improve?

• I have worked with a number of people for whom English was a second language, all of whom had graduate degrees.  Some had excellent English, speaking with barely discernible accents and writing well.  Some showed progressive improvement.  Some had accents that were severe enough to impair communication and had writing skills poor enough that their writing had to be edited by someone else before it could be released.  This is the group about which I am curious.  I have known some for over ten years, and I see no improvement.  What is going on?  The only explanation that seems plausible is that they they think their English is "good enough," do not care about improving it, and are not trying.  With respect to writing, every time someone corrects an error presents an opportunity to learn, and over years a person could learn a lot this way.  I am considered to be one of the better writers in my organization, yet I often consult a dictionary, a thesaurus, or reference books on grammar and usage.  When I do, I learn, and become a better writer.  Why don't these people do as I do?  With respect to speech, it is so much easier now than in the past to improve because we have modestly-priced computer apps to provide the necessary feedback instead of needing tutors.  I could understand if the people in question were not intelligent and did not have careers which greater proficiency in English could enhance.

• Answer:

  "What is going on?  The only explanation that seems plausible is that they they think their English is "good enough," do not care about improving it, and are not trying.  " I think  this is misconception-- why is it that so many Americans who are born, raised and educated in the US can't write basic grammatically correct sentences-- look at Sarah Palin  or Rush Limbaugh as  intellectual genius. Let's not even  investigate the high amount of illiteracy among  Congressional members. Some people do not have gift for language and it is not a matter of trying or learning. Sometimes their skill in native language is such that  acquiring skills in second language is never going to be easy as they never feel comfortable or have gained  the "feel" or "flavor" of the language. Other people, other professions such as mechanical engineering or engineers in general are known for being illiterate  genuises. If you read standardized tests, you find that people high in literacy don't always score well in sciences and vice versa.  Maybe these people simply have  other responsibilities and priorities on their  plates that demand their attention. Sometimes, the problem is age-- it is very hard to absorb any language after 40 and sometimes it is training, that they were never given  solid groundwork that gave them confidence or  skills, but the same things can easily said about native speaking Americans who speak unintelligible dialects.  When the US is stuffed full of native-born illiterates, many of them are high profile on television and internet, why criticise those who use English as second language?  All you have to do is watch US network news to find out how grossly illiterate Americans truly are because often newscasters and talking heads are just plain talking yammerheads with little information and a lot of misinformation and grossly unintelligent and inarticulate. It's not just FoxNews, its NBC, CBS, etc. Babbling bobbleheads burbling and blathering "sound bites" with little or no intelligent content. Maybe you should go work with "real Americans" to find out how poorly educated or how illiterate many are. You might revise your opinion as many native born Americans can't even speak English as Second Language as they truly have little knowledge of formal English. You learn habits such s dictionary usage or thesaurus when you are young, but as you get older, there are many more problems involved including short-term memory and eyesight. Not everybody sleeps with a dictionary or uses a thesaurus in the kitchen instead of a cookbook. It's reality.