The Deep End Of The Pool.....
Learning is a process greatly enhanced by necessity. So immersion is the best teacher. So, say it, spell it, say it, then talk about it with someone else. Reading is a great teacher since the whole time you get a "do over", by sitting with your Japanese to English dictionary open.
The trouble with acquiring any language is that a single language is location dependent. US English, UK English, and Australian English all have very divergent forms of "slang" and/or "idiomatic expression". Elle Macpherson (Aussy Supermodel) once did a skit on the US TV show, "Saturday Night Live", about an Australian phone sex line, and nobody in the "colonies" understood a single word. Funny though, very, very, funny.
One of the Japanese ice skater girls, Yuka Sato, I believe, said she got the basics of English from watching cartoons.
Idiomatic expression is a stumbilng block, since it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the subject at hand. (Hench, "idiomatic"). My favorite example of this is, "Piece of Cake", which means something is, (or was), easy to do. In Spanish, it would be said, "Pan Comida", which is literally, "Eaten Bread". I suppose that they're both carbs. The fact remains that it must be acquired on a case by case basis, and the only way (in this facet of a Language), is through rote memorization. Wish I had an easy way to tell you.
Anyway, the only real answer is also the answer to, "how do I get to Carnegie Hall"? Practice. Best of luck.
SNGX1275 said:
I've grown up speaking English, and retained almost nothing from my 2 foreign language classes in high school.
That said, we both know if you don't use it, you lose it. I forgot Algebra, (in major part), right after I got my report card.