What's the best way to learn English?

None of the above. The best way to learn English is by speaking English.

Performance is key, I forget the exact figures but I remember reading that for musicians, an hour performing in front of an audience is worth tens of hours of playing for yourself. Reading will give you vocabulary and understanding, but actually speaking with people is the best. That's how children learn.

Practicing with a partner is top. But f you're going to use movies, it seems that the option to just watch them without subtitles leaves out a lot of potential. For movies... watch it **four** times: \- with subtitles \- without \- with subtitles \- without Pause it as needed. Look up words. Study. Translate. Repeat. I took a foreign language class during university and we studied a mini series TV show (8 episodes, I think) like that. We had a script of the entire show. We went through it word for word translating and learning vocabulary and actually **studying** the program. Just watching a movie isn't the best use of a movie to learn a language. You have to study it.

It can be a combination of all of those things. But if you want to be able to read and write - you need to at least spend time reading book in English. Reading in English also helps you improve in other areas. It worked well for these women: https://successfulenglish.com/2010/04/better-english-at-sweet-valley/

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I really enjoyed reading your opinions, and I completely agree with them. Here's my perspective: I think we should not focus on just one method, like reading books or practicing with a partner. Instead, we should use all options to surround ourselves with English as much as possible. Also, when practicing with a partner, their level should match ours for better communication. For example if you're pre-intermediate and your partner is a beginner, it might not help much with speaking skills. I mean the best way to learn English is creating an English atmosphere!

You missed the best one: listening and watching videos/podcast for LEARNERS

At some point, you have to start learning to put together your own thoughts in English. Reading books and watching movies might increase your vocabulary and your comprehension but to become fluent, you need to learn to speak and write in English. Practising with a partner is ideal for that, if that's an option for you.

You need to do all 3. Language skills are listening, reading/writing, and speaking. Watching movies will improve your listening. Reading books will improve your reading and writing. Practicing with a partner will improve your speaking. I voted for practicing with a partner because most people find that to be the most uncomfortable and difficult part of language learning, so it’s common for people neglect their speaking skills in favour of reading and listening.

I would definitely say practicing with a partner. Reading books will teach you how to read. Watching movies will teach you how to listen. But if you want to learn how to COMMUNICATE in English, then you need someone to practice with. Output is super important. Everyone has to experience the struggle of searching for the next word in the sentence. With practice, it all becomes easier :)

Comprehensible input! Watching videos where the speakers speak slow and clearly. Videos like this! The best way to improve your listening skills :) [https://youtu.be/tFFe6vnvlPQ?si=oMwQEwmW3LnXiMs\_](https://youtu.be/tFFe6vnvlPQ?si=oMwQEwmW3LnXiMs_) [https://youtu.be/-1iaGaam5Q0?si=Vigk8bFHfCGF7YLb](https://youtu.be/-1iaGaam5Q0?si=Vigk8bFHfCGF7YLb)