In four years in Japan, and for three years in Canada before that, I have taught a lot of Japanese students. Many of them liked to talk about English study, the difficulties of English, and the special challenges Japanese people have learning English. A lot of the lessons ended up being more about how to learn English, rather than an English lesson itself.

1. Monitor: "Monitor" means that you pay attention. When you are learning a language, you should carefully monitor what you read and hear. That means you can notice things about English, and your experience will be better. But you also need to monitor what you say and write. Don't forget to listen to yourself! You will learn about your own mistakes and how you are using English.
2. Pay attention to form: You have to care about patterns and details, and you have to care about mistakes. Sometimes a small change can make a big difference. Your language must be correct. You have to have someone help you find and fix your mistakes. Form matters. Grammar matters. Details matter.
3. Think in English: Be a 'silent speaker'—on the train, in a meeting, talking to someone, or watching TV—all the time. The best learners talk to themselves in English all the time. Practice silently.

Flow: Image: Cea. via FlickrAs a teacher in Japan, I was surprised by how many people want to be able to speak English like a native speaker. Tetsuya 'Ted' Yasukochi of 東進ハイスクール has noticed it too:

"Strangely, almost everybody learning English in Japan, even beginners, wants to be like a native speaker, and some people are ashamed of speaking English which is even a little bit short of that of a native speaker."

According to Yasukochi-sensei, most people in Japan spend their English lives waiting for a day that will never come — the day they speak English perfectly. Most people will never be able to speak English like a native speaker. Even Mr Yasukochi himself admits that he will probably never be able to speak English like a native speaker. It's an impossible dream. David Thayne of AtoZ English agrees:

Part 45 of the Poligo Guide to Learning a Language.

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SECTION 4: This section explains how to divide the language into smaller parts and how to learn each part.

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From the last part, we understand why people stop improving when they get to the high-intermediate level. If you decide to continue with your language, there are four ways you can make sure that you continue to improve. If you use these four methods, you can be sure that your language skills will get as close to native-level as possible.

1. Change the things you learn;
2. Change your sources;
3. Learn to write well;
4. Analyse your own speaking.