4. Use your own linguistic and ethnic appeal! In the street, a Russian cannot be distinguished from any other American walking around, but if you tell someone you are Russian, tons of people will want to learn more about you. A Russian accent has a coolness to it in North America as well, so people overhearing you speak English will attract their attention too, and if you are smiling and approachable, you will soon have multiple conversation partners at any social gathering!

So, to answer your question, lazy students can learn very fast! If you arrive in America with a low-intermediate level of English, you can become upper-intermediate in three months, if you take the advice above!

Good luck and happy learning!

2. Try to find one local friend who you genuinely like being around, and work on building a close relationship! Just one is enough! Having someone who is almost always nearby, who you are absolutely comfortable with, and with whom you want to communicate about everything that happens in your daily life is the absolute best way to become fluent. If they can't understand you, they will correct you! And you might find a "bff" or "soul-mate" that way too. Good places to meet such a person are places you yourself like going to, e.g. the gym, the park, the local pub (not nightclub! Too loud to speak in and too untrustworthy), the library, etc. I moved to China for a study term a long time ago and met a Chinese woman on the plane who was also a linguist. We spent all our time together, eating out, watching Chinese movies, meeting friends, etc., and three months later I was able to have full conversations in Mandarin while most of my classmates could barely say their name and where they were from.

3. Approach interesting people! Take the initiative! If you see a musician playing some good music in the street, hang out and shoot the breeze. If you see someone reading a book while you are waiting together for the bus, ask about the book and why they are reading it! If you are genuinely interested in people, they will enjoy talking to you. And it is better for your to choose who you spend time talking to, instead of having strangers approach you for conversation. Especially for a woman, the latter option can be dangerous!

If you are lazy as a panda, be prepared to wait a long long long time.

Language learning requires a lot of study, practice with natives, immersion through films and novels, etc.

Hello Elena!

I am a language teacher with a degree in linguistics, so I can say with certainty that in language study, "laziness" can actually help students achieve great levels of fluency. Many "lazy" people who socialize more are able to learn languages relatively rapidly while "hard-working" ones focused on book learning often remain unable to communicate.

I remember a story an old linguistics professor told me of two acquaintances who went to Germany to learn German. One was a "straight A student" who always did well on paper tests and had already studied two semesters of German in university, and the other had no German experience and had always been perceived as a "slacker" who rarely "hit the books". They were put in separate homestay situations in different cities and agreed to meet again in three months to see who had progressed the most. The result when they met was the "bookworm", who spent eight hours a day in the library and read many German classics in the original language, was barely able to hold a conversation, while the other--who had been going out and mingling with locals every night and rarely studied--was quite fluent. He also reported actually ENJOYING the learning process, whereas the other student was miserable and discouraged. (continud in the next message)

i think if you are motivated, you will not be lazy. you should practice at least an hour daily to improve your language. Additionally, when you practice, try to use different materials and friends to support you.