How can I take my English to the next level after 5+ years of working on an English-speaking project, but still feel it's not that good?

I'm comfortable about discussing technical topics at work. But:
- I can't watch movies without subtitles
- I find it hard to express myself outside the technical terrain
- I started to write 10 months ago and still have to google lots of expressions. I lack clarity, and it takes too long to write even small pieces of content (tweets or short articles).

Some background (and source of frustration):
- I've studied for many years (I really can't tell how many, but over 10, FCE included)
- Every movie/book I watch/read is in English.

I hope that with all that input and immersion, my English should be way better. It's clear I'm not naturally good at languages, but it seems that something is locked.
Any similar experiences or suggestions to avoid repeating the same recipe again?

Thanks

Question

How can I take my English to the next level after 5+ years of working on an English-speaking project, but still feel it's not that good?

I'm comfortable about discussing technical topics at work. But:
- I can't watch movies without subtitles
- I find it hard to express myself outside the technical terrain
- I started to write 10 months ago and still have to google lots of expressions. I lack clarity, and it takes too long to write even small pieces of content (tweets or short articles).

Some background (and source of frustration):
- I've studied for many years (I really can't tell how many, but over 10, FCE included)
- Every movie/book I watch/read is in English.

I hope that with all that input and immersion, my English should be way better. It's clear I'm not naturally good at languages, but it seems that something is locked.
Any similar experiences or suggestions to avoid repeating the same recipe again?

Thanks

Answer

People have written books on this subject, but I will try to keep to just a couple of thoughts:

1. How long did it take you to learn your own language? Personally I think I am still learning.

2Did you write this yourself? How much assistance did you have (from another person or a Google Translate or something like that)? Only it's pretty impressive. Maybe you're not as bad as you think you are?

3. How long did it take you to write? How long do you think it should have taken to write?

4. What (in your opinion) constitutes having a natural ability for language learning? For example, I imagine that a football player like Lionel Messi put a lot of time and effort into practicing. He wasn't born with the skills he has now. But even if I had put in the same effort I would never have reached his level of footballing ability. And some people say "Ah yes, but of course he has natural talent.", but I think that is understating things a bit. His talent is supernatural. In this case the word means "unnatural/extraordinary" ... I'm not suggesting that Lionel is beyond the understanding of science... although...
Anyway I digress, my point is who are you comparing yourself with?

5.  Because the reality is that the vast majority of learners who reach B1-C1 level will experience a similar thing that you are (that's why people have written books). Nearly everyone hits a plateau that, unfortunately, can last years (or decades!). The people who don't experience this are exceptions (and maybe we should say "exceptional" rather than "supernatural") Hitting the plateau doesn't make you a bad learner. It makes you normal...or to look at it in a more positive way you are not average, you are above average. Why? Because you are communicating with people in a language that is not your own, and that makes you unusual. Give yourself some credit.

6. As you like technical stuff Google "Zipf's Law learning vocabulary". It explains part of the science behind what you're experiencing

Answer

Thanks for taking the time to answer and the valuable insights, Chris.

I'll pay attention to how I establish those points of comparison.

I hadn't heard about Zipf's law, but it's an interesting concept.