Hello.

I've finally decided to improve my English skills, so I've been looking for some ways to practice.

I've been studying English for... well, that would be a lie. I don't think I've actually cracked a book in over three years.

They taught me German in school, and I completely forgot it as soon as the lessons stopped. I never knew it to be honest, so there was nothing to forget.

The thing with English is, it's just that every piece of information I needed was not available in my native language, so I had to translate everything. So I started to remember things, word by word my vocabulary grew. I've actually used apps like Duolingo for some time, but it never stuck for any length of time.

The next step in my language learning journey was the decision to watch tv shows in English. To be free of Russian dubs was actually the biggest driving force to improve my English. Partly because they're inferior, partly because I have to wait a few days after the release of a new episode - and that is few days that you can get a lot of spoilers online. I started using Russian subs first, but I still had to wait for them, so I switched to English subs. It was difficult at first - I had to stop and translate some specific words from time to time, or make educated guesses and lose some meaning in process. Eventually, I almost completely stopped encountering new words. I don't know how long it took though.

Nowadays I consume almost everything in English - I spend a lot of time watching whatever Youtube decides to throw at me in the recommended section, or read something on Reddit. The thing is, I only practice my reading and listening skills - I rarely write, never speak, and of course have never had a conversation with a native speaker. I don't know any grammar, so my English is lacking. Even though I've never had a goal to actually speak English, and I've achieved my goal of consuming content in English, I feel like I could do better. Even if this skill doesn't find any practical application, it is still something good to have "just in case".

So I'm open to suggestions. What is my next step? How do I test my English level? How do I improve? How well did I do with this text?

Thanks in advance.