1. Always be willing to expand your knowledge.  Never get tired of learning new things about the language.  The moment you tire is the moment you plateau in your skill level.
2. Treat your practice partners, resource persons and learning buddies extra-special.  The people you learn the language with are your most valuable allies towards these goals.  Make a point of establishing good relationships with them.
3. Keep a journal.  A journal gives you the necessary outlet to reflect on your learning activities, as well as provide a point of reference for later.  You can make this private or even public on the web (if you’re into sharing and getting people’s feedback).
4. Always keep an eye out for new ways to learn.  New ways of learning show up everyday.  While we’d still recommend you stick to what’s working, don’t hesitate to try new things, especially if you find the methods interesting.
5. Be willing to fail.  Put yourself out there and make mistakes.  That’s the only way to really get out of your head and reach your goals.    Be willing to fail and make mistakes — it’s part of the path.

Many advanced language learners are independent enough in the language to be able to work on their own.  That’s why we recommend home study language programs over classroom lessons and tutoring.  Provided you have sufficient amount of contact with native speakers (for practice), learning on your own is probably a better option for numerous reasons:

1. It’s more cost-effective.  An advanced language software is cheap, compared to the cost of a class or private tutoring.  We believe they can both deliver similar results, so opting for the more expensive option doesn’t net you any real benefits.
2. It’s a better fit.  Private tutoring tend to cuddle students.  It’s not something an advanced second language speaker needs.  Independence and flexibility will probably serve you better, allowing you some amount of creativity in the way you expand your knowledge in the vernacular.

We’re not discounting the value of tutoring.  Far from it.  Our position is, simply, that advanced language learning requires less supervision and more self-dependence.  A self-learning program for next-level students is the best option for just that.



Fluency

Advanced language learners, at their stage, need to study for fluency.  Rather than memorize individual words like beginner and early intermediate learners, however, your focus should turn to larger phrases and chunks.  That’s because bigger, fuller components are typically what native speakers process.  Since you’re gunning for the same ability, you’ll have to develop the same patterns of learning.

Memory

If you’ve slogged the whole early stages of language learning, you’ve probably done some research on memory techniques.  Perhaps, even read up on how our memories work.  Whatever knowledge you applied that worked for you, continue doing it.  Except this time, do it in larger chunks, rather than the individual (sometimes incidental) words you used to do.

Contextual Guesswork

Learn to guess intelligently.  Sometimes, you will encounter words or phrases you haven’t heard before.  Rather than leaving it at that, try to “guess” what they mean based on the context of what else has been said.  That, right there, is an important aspect of many advanced language learning software and courses – the ability to apply what you’ve learned before to illuminate presently confusing items.