<p>There isn't a community college in this country that doesn't have an English as a foreign language class, and these are usually geared to adults to improve their conversational skills. You will be less shy when surrounded by students who have fewer skills than you, and you should tell the instructor what your goals are. He will then know that you are serious about your conversational skills for interviewing (jobs or college).</p>
<p>I'm not a certified teacher of EFL, but I raised to children who are extremely well spoken and northstarmom is right--what you need are people who will correct your English and practice. At this point, I suspect your problems are mostly a matter of habit as opposed to lack of understanding, so you need to break those habits. Whenever you are corrected, repeat the correction out loud, then repeat the entire sentence out loud. Keep a small notebook with you, and when you use a phrase incorrectly(say, using the wrong number in the verb, like "he were"), write down the correct wording. Later, write the correct wording down (on paper in your handwriting, not at a keyboard)at least ten times, while repeating out loud (he was). This is the fastest way to break a habit and reinforce a correction--visually, reading silently; aurally, hearing your voice say the correct phrase, and physically, through the physical action of writing.</p>
<p>You can use this technique for your writing too--take an essay which has been corrected and do the same thing with every phrase that was corrected. Write out the entire corrected essay and read it out loud so that you hear the way the words sound together. This, by the way, is also the very best technique for spelling (say the word, write it down, spell it out loud, and so forth).</p>
<p>Do not rely on the TV or radio--there are too many announcers who make very elementary errors. In fact, while you are working on this, either avoid TV & radio, or only listen with someone knowledgeable enough to point out the errors.</p>
<p>Finally, read correct prose EVERY DAY. I suggest the Wall Street Journal, which is available at every library. It is written at a 12th grade level, and is exceptionaly well edited. There are very few grammatical errors. If you cannot get to the library, you can download at least one article from their website, print it out (this is important--don't read it off the monitor) and read it, both silently and aloud. Besides, you'll learn some economics! ;)</p>
<p>This all might sound like a lot of work, but it will pay very big dividends very, very fast compared to other methods. If you have other questions, feel free to PM me.</p>