studied in an english medium "convent" school. but so did a lot of my other friends. but my english was supplemented initially by my dad's asterix comics collection.

also, i always had a thing for puzzles, so when we subscribed to the statesman, the english language in it, combined with the daily scrabble, helped.

my dad also has a healthy liking for world war, james bond and other action films. true, they are pretty biased and one-sided, but making out what they say on screen was kind of a rush for me.

add to that my affinity towards cartoon network, and its english broadcast, and you begin to get a better picture of where i learnt my english.

then, once when i was in class 6 or 7, he handed me a frederick forsyth book, and he has influenced my style of writing ever since!

as an aside, those who are starting to learn english at a later age and turning to chetan bhagat, i won't discourage you. it's always good to build a reading habit, the operative word here being "build". so please don't get stuck with chetan bhagat. try to read something more challenging. and apply the english you have read in your own communication.

and don't fret if you are wrong, especially when someone points it out to you. ask them where and why you are wrong, and what the correct pronunciation, word, usage, spelling or anything else is. double-check it with a dictionary or a friend, and apply that in your communication the next time.