Two small problems I'm having

by Gabriel
(Braila, Romania)

Hi, I stumbled across your site and I got engaged in reading the hints and everything on the home page. I came to the conclusion that I've been mostly following the same patterns in my own work involuntarily and I thought I would share my pesky problems with you; perhaps you know a way to help me.

My problem is this: English is second language for me and as much as i got used to speaking it and listening to it everywhere, I find myself at a loss when reading other people's work. It's not the creative process that's the problem, it's the vocabulary: I find that other people manage to describe certain situations much better than me and have a higher impact on the reader and that they posses a richer vocabulary; good enough to not repeat themselves or make for a shallow reading. Is there any way for me to improve on that and what do you recommend?
PS: I've also found myself using my own words too often and I can't seem to think of better words(new words).

And the second problem: I'm interested in better ways to differentiate the personalities of my characters when it comes to dialogue. How can I do it better so it won't sound like it's the same character over and over again. Ive worked on this for a while and tried to give each character a certain signature in comunication; something personalized like a phrase or gesture but I have yet to perfect it. What do you think? Any hints you can give me?

Thank you and I look forward to your wisdom.