"On English" and "usually"

[Rachel Adams]

Is it wrong to use "on English" instead of "of" and "usually" instead of "usual"?

"I think she needs to improve her knowledge on/of English and practise it more often than usually/usual. Instead of spending time and money on self-care products, beauty salons and the like."

 

[jutfrank]

Yes and yes.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Yes and yes.

Does "the likes" refer to people or can I use it in my sentence too if I am not talking about people?

 

[emsr2d2]

Does "the [STRIKE]likes[/STRIKE] like" refer only to people or can I use it in my sentence [STRIKE]too[/STRIKE] if I am not talking about people?

You can use it to refer to anything or anyone.

I always turn off the radio when I hear Ed Sheeran, James Blunt and the like. I can't stand those whiny singer-songwriters.
My favourite foods are all really spicy - chilli, chimichurri, proper kimchi and the like.

 

[Tarheel]

"I think she needs to improve her knowledge of English and practise it more often.

I don't think you need either one (usual, usually). Also, the following sentence in the original doesn't make sense to me. (My opinion.)

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

It would be more grammatical as a single sentence.

 

[emsr2d2]

It would be more grammatical as a single sentence.

It wouldn't just be more natural, it would be correct. As it stands, the sentence starting with "Instead of" isn't a complete sentence. You can write it in two different orders (I've shortened it a bit):

I think she needs to spend her time and money on her English studies instead of [spending it] on beauty products and treatments.
Instead of spending time and money on beauty products and treatments, she should spend it on her English studies.

 

[Tarheel]

What the writer/speaker seems to be saying is the person should spend more time on her English studies and less time at the beauty shop.

It's hard to see how the two are connected. While it's true that if you spend more time doing one thing you will spend less time doing something else, I wouldn't make that connection.