Hi man, i'm new at this but i started to talk to girls and i have to improve some more but i'm doing it well.
I'm doing it slowly cuz i'm too nervous about it so if you are also nervous you should start this slowly as i did, this way you'll never get rejected too strong.
So what you can do is:
Go to a store that sells clothes (jeans, shirts, anything it doesn't matter) it should have only one receptionist (of course a girl) and start to talk to her saying that you are asking for a nice shirt what she recommends you, ask her opinion on it and be the best pleasantness, likableness, niceness person that you ever been! Don't put to effort on that be natural
Don't get nervous cuz you are not there to ask her out or ask her number. You are just practicing how to be a nice person and how to lost your fear of girls.
You don't need to actually buy that clothes, you shouldn't only if you really want to. but you shouldn't, this way you are also improving your way to decide by your self not by the others.
Never do jokes, be normal first.
Than i guess you have some friends to practice on they don't have to know so it's way easy.
When you are talking to them always pay attention about what you are saying and the way you are saying it, cuz when you are with your friends you act normally so you have to know how your body and your voice is normally. If your friends don't like the way you talk or you are boring, annoying then you have to learn how to improve your conversation.
There's a normal syntax for human conversation, people always follow the last thing said, for example:
SHE -ow i was in london last year.
YOU -Nice, what you think about london (don't end your sentences up just like this, do some more, for example -->) it's a nice place to live or you don't recommend it?
-No, i loved it it's awesome!
-So if you loved it why you left it (don't end your sentences with double meaning (you are saying something like: if you like it then why you are here, go back to your country foreign) always make clear that what you are saying it's not rudely understood -->) are you in vacations or something.
Now i'm going to tell you the keywords that i used to continue the conversation above:
She said "Lodon", she said "no, i loved it", then i used this expressions to continue the conversation with meaning.
If you are without things to say always start a new conversation, you can ask her job (also if she likes it) if she's on vacations\studies or if she is actual living there. Get to know her better.
You can start a new conversation with:
So... you...(then ask anything)
Tell me more things about you, i know that you are (from\a god person\a nice speaker\bad girl\lovely person\etc)
Tell me more things about you, (then ask anything)
It is really nice to do and really funny : )
Things that you have to change in your life first:
Yes you have to study, not geography, math no way!! You have to know coffee shops, bars, clubs, etc where they are, them names and what they do in it (if it's a relaxed place, of if they play music in it), you have to know them good really good man! That's a lot important!! Take some days to take a coffee in them or a drink you don't have to bring fellas you can go alone by your self) pay attention to every bad and good stuff!
Why? Hot girls like that kind of stuff, so if you are not that kind of night person as i also i'm not you have at least know the places and make them thing that you are a night person.
Never lie (hard) to a girl, if she asks you something like:
-Have you ever got drunk?
If you didn't, you are not going to say that, it's a bad demonstration of higher value, so... you can't lie hard but you can say that you were almost drunk once. In short, you have to lie on this but you not put too much in it cuz if she started with other questions about it you get stuck and then you failed. Or you can tell her the truth and make up something like:
i can't do that, i'm not a mother's son but my mom have heart problems and i can't give her that kind of concerns cuz mom's are really important to us and you probably think the same. btw do you know that almost every person have a better relationship with mom's compares to dad's? That's because before the child get birth the mother and the child shares enzymes that make that kind of "connection".
It's better than say that you drive

and you are not getting on an award level like: my mom have a disease let's talk about it, cuz you have already changed the subject.
Noticed that i told a "gay" story after, it increases you point.
And yes you lied it but she's never going to talk about it or share it with friends. And you are not saying that you don't drink, anyone can drink anything, you are saying that you are "not able" to get drunk.
Other quick tip: Try to place this sentence: "Tell me the story behind it", for example:
-You lived in London, why you came here tell me the story behind it.
Instead of:
-You lived in London, are you in vacations?
Always do open questions, for example my suggestion (Tell me the story behind ) is more opened, she can say everything that she wants to, in the other case she would say: "yes" or "no"
So in short:
Make sure that you started to speak to people that you are not attacked to, and then when you get the confidence just go with it : )