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<title> An assessment of my ability to master the English language - strengths and weaknesses </title>
In this essay I will try to evaluate my written and oral free production. I consider myself having a quite solid base to lean on, given that I've studied the English language for roughly twelve years. 
	My three first school years were spent in an English school in Stockholm. I didn't find this too distressing, as I naturally was eager to learn the new language in question, in order to be able to communicate with the other children (Swedish was not aloud during school hours). Additionally, since I was very young, I picked up the foreign language quickly.
	Leaving my background and on to my strengths of free production. I feel the most confident about speaking. My everyday English is rather fluent, but when I'm nervous or stressed or when I'm handling more formal subjects I'm not as articulate. 
Pronunciation has never been an issue for me. My accent nowadays is predominantly British, mixed with other influences. Until sometime in Upper Secondary my accent was like most other Swedish students' accent, i e mainly American. 
	To continue with my writing skills, the situation is similar to speaking. Composing letters and emails to English speaking friends comes with ease, while formal writing causes more difficulties. My abilities to express myself beyond everyday English, as well as to distinguish between different levels of formality, are limited. 
	Moreover I believe that not knowing enough "about" grammar is one of my true Achilles' heals. When writing and speaking I do so without reflecting extensively over grammar - I just say what comes naturally.	
My vocabulary is something else, which needs improvement. Even though I do read quite a few books in English, I seldom look up any words in the dictionary. Since I often understand the overall meaning from the context I don't bother, because it takes away some of the reading pleasure.
	Furthermore I would like to have a more colourful and varied language. Recently I've been watching the BBC cooking show "Jamie - the naked chef", and I'm constantly amazed by how many different adjectives he uses to describe his food (whereas I would just have come up with "lovely" every time).
	As a summary I would like to say that I'm fairly satisfied with my English level and capability of using the language. However, after this course I hope I will have made progress in the areas I still wish to improve.
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