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Introduction
Before the year of 1984 I had nearly never been practising English at all - neither written nor spoken. While working as a sailor I sometimes got in contact with English, that's true, but only superficially. My English has of course been formed by the school, but also by TV, radio and some journeys abroad. My vocabulary (as well as my grammar and pronunciation) needs to be better.
	
	 Well, during the year of 1984 I studied for a while at a dicipelship training school in Cyprus, where students from about eleven countries had gathered together. It was an interesting time and I learned quiet a lot of English. I met some practical experiences from both listening and talking English during that time.
	 My memories of English from the compulsory school are that I did'nt like the subject, 
I even found it boring. My attitude towards the subject changed before I went through folk high school, mainly because of the great opportunities English offer to those who are able to use it well. That's also the reason way I decided to study English at the university.
	 During my time as a sailor, as I told you, I got in contact with the English language. On all the ships I've been working it has been normal to use the Swedish language, but, of course, at shore it was necessary to use the English. At shore you mostly had practise in English when you where shopping at the market place, asking for the way or maybe, when you went through some newspaper searching for something interesting to do.
During my studies at university I have been reading some books in English, but still my vocabulary is not good enough. The English language can offer you a great opportunity to express yourself, which is one of the fascinating things about this language. 
	 The English grammar has always been a sad topic to me. Actually, I have learned the irregular verbs but I have also forgotten them. It's the same with most of the grammar in the English languages in fact, most of the grammar it's left for me to learn.
	 Now concerning the pronunciation; What is the right pronunciation when using the English language? I am a bit confused about this; should you use the British or the American pronunciation? I have heard different answers from different teachers - and that's quit frustrating. In my opinion it's good enough if they, who I speak to, understand what I'm saying. My own pronunciation is probably a mix between the Swedish, and British, and American.
	 I understand that this course will involve a lot of studies and I will try to do the best and hopefully in the end of this term I can feel more comfortable in the English language.
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