<doc.id=0137.a1>
For ten years I have been studying English in school, including one year as a foreign exchange student at Fabius Junior-Senior High School, NY. That year, of course, gave me a lot of confidence in using the language, as well as it enhanced my sense for English and increased my vocabulary a great deal. But it gave me more than just the improved skills in English, it also gave me a chance to get to know the American people and the American culture.
	As far as I can remember, it was in ninth grade I realized that English was quite interesting and something I could manage to learn without any major difficulties. It came naturally to me. 
	When I got back from the U.S. I was quite convinced that I mastered the English language. I did very well in English classes during the remaining two years of high school in Sweden. During these years I chose to study math, chemistry and physics in English, which could voluntarily be chosen at Pauliskolan in Malmö. But now, two years after my graduation, I realize how easy it is to forget at least some of the familiarity of a language if it's not properly maintained. I don't feel as confident today as I did two years ago, probably due to lack of practical use since then.
	Still, I feel pretty competent in English, fully aware of that I would have no trouble whatsoever to manage well on my own in an English-speaking country. What might cause me some problem though, when it comes to listening, are some of the more peculiar regional dialects of English spoken in the different parts of the world. But overall, I do understand most of the spoken English I hear, even if it is rapidly delivered. 
	Reading texts in English is usually not a problem to me, at least not fictional texts. I find it easy to grasp the contents of a fictional text, even though I don't understand every word that is written. It's a little bit different when it comes to non-fiction, or rather specialist literature, where it's vital to know certain terms and odd words. On the whole I'm a rather slow reader, not only when it comes to English texts, but also when I read Swedish texts.
	I feel very confident in speaking English. That's probably the part of my English skills that developped the most during my stay in the U.S. Every day I was forced to use English in order to make myself clear to others, and of course I had to listen to English all the time as well, and ask if I didn't understand what someone had said. Although I might not know the correct or appropriate English word or phrase for what I want to say, I don't find it very hard to explain what I mean. When I speak English, I sometimes tend to be quite negligent of the grammatic rules for proper English. I don't think it happens very often, and I'm not sure if people notice it at all. My pronunciation is alright, I think, and of course I have an American accent.
	Writing in English is sometimes easy and sometimes quite complicated to me. I don't know why, but sometimes it seems that I'm not aware of that I'm writing in English, the text is simply put into English words as if I was writing it in Swedish. These texts usually turns out to be quite good. Most of the times, though, I have to struggle quite hard to get the things I want say expressed in English. Then I constantly get stuck on a wording or have to look up words in a dictionary. 
	Overall I'm rather pleased with my skills in English, although they're far from perfect. There are always shortcomings that can be disposed of. But I'm not a perfectionist, which I sometimes regret. I tend to be easy going and quite careless, trusting my senses rather than my knowledge, which I assume is a weakness when it comes to learning a language. However, my intentions now are to improve my skills and regain the confidence I once had.
</doc>