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When I was eleven years old I started to study English at school. I didn't get a really good start because I didn't understand why I had to learn English and therefore I wasn't very eager to learn. The most important thing why I never was a good student in English, I think, was that I found it very boring. I couldn't understand what others found so fascinating about knowing a foreign language.
Because of all these reasons, I was always behind in my English studies and when I graduated from senior high school my English marks were low. I realized that I had to do something about it to be admitted to the University so I went to Boston, MA to work as a nanny for a year.

In the beginning of my year in the USA it was hard to be around people who only spoke English, but after a few weeks I could understand almost everything the family was talking about. The family I lived with was big, five children and their parents, so I always had someone to talk to or listen to. It was very good practice. Now I had a reason to learn how to understand English. The children I took care of told me things that had happened at school, etc. and I really wanted to understand every word they were telling me.

Now I can feel comfortable when people are talking to me in English. What I still find pretty hard is to understand some English spoken by people from Great Britain because I'm so used to American English.

What I found most difficult during my stay in the USA was to talk without sounding like a five-year old. During the first months my speaking really improved but after a while I found myself standing on the same spot, not improving at all. I wanted to be able to speak about serious things but couldn't find the words that said what I wanted to. I still feel that I can improve my English speaking a lot, but on the other hand I feel I can have an everyday conversation with English speaking people.

Before I went to Boston I hadn't read one whole book in English. I didn't read very much when I was there either except for the books I read to the children, which actually was a lot. I think the reason why I didn't read so much when I was abroad was that I was so tired of English in the evenings and weekends. In my spare time I'd rather write letters in Swedish to my friends and family at home.

When I returned to Sweden after a year in Boston it was nice to speak Swedish again but after a while I started to miss the English language. It was a very strange feeling because I never thought that could happen to me. I started to read some books in English and really enjoyed it. I'm still reading a lot more books in Swedish than in English but it's nice to know that it's not that hard to read in English. I also think reading is a simple but efficient way to learn the language better.

I don't know if reading English will make me a better writer but I sure hope so. I would never advise anyone to work as an au-pair if their only goal was just to improve their writing skills because you don't have to write a single word in English, I didn't anyway. I feel like my writing is as bad as it was before I went abroad. I have always enjoyed writing in Swedish so I hope, with some help and a lot of hard work, I will improve my writing skills a lot.

I think that the best way to learn a language is to stay in a country with native speakers for a year or so. It worked for me anyway, but I think I had improved even more if I went there to study. Than I would have been forced to write and read. A year abroad made me understand the reason why I have to learn English and, even more important, now I can find it enjoyable to learn a second language.
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