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Ever since I first started studying English, at the age of ten, I have felt a special fondness for it. It has always seemed perfectly natural and logical for me to learn English as a second language. During the schoolyears, I did my very best to learn as much as possible, which I later on found was really not that much. 
The school-English is a fairly safe ground for me to stand on and it has given me confidence enough to practise my English in writing as well as in speaking. Other important teachers not to forget has been the television and popartists. 
As far as my listening skills in English are concerned, I think that they are rather good. In Sweden, you hear English all the time since none of the television shows are dubbed into Swedish. That is extremely good, I think, because you can always practise your comprehension by watching television. And I find, to my delight, that most of the times I do understand what people are saying. Of course there are many, many words that I do not understand but in general there is no problem. 
The other 'teacher' I mentioned is music. The music I listen to is mainly in English though there are some exceptions, like Bo Kaspers Orkester who's lyrics are in Swedish. And when I listen to music I learn the lyrics by heart, not always an entire text, but I catch words and phrases and add them to my vocabulary. This is an important source for learning modern and up-to-date expressions.
When it comes to reading, it is a bit more complicated. I have not read all that much in English, actually, so I am not sure of how good I am at it. So far, we have read one novel, two short stories and a book about American social studies. I didn't have any problems with understanding these, but I must admit that I didn't really look up every new word I came across. The reading itself doesn't get that affected by the fact that I don't understand everything. Most of the times I understand by the context, and that also applies to reading
English novels, which I really enjoy because I find the language exciting and especially suitable for this kind of literature.
The step from reading to writing isn't far. When writing, I can always get inspired from the things that I have read and that usually helps a great deal. Ever since I was a little girl I have loved writing, I remember I even wanted to be a writer at some stage of my life. I don't think I will ever be one, but I still like writing a lot. During High School, my class was a 'Journalism class' which means that we practised a lot of writing and other things related to journalism. We never wrote in English, though. I find, while sitting here writing, that I really have to improve my vocabulary. It seems to me like I use the same words over and over again and that is really frustrating! I want to use my own language but I can't, due to the lack of words. Hopefully, this is a problem I can solve during this term. I will certainly try to. 
The same problem shows as I am speaking. But not always, for some reason. Sometimes, my English flows as naturally as a river and I can say whatever I want and get understood too. I have noticed that this often happens when I speak to a British person. Probably I feel more confident using a more British accent. This might sound a bit strange, but when I talk to American persons I tend to adapt my pronunciation to the way he or she speaks. This is no good, of course, and it is certainly something that I also will have to work with. I must find my own English, so to speak. 
My hopes for this semester is to improve my skills, especially in writing and in speaking considerably, so that I feel more confident and less like an amateur.
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