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<title> English, My English! </title>
	Being able to speak foreign languages makes it possible for peolpe with different mothertongues to communicate with each other. Having a basic knowledge of English has enabled me to work in an Englishspeaking country and to meet new friends from other countries.
	My first contact with the English language was through music. As a child, I was a fan of Michael Jackson's music and I tried to sing along to his songs. I did not understand the meaning then, I just tried to copy his singing. Later, I started watching an american soap-opera. I listened to the words and read the subtitles at the same time, trying to understand which word meant what, and so on. I honestly believe this helped my vocabulary a lot.
	When I was 10 years old, I started studying English at school. I thought it was fun, and not too hard. The summer before I had been on my first trip to England, so at least I could say a few phrases. 
	In secondary school I did not find English particularly fun, as the teacher was not too inspiring. The classed fussed with her, so I did not learn as much as I wanted. My mother and I went a few times to London during this period. This kept my interest in English up at a decent level. 
	Soon after this, I started liking a British pop-group. I bought a lot of British music magazines to read about them and britpop in general. Even though I did this for my own pleasure, I noticed that my English improved a lot. The English-lessons at upper-secondary school became more challenging as time went by, but I felt that I could keep up with it.
	After graduation, I went to England to work as an au pair. I went to stay with a family living on the outskirts of London. I did this partly because I wanted to know the British society, but the main reason was to improve my English. The most useful thing was having to speak English to the family all the time. I also attended a college-course 5 hours per week. It felt really intense in the beginning, before I adjusted. After about two weeks I caught myself thinking in English! 
	Before I went to England I did not like speaking English to people I did not know, especially natives speakers. I guess I was just scared to make silly mistakes and to pronounce words incorrectly. In England I had to get used to this, so I overcame my fears in the end. But still I can be a little insecure in the beginning of a conversation. I feel though, that most of the time I can express the things I want to say. Sometimes I make mistakes, of course, and sometimes it is hard to explain more complicated things. It is also hard to discuss when a lot of special terminology is required. 
 I would say that I normally understand most of what is said in conversations and on television. There are a few words that I do not understand but I most often get the idea of what it is about from the rest of the conversation. Some accents are a bit hard to understand, especially if a lot of slang is used. I think though, that if I heard the same accent a lot I would get used to it, and soon understand it quite well.
When it comes to reading and writing, it is in a way easier, because it gives you the time to think. When you read you can stop to think about what a word means for a little while. I normally understand what texts are about when I read them. In complicated texts some details can be hard to understand, so I wish I knew more English words. Writing has the advantage that I can choose which words I want to use. I do not find spelling too difficult, and I think that, at this level, some grammar come natural for me. I would like to improve this though, because I often make mistakes anyway.
I think that my English is alright now (for a Swede), and maybe I would manage with my skills. But since I really like the English language, I certainly would like to improve my skills in all these fields!
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