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<title> English, my English </title>
What is it that makes English such a wonderfully fascinating language? Is it the elegant way sentences are constructed? Is it the intriguing history of the language? Or is it the endless treasure of literature and music in English?
Actually, I think the enormous vocabulary of English is the main reason why I am mesmerized by the language. As a devoted adherent of the Aesthetic movement, I believe that words exist for their own sake, just like art exists for its own sake, not for decorating people's walls.
Thus, I find English dictionaries truly captivating, with their inexhaustable supply of beauty as well as knowledge. "Delirium", "lavish", "abode", "nooks and crannies" lovely words galore!
Owning a dictionary is like experiencing a never-ending love story.

My chief problem when it comes to English studies is the fact that I, as mentioned above, really love learning words, but only beautiful, poetic words. I cannot discuss tedious things like economy or sports, simply because I have never bothered to acquire the terminology. Absurdly enough, I can deliver eloquent speeches on subjects like art and literature, but I would be speechless if asked a simple question like "What does a bicycle look like?"

As we all know,though, a language does not consist of words alone. You have to know how the language works, that is you have to learn grammar.
I was eight years old when I was forced to learn English very quickly at the American School of Mogadishu, Somalia. I remember entering an "Irregular verbs-contest" with the other children in my ESL (English Second Language) class. I knew I was the best student and naturally, I was very keen on winning. Everything went well until the teacher said "Make?" and I replied "maked, maked". I immediately realized my mistake, but it was too late, and my worst enemy Mikko Koponen scored a point instead of me. Alas! What a trauma, what a horrid feeling of abasement! I learnt my lesson, however, and I believe I haven't MADE a mistake in the field of irregular verbs ever since.

Since I went to an American school, I acquired a broad Yankee accent. Later in life, I grew fond of British English, and consequently I soon considered my own American accent vulgar and vile. Desperately trying to achieve a good classy Oxford accent, I made a fool out of myself once or twice. For instance, I thought that the word "beard" was supposed to be pronounced "bird" in British. My friends laughed for quite a while when I eagerly encouraged a man to "grow a bird".

Needless to say, I still try hard to sound British. I haven't been able to fool a Briton yet, but a few Danes, Germans and even Swedes have actually mistaken me for a native of the British Isles. Such occasions are moments of glory to me.

I have never found spelling difficult in any language. My parents were often quite astonished by my talent when I was younger. 
Last spring I met a very well-read South African boy and we kept discussing the wonders of the English language. As a matter of fact I won a couple of bets concerning the spelling of certain words. This was, of course, a great triumph for me, considering the fact that he was an educated native speaker of English, whereas I'm just a Finnish smalltown girl.

It is a matter of course that I am exposed to written English all the time, as I have been reading English books since the age of nine. My mother made me read Astrid Lindgren classics like "Mischevious Meg" and "The Children of Noisy Village" in English. Ten years later, I had already ploughed through the works of various renowned authors like Oscar Wilde, Vladimir Nabokov and Salman Rushdie. Obviously, I don't understand every single word in such complicated texts, but it really doesn't matter, and I'm often able to find out the meaning of a word by looking at the context.

Another agreeable way of learning a language is listening to music with intelligent lyrics. The Mancunian singer/songwriter Steven Morrissey (former lead singer in The Smiths) is, I think, my favourite English teacher as well as my favourite poet. His lyrics are often witty, sometimes painfully beautiful, never pathetic and always very well-expessed.
So if you want to learn by listening, I recommend Morrissey's music rather than American TV-shows where you cannot comprehend what the characters are saying because of their hideous slang, and if you do understand the dialogue you realize that you were happier when you didn't.

Dear readers, I realize that I may sound extremely boastful and utterly self-righteous. I am not always completely serious when praising my own skills. Nevertheless, I am not modest and I do feel pretty confident about my English. But believe me- I am well aware of the fact that there are still plenty of skills to master, and I'm looking forward to a lifetime of learning.
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