How about YOUR knowledge in English?

[Hoppla-Daisy]

And again a warm welcome.

As I remember from school teachers always try to encourage their students to start talking and not bothering about mistakes, grammar etc. Why not also here?

Of course, we woud like to learn more about your approach to the English language. For most of us probably the first encounter was at school. But what happened to your knowledge achieved when you left school? Have you tried to improve your English since then, or are your books still on the same place in the shelf where you put them after your final exams? Maybe some of you even took a year off and travelled before taking up their studies.

We are really looking forward to reading YOUR story with respect to the English language. And just in case your sentences or phrases may sound a little bit funny, don't bother. I think, we will sometimes wet ourselves laughing, however, always with a winking eye .

And now, please, just start writing - and keep in mind: NOBODY IS PERFECT

[Kackbratze]

Okay, lets get it started.

It all began many years ago, when the British forces were still stationed in my town.
So we had SKY1 television and every Sunday morning there was the FUNFACTORY that showed all the great cartoon like Transformers, MASK, GI JOE and so on.

I did NOT learn any english from that, but I got used to the sound of the language (Hey, I was in first and second class....).

So, later in school I really sucked in English (Who gives a flying fAck about past tense and present progressive?!?) but my teacher made a great effort so I was able to understand all that and sometimes even got some good grades.

The breakthrough came, when I was on a student Exchange in Japan.
Yes, I know, how do you learn english in Japan?

Its pretty easy when you can only communicate with fellow exchangestudents only in english (and of course only in japanese with the japanese).
I learned in Japan actually 2 languages....
and from that time on I am a fan of the BBC, CNN and movies in their original language.

Actually I sometimes watch CNN just to practice my english so its not getting lost again (like my japanese, which has suffered from significant losses....).

Right now I am checking how I can use my english in the medical business or maybe even outside the medical business (as a doctor there are many ways to find work).

[Flauta]

hm, I did not have many English in school. And from my 3 English-teacher at least 2 were not very good.
I read some books in English, but not yet Harry Potter.

During my studies of German language, we had many scientific texts in English in the linguistic classes (Seminare??).
At the beginning, this was not easy, the technical vocabulary is the same in the 2 languages, but reading takes much more time. Everybody got used to do this, but nobody prefered it to the usual German essays. (it's a bit strange to study German Language in English...).

I was once in England, a concert tour with a wind band and once in South-Africa. This time we lived in guest families and we had to speak English because our Africaans was not very developped..

In my country, all cinema films are shown in the original language (most in Englich) and I really like to hear the British way of pronouncing (Accent) and thats why I dont like the typical German synchronisation.

I lost all my English, I wanted to say many other things, but I don't know enouh about the language....
bye

[Doctöse]

What happened to Öse's English? Sorry, Oese's English

I startet learning English at school. It was my second foreign language after Latin. Yes, I know, Latin's dead My first English teacher was pretty enthusiastic and really keen on teaching, so the class had quite a lot of fun. The following teachers were also fantastic, I liked most of the stuff they wanted us to read and work with. I remember the novel "The 39 Steps" which still is one of my favourite stories, such as Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and "Hamlet" and many, many more...

After a trip to Ireland I decided to spend some time at our Irish partner school in Waterford. I've lived in Ireland for six months to improve my English and get the feeling of independence due to being out of my parents sight. Harr Well, even at a boarding school one can be free

After school I kept up reading English books and watching films. I love Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" and I have to read it at least once a year. Besides I'm a fan of Poe's "evil" stories Does anyone know "The Tell-Tale Heart"? Brilliant, isn't it These are just a few examples.

Sometimes I use English books for my studies. They're often much better concerning didactics and make it easier for me to understand complex stuff. As a friend of mine said: When a German scientist writes a book, he wants to raise a monument but when an American scientist writes a book, he wants to sell it This is so true...

[hypnotel]

It began when I was about five, stumbling upon song lyrics I could not understand at all, while my mother seemed to know about these foreign words. This aroused my juvenile ambition, so I persuaded her to translate the lines of our favorite songs, e.g. by Cat Stevens, Peter Hofmann and King Crimson. (sic)
Attending Grundschule in boredom rather, I got my hands on some English course books for fifth-graders, which helped to acquire basic grammar and expand my vocabulary.
By the time I proceeded to Gymnasium (beginning with Latin as a mandatory foreign language), I felt lucky not actually having to learn English for the following years - in class.
Since English and Latin turned out to be the sure shots of my school career, I went on to establish them as Leistungskurse, and am still glad about it. The crux about this choice was Maths as a mandatory oral exam, but this I discovered much later on the way to Abitur, when they put me through hell

Having been to Britain twice and to the US 8 or 9 times, mainly on vacation (this equals sports & shopping) but also for some nice student jobs, I found myself able to intensify the English experience with native speakers. It's nicer to be considered an Englishman in the States than a Germ, for the average level of education is painstakingly low:
'Gee, you still got that Hitler thing going on!' - 'Germany, that is one of the communist countries, ain't it part of the Soviet Union?' and the like...
On the other hand, (sub)cultural elements from the US set up new horizons for me... again in the form of song lyrics (and certain computer games), some of which I will appreciate until judgment day, as you may notice reading the corresponding thread or my ever-a-changing signature.
I would not set my foot on US territory again, I must say nowadays. Among the anglophonic countries, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are yet to come...

so, what can I say but - g'day, mates