Dear Ed,

Thank you for introducing such an interesting topic.

I am a native English speaker, born in the north-east of England, with a Scottish mother, and a father from the English-Scottish Border.

You may think that I had no problems with English, but the reverse is the case.  Tyneside, where I live, was an extremely poor, working-class district, where everyone spoke �Geordie�, (and still do).  This is a strong dialect, related to Norse.

My father was unemployed, with seven children, and he did not obtain work until I was 8 years� old, so life was difficult.

I passed a Scholarship Exam and went to Gateshead Grammar School.  Walking to and from school, I wore my school uniform hat, which was all that my father could afford.  I was pelted with stones, because I was a �Grammar school snob�.  At school, I was bullied, because I was �poor� and did not �talk properly�.  Outside of school, I soon began to put my hat in my pocket.

At school, (among other subjects), I studied English, and also French, which I loved, (although I never owned a Dictionary).  When I left school, I passed the Matriculation Examination, with a Credit in 8 Subjects, including English and French.  Many of the bullies failed!

I began work in a Quantity Surveyor�s office where I met Architects and Professional Clients.  Immediately, I had to begin �speaking properly�.  It took really hard work on my part to stop saying: �Me Mam and me Dad�, and say: �My mother and my father�, and also �Give me, please�, instead of �Giz�, and similar �Geordie� phrases.

A very nice Lady, called Queen Elizabeth, asked me if I would help her, and in return, she gave me an ill-fitting khaki uniform.  She paid for me to have a 2-year holiday in Germany, and paid for my journey there, so I bought a book: �Hugo�s German in 3 Months�.  I think that it was very good value, because, after 2 weeks, I had taught myself sufficient German to buy a pair of socks in a shop.  I liked Germany, and the language, so much that I stayed there for almost 2 years with several other Englishmen, (who also wore khaki uniforms).

When I returned to England, I passed my exams and became a Professional Quantity Surveyor.  Unfortunately, I was made redundant, so I began to teach myself other languages, while working at different jobs to make money.  I had been on the stage for most of my adult life, as a classical singer, actor, and magician, so I entertained in restaurants, performing in different languages.  Apart from English, French and German, I had added Hindi/Urdu, then Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Greek, etc. and later a little Russian and Cantonese.  At one time, I could converse in10 languages, but you need constant practice to retain fluency.

Because I had studied Education and Teaching, I was engaged by my local College as an ESOL Teacher.  I continued my study of language and English up to Master�s Level.  I wanted to do a Doctorate, but ill-health and home circumstances prevented it.

Someone remarked that English people don�t learn foreign languages.  In the ESOL Staff-room where I work, in the UK, there are about 30 foreign languages spoken, by English natives.  That is in just one Department of the College.  At University, my daughter studied French, German, and Hebrew.

I have found the stories of language-learning fascinating.

I thank the other teachers most sincerely for their great compliment in learning English.

Les

I learned English at school. I started learning at the age of eleven.

Before that, I learned some from my older brother and sister.

After that, I have learned more from lyrics of pop songs and from TV (we have subtitles, not dubbing).

Later on, I learned more from my students - looking for answers to their questions, mostly (they started learning earlier, using different books, were exposed to English even more than we were at their age).

I �ve learned a lot from the Internet.

I learned to respond quickly and to reply quickly and write and use everyday expressions using ICQ, MSN etc., chatting to people.

I �m still learning - from the Internet and TV, mostly and I find myself looking for explanations of things that intrigue me - "Is that right or wrong?" "Do people actually say that?" etc. etc.

I �m sure I �ve forgotten t lea one thing, one more way of learning.