My turn: When I enrolled my daughter for secondary school some time ago we both visited the English class of my first English teacher. She was one of my favourite teachers ever and it was a mere pleasure to be there and listen to her again.
English was my first love... and it will be .... oops, sorry. We had so much fun and read a lot of brilliant books through the years. I began to watch Sky Channel ( @Bratze). BFBS, the British forces broadcast, was one of my favourite radio stations. And I loved that accent as if you spoke with a plum in your mouth . During the years I never lost my love for this language. Of course, it was one of my Abitur subjects. After my final exams I packed my bags and said goodbye to my parents for one year. London was my destination and I started working for a family of 4 people as Au-Pair resp. Nanny. By the way, when arriving at Victoria Station I had to find a taxi to take me to West Ealing. I thought my English would be quite good, but on my arrival in West Ealing, which was about a 45 minutes drive, I was desillusionated. Today I would rate the taxi driver's English as average, just normal. But back then I was hopelessly frustrated. I hardly understood a f***ing word he said!!! The family was ok (which would change within a short while) and encouraged me not to give up. Fortunately there was a cleaning lady so I had some spare time for my studies. I enrolled for a class called "English for Foreigners" at Hounslow Borough College in Southwest London and passed two exams of Cambridge University. I got to know so many people with lots of different accents, so that in the end nobody could really say my nationality. "I have absolutely no idea where you actually come from. But this place must be somewhere in a part of England completely unknown so far. Sometimes it's Canadian, American, Australian, Scottisch or Irish accent. Ok, where are you from?" "From Germany" "Never! Tell me, where is this f***ing town on the map?"
Back in Germany I improved my English during an apprenticeship and finished as Bilingual Secretary. My teacher was a native speaker and was even more British than all Brits I had known before . We were only 2 students and so we really learned a lot.
I really hope that Helena will turn out being anglophilic too