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My native language is Swedish, and apart from a small enclave in Finland it is only spoken in my own country. Since being a small child I have always read a lot. Even text books in school. I would usually just devour them the first days after getting them. After that I never really needed to do homework, it was my way of freeing up time to read the things I really wanted.
I can't say exactly when it happened, but probably around 12 or 13, I had begun reading translated books, and I began realizing that they had a tone of pretentiousness, it was as if the translator's voice was more important than the author's. I wondered how the book would read in original. At that age, a girl is very determined so I started looking for books in English at the library. I remember the odd look the librarian gave me, but we did find some books and she even let me borrow a dictionary (you weren't supposed to bring them out, but it was an older edition).
By struggling and forcing myself to get through those first books, I learned how to read in English and it opened up a whole new world. Especially for entertainment literature, something looked down upon by Swedish authors (this would change over time) and hence not that available. The end result was that I got interested in learning new languages since it opens me up to new experiences and cultures. Even today I look back at that time and once in a while I'll pat my back and say; "You were one smart cookie, girl!"
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