What is happening to my brain? Hi everyone! My name is Miriam and I am passionate about music, travelling and, above all, language learning. Because of this passion of mine I have decided to study cultural mediation at the University so I could go deeper in my knowledge of foreign languages. As many University courses do here in Italy, also this one has an entry test which I will have to take in English. I've always been keen on English and I have spoken it since I was about six or seven, yet I have never joined any private course or any other expensive way to help me improve (mum wouldn't allow that, how sad...). I would rather watch a lot of videos on Youtube or listen to some good old music. I came to a point in which I was able to think in English, my brain was so used to it! However, as the entry exam is approaching my mind is just screaming at me a big fat "NO!". By this I mean that my brain is refusing to switch its well oiled Italian-language gear to its rusty and dusty English-language one. "Miriam, when I told you to learn as you were a child, I meant that you had to learn without prejudice, without comparing English to your native language, I didn't mean that you had to play tantrum, goodness gracious!". Reviewing the grammar can be even more difficult, as the monkey in my brain keeps on jumping from one synapsis to another trying to remember the rules, which I already knew how to use unconsciously, by the way, and attempting to figure out what I am doing at a conscious level (or at least I wish...). The more I think about grammar, the more I stutter, the more I try to understand the language, the more I don't. Oh well, I guess this is just my old friend, Ms Anxiety, playing a trick on me, I hope she leaves soon, as she has finished all the chocolate in the flat already :/ Thank you for taking the time to read this little nonsense story, please be cruel in correcting it, your effort is very much appreciated.