Hello,
I thought I'd better introduce myself, as I'm planning to participate more actively in this forum.
My name is Masha, I'm a PhD student (my thesis is almost ready!) in cellular biology. I study at MSU, Moscow.
As for languages, I think you can call me a language geek, as I learn languages just for the process itself. I began studying English at 4 y.o., so I do not really remember much about it. I estimate my level as advanced, but I may be wrong, of course.
Four years ago I started learning French, and I'm still having a lot of fun with it. Now as an adult I can really appreciate grammar peculiarities and pronounciation tricks.
Also, I just LOVE comparative linguistics, like finding similar words in different languages, e.g.
school ecole
spouse epouse
squirrel ecureuil
standard etendard
See that? s -> e
Things like that just leave me speechless.
Same goes for Russian - English. Did you know for example, that white = светлый, bleach = белый, lord = хлеб ( I mean they have common roots) ?
So I love languages, I come here!