About Dana

The Facts

Name:	Dana Winvalley¹
Gender:	female
E-Mail:	dana.winvalley(at)hotmail.com
Date of birth:	12 – April – 1993 (18 years old)
Profession:	Student of English and German (Bachelor of Arts, first semester)
Colour of hair:	darkbrown (curly)
Colour of eyes:	brown

 

In my Spare Time

I do not have any extraordinary hobbies, but that does not matter to me. As long as I enjoy doing those ‘boring’ hobbies I am fine. My hobbies are reading, writing, listening to music, singing, working with dogs together with children (I am a dog school tutor), drawing and doing other ‘creative’ activities.

Music actually is a very important part of my life and not ‘just’ a hobby. I always liked music and when I had to choose my major subject at grammar school I naturally opted for Music. My first instrument was the violin, but somehow I never got the hang of it – I was talented, yes, but I was not true a natural. Then I started taking singing lessons and I found the perfect instrument for me: my own voice. Taking singing lessons really is the best thing I have ever done. I also went for the piano later, but simply to have a better (theoretical) base for my major subject Music. I have never shown any talent in playing the piano. ;)

My Favourites

Books Harry Potter Series – Discworld Series – Dracula – Girl with a Pearl Earring
Authors Michael Ende – William Shakespeare – Charles Dickens
Sport Rugby – All Blacks
TV Sherlock (BBC)
Cinema Once – Sweeney Todd – Chocolat – The King’s Speech – Finding Neverland – Les Choristes
Music classic music – rock music – pop – jazz – folk – singer-songwriter – et cetera

What I use²

I work on a MacBook Air which has an integrated English dictionary (New Oxford American Dictionary). Besides this dictionary I love my Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (with CD). It is my paper-made friend. ;) I can highly recommend this dictionary for all learners of English. It explains words nicely, gives many examples and links to other entries by referring to synonyms, antonyms and so forth. Furthermore, there is a visual vocabulary at the back of the book.
For memorizing vocabulary I like to work with index cards – in paper form and digitally. I currently operate with Smartr for learning on my computer.

Annotations

¹Dana Winvalley obviously is not my real name. Kids, you should never mention your real name on the internet. Not to strangers, at least.

² I just mention this, because it might interest some people. No offense meant!