My Life in English

Wir kennen die Schauspielerin aus unzähligen Film- und Fernsehrollen und nun auch als Autorin des Romans „Andere machen das beruflich“. Hier verrät sie, welche Gegenden Englands sie am meisten faszinieren.

German actress Andrea Sawatzki

When was your first English lesson, and what can you remember about it?

My first English lesson was with Mrs Schollwöck in my first year at the Gymnasium in Vaterstetten. Her appearance matched her lessons — at least I thought that English women should look like her. She was very pale, very slim, wore only pastel-coloured skirts and blouses, and always pinned up her blond hair in the same way. Her lipstick and nails were pale pink. She spoke in a soft, fragile voice and often had migraines. For me, she was the image of a British woman because I didn’t know the British per se. I thought she was beautiful and very special.

Who is your favourite English-language author, actor or musician?

The British author Lawrence Osborne. I love his novels. They’re highly topical, incredibly exciting and stirring. Osborne literally takes his protagonists apart. He breaks the shell and shows people’s secrets without exposing them. He creates very exact character profiles.

What is your favourite food from the English-speaking world?

I once attended a language course in Torquay. My host mother always gave us baked beans for breakfast, which she served with ham and eggs on toast. I had never had such a good breakfast! And in the evening, there was always compote with lots of cream. Simply divine...

Which person from the Englishspeaking world (living or dead) would you most like to meet?

I would like to meet the directors and cast of Fargo. It’s my absolute favourite series. I admire the courage, the high quality, the cleverness, the brutal ideas, the tone of voice... everything. We can only learn from such film-makers.

Which song could you sing at least a few lines of in English?

“Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones, of course. What else?

If you could be any place in the Englishspeaking world right now, where would it be?

Oh, that’s hard... Maybe Dartmoor and Cornwall. Both landscapes are mystical and wild, untouched by human hands. Where else do you find that? In Dartmoor, I was also fascinated by the countless herds of ponies; in Cornwall, the wild sea and the storms.

Which is your favourite city in the English-speaking world?

Liverpool. That’s where our elder son is studying sports psychology. Liverpool is young and cool with lots of nightlife, and the people are direct and open. And it’s still a music city. Time hasn’t lessened the enthusiasm for art and music.

What was your funniest experience in English?

My funniest experience is related to the letter that I find the hardest to pronounce in English: the “w”. Our sons, who have been learning English since kindergarten and speak without an accent, laugh whenever I use an English word with a “w” in it. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. But I do remember a very funny evening when my three men tried for hours to teach me the right pronunciation of “world”. They gave up eventually.

What would be your motto in English?

Live and let live.