This article discusses written narratives about foreign language learning. The stories were collected in a contest organised by KVS Foundation (Kansanvalistusseura), a Finnish organisation for adult education. Over 500 texts were sent for the contest, representing writers of both sexes, various language backgrounds and many professions. The age of writers varied from 8 to 80. In this article we discuss the nature of the data and the creation of a data base. Some preliminary observations are reported and a case study discussed. The relation between the academic and everyday views of language learning is also dealt with.