Swedish as a Second Language - Preparing for the move to Sweden

Today we will talk about SaS (No you liverpool fans, i m not talking about Suarez and Sturridge). Swedish as a second language.

Quick links to my previous coverages:
Moving to Sweden - Swedish Weather Extravaganza
Moving to Sweden - Things to Bring
Moving to Sweden - Housing and Financing

Now let's delve into wikipedia for the basics.

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 8.7 million people worldwide, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, where it has equal legal standing with Finnish. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish. Along with the other North Germanic languages, Swedish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. It is currently the largest of the North Germanic languages by numbers of speakers.

Great. So by learning swedish you can pretty much communicate with Finnish, Norwegian and Danish people. It is stydied by around 40000 people abroad @ university level, making it the most studied Scandinavian languaged practiced abroad.

It belongs to the branch of North Germanic language, so if you are familiar with german or even english you shouldn't have a hard time learning swedish. Though the consonants and pronunciation of some vocals will be challenging at first. But i already know russian, and that is a hard language. If you pick up languages fast like me, you should have no problem being fluent in swedish during your studies.

Swedes always want to practice their english but seem to lose patience very fast if you are inadept at speaking their language, so try to make a mutual exchange.

A friend of mine that lives in central Sweden told me:

"I can only give you one advice if you plan on staying here. Learn the language. Oh, and change your last name to Svensson!"

And i do plan to stay here. If you can ge a head start where you live and you are serious about it, do it. Check some private teachers or a local university that might offer a course in Scandinavian languages. You will also feel special if you speak a unique language spoken by 10 million people. If there is none, you can take things in your own hands and do it yourself. A friend told me Rosetta Stone's Swedish Guide is a good option. Thanks Andrea.

For the people that want to learn while living there, all these options exist. There are also swedish lessons for immigrants. If you are a student in any university, there is a high intensity class during the summer just before the semester starts (Starts 4 August and lasts 4 weeks). You receive an email prompting you to register (the deadline for Uppsala University is 15 May) and you can enroll on that class along with other students.

As i stated, swedish people are fluent in english. In fact, you will hardly find a Swede that does not speak english under the age of 45, in some cases under 60. And they want to practice all the time, just for general practice, or even show off. So if you speak broken swedish like a peasant they will stirr the conversation in english. Do not care. Continue in swedish. If you can get another foreign student that speaks or tries to learn, by all means talk with him a lot. Or offer another language you know. I can offer Russian, Greek, English, French.

In a future post i will talk about swedish culture and your need to adapt and accept it. It also involves learning swedish, you need to respect the fact that a foreign country is hosting you and nurturing you into a fledgling scientist or the next IKEA manager.

This is the punchline. Learn Swedish. Also.....

Keep calm and learn swedish.

Things to bring with you - Preparing for the move to Sweden

I am starting to believe that the man of Kro-Manion has come back to life, hits all the women in the head with a club and drags them back to his cave to hide them. Survive and reproduce bro.

Where are all the women in this town???

This sums up my latest exit in the local nightlife, where we spend more time having fun with things around us, than listening to good music or flirting. I can't wait to move to Sweden or visit Athens next week.

My last post sparked some interest, and i thought i should make a small collection of posts, detailing each topic more in-depth, such as:

• Cost of Living
• Clothes and what to bring
• Finding a job
• Weather report

So today i m going to talk about Things to bring. Around 3 months left untill my highly anticipated move and today i was looking at my closet seeing only shorts and short-sleeved shirts due to the weather here and the upcoming hot summer. I thought "Hey! I am going to die there!".

First of all i am going to get the absolutely necessary stuff first in 1-2 suitcases so they don't also overcharge me in the airport, then package and ship the rest, such as my PC or extra clothes.

Clothing. As we previously stated, it also depends on where you live in Sweden and the time of the year that you will move there. Moving in the summer and live up North? It can be hot in the summer and cold at nights, be sure to pack both sets of clothes. Moving close to Stockholm in the summer? Pack a few warm clothes as it can be cold sometimes but down north the climate is more mild. So you choose clothing depending on the time of the year, then ship the rest to you house. It is more practical and simplifies it.

Food. Not much to say here as food is mostly forbidden in airports, but if you are Greek like me and you can't live without olive oil bring some with you, it will go a long way and its 5 times more expensive in Sweden due to being imported.

Kitchenware. Bringing a couple dishes, maybe a pot and a few forks/knives/spoons is not a bad idea if you can. You will mostly buy the basic stuff from a place like IKEA but untill you settle down in the first days how are you going to eat? On the ground with your hands?

Furniture. Even if your rented house is furnished, it is never a bad idea to bring a pillow and some sheets with you to avoid unpleasant surprises. When it comes to decor, ehm maybe a small lamp or some books along the way. Ship the rest, or to outweight the cost and trouble, just raid your local IKEA store. It's cheap and will come with delivery. If your apartment is furnished, well, you can tweak it along the way.

Miscellaneous. Hmmm. Leave toys, big books, relics, tokens, your girlfriend (haha joke...) @ home. If you want them so bad you can ship them or ....Guess what!...Raid IKEA! They might as well sell new girlfriends there! Damn my humour is suffering lately.

I can't think of anything else vital right now, things such as getting a mobile phone contract will be covered in the next posts. I still haven't moved there, but i am searching every day to find useful information to integrate in my posts and help you new students, or movers to get an idea of how things work. Nothing is foolproof, but common sense prevails.

Laters! May is here!

PS. Atletico Madrid. What an amazing team you are.