While many students who come to Sweden plan to study in English, others want to immerse themselves in the Swedish language. Whether your goal is to read August Strindberg’s plays in their original language, or to just learn enough words to order a cup of coffee, there’s a course for you — from short introductions to full degree programs.
Swedish for its own sake
Some international students come to Sweden specifically to learn the language. For Brian Cox, an American from Indiana, learning Swedish has been a 40-year journey. As an exchange student with the International Association of Students with Technical Experience (IAESTE), his first job was as a mathematician in Sundsvall. “My first time in Sweden was in 1970, so this is sort of like a return to my childhood,” he says.
International students can practice their Swedish over a “fika” — the Swedish word for a coffee break. Photo: Hans Bjurling/Image Bank Sweden
Forty years later, Cox has returned to Sweden to study Scandinavian Languages and Culture (or “Skandinavistik”) — a full-time course offered by the School of Education, Culture and Communication at Mälardalen University in Västerås.
The program comprises three full-time, one-term courses at different levels, ending with a 30-credit course in Scandinavian Studies for Guest Students, which provides a qualification in Swedish for studies at Mälardalen University.
“The program has been very good,” Cox says. “It’s totally in Swedish, so they get you up to speed [quite quickly]. It has bits of history, literature and popular culture — a little of everything you need to integrate into Swedish society.”
Cox says the most difficult part about learning Swedish is aural comprehension and speaking. “Reading is easier. Swedish is not so unlike English. You can guess a lot of the words, but the pronunciation is different. Vowels and intonation are difficult.”
His classmate Darko Draskovic, a student from Serbia, chose to study Swedish because he hopes to pursue his bachelor’s degree here. He says the program has prepared him well for university studies, but he still sometimes has difficulties with conversational Swedish.
“I am trying to get ready to study in Swedish, so many of the texts I read are academic,” he says. “When it comes to everyday speech, I sometimes don't know how to react.”
Most Swedish courses cover three parts: listening comprehension, speaking and writing. Photo: PhotoAlto/Johnér
While there are no formal Swedish language requirements to enroll on the Skandinavistik program at Mälardalen University, other Swedish universities offer masters programs in Scandinavian Studies that require previous language studies. Umeå University, for instance, will offer a one or two-year masters in Scandinavian studies, beginning in autumn 2009.
“It contains courses in Swedish and the other Nordic languages, as well as literature,” says Susanne Haugen, course coordinator and lecturer at Umeå University. “We will focus on conditions particular to the north and the culture here – such as the contact with the Sami people and Finland. We thought this appropriate as our university conducts a lot of research in these areas. The language of instruction is Swedish, so you must have a fairly good command of the language to get the most out of the course.”
Swedish on the side
For foreign students who attend Swedish universities through Erasmus or other exchange programs, there are often opportunities to learn Swedish alongside their regular studies in English. Another option is an intensive language course prior to the start of regular classes. “In August every year, we have an intensive course for Erasmus students,” says Stina Aulin, Director of Studies for all foreign students studying Swedish at Gothenburg University. “It’s very popular and students take part just to be able to interact socially.”
“The students are very enthusiastic and learn rapidly. We speak Swedish all day for four weeks,” she explains.
Learning Swedish can be a way to make friends with the locals. Photo: Alexander Mitelman
For Bella Hoogeveen, an Erasmus student from the Netherlands who studied at Gothenburg University, learning to speak Swedish was a way to broaden her cultural experience. “As soon as you speak the language, people open up,” she says. “Many foreigners just hang out with other exchange students and don’t really come into contact with the Swedish culture. I don’t think I would have made any Swedish friends if I didn’t speak the language.”
Northerly neighbors
For some, Sweden is not such a far-flung destination. Each year, approximately 5000 Nordic students study in Sweden as free-movers or through Nordplus, a higher education mobility program established by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 1988.
Those who speak other Nordic languages – Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic — are exempt from any special language requirements. Finland also has a special relationship to Swedish, although Finish is from an entirely different language family (Finno-Ugric). In fact, some 290,000 Finns (around 5.5%) speak Swedish as their native language.
“Finnish and Swedish are both official languages in Finland and Finnish speakers have to learn Swedish at school,” says Pauliina Paija, a Finnish student who gained her master’s degree in economics from Stockholm University. “Usually you start learning English at primary school and Swedish at secondary school.
“I came to Sweden to study economics and marketing. My secondary goal was to become more fluent in the language, particularly since all of my economics classes were in Swedish!”
Although she had already studied Swedish in high school, Paija took a course for foreign students in order to improve her language skills. “My advice is to try and speak Swedish all the time, even if your grammar isn't perfect,” she says. “Just keep trying! After a while you’ll realize that you can speak Swedish.”
Heidi Salo, another Finn who came to study in Sweden several years ago, says that forcing herself to speak was the only way to learn the language properly: “At first, I thought too much about grammar and it took too long to form a sentence. Taking part in the conversation at lunch was almost impossible. I decided that no matter how badly it went, I would just keep speaking. Then, after a while, it started to flow.”
Note:
For the specific Swedish courses offered by your university, please check with your local International Student Office or Department of Nordic Languages.
Related articles
Learning Swedish: lessons in language and life — Article on Sweden.se
The Swedish language — popular abroad — Article on Sweden.se
Related links
www.nordiska.su.se/tisus — TISUS, Test in Swedish for university studies
www.umu.se — Skandinavistik program at Umeå University (in Swedish)
www.svenskaakademien.se/web/en — The Swedish Academy
francisstrand.blogspot.com — How to learn Swedish in 1000 difficult lessons
apps.facebook.com/swedishword — Swedish Word of the Day (Facebook application)
Charlotte West
Charlotte West is an American writer and ex-international student. She studied Swedish for Foreign Students at Stockholm University in 2002-2003, and now speaks her own variety of “Swenglish.”