Student blogs

Do you like the idea of going abroad but are nervous about the language barrier? Don’t worry, you’ll manage life here, because everyone in Stockholm knows English. But if you’re like me and the idea of getting to learn a new language was maybe even one of the reasons that hooked you about going abroad: you’ve come to the right place!

Both Stockholm and Karolinska Institutet are very supportive of newcomers to the language. When I moved to Stockholm (4½ years ago), I only knew some random sentences like “Hej!”, “Jag heter Linnea”, “Vi stannar på alla stationer” and for some reason “Ska vi gå?”. Nowadays, I run all my errands in Swedish and had a fully Swedish summer job last year. This wouldn’t have been possible without many engaged people and supportive organisations here at KI and in Stockholm. These are the language services you can look forward to:

KI offers a free language course at Folksuniversitetet

The Swedish courses KI invites new students to are held by Folksuniversitetet, (an adult education centre; the name means “People’s University”) and KI invites new students for a course of either 5 or 10 weeks. This is a great, low-barrier start into learning Swedish, and, especially in the beginning of your studies, also a chance to get to know other KI people.

KI’s language café for students

The language café at KI is a regular meet-up of students that are interested in learning a language. This can be handy for you trying to learn Swedish – and at the same time you can also contribute by teaching your own language, if you like!

“Language@KI” by the international committee

The international committee at KI’s student union MF founded language@ki, where students teach each other their languages – amongst many others: Swedish. In my first year in Stockholm (I moved here for my bachelor’s), I regularly met up with a medicine student who patiently practiced with me, which also was the start to my very first Swedish-speaking friendship.

SFI (Swedish for immigrants)

With SFI (Swedish for immigrants), we move away from KI and enter the state-funded Swedish language classes. I’ve heard that SFI courses are very effective, but you do need some level of commitment, as they expect you to invest several hours a week into it. SFI’s goal is to get your Swedish level on a good enough level to be able to work in Swedish.

Komvux: Svenska som andraspråk

This last step, Komvux is only for you who already kind of knows Swedish but enjoys language classes and wants to dig deeper just for fun (or if you have the goal of qualifying for university-studies in Swedish…). Komvux is a public school for adult education, and the courses you take here are similar to what students in Sweden take in middle and high school. You have exams and presentations and can proceed into the next higher course until you’ve gone through all at some point.

My personal advice and tips

Pick what you feel excited for, and don’t feel pressure to go further than you feel like. After all, it’s about what you want – because as I said in the beginning, Swedes are very good at English, so it’s all up to you. You can already be proud of yourself for a “hej” and a “tack” at the supermarket check-out!

Or, if you are curious for learning Swedish but prefer to start smoothly in your own personal space, I recommend that you:

• watch shows in Swedish (with subtitles)
• listen to podcasts (there’s many slow, beginner-friendly ones)
• read books (the library has a big section of easy-reads for adults)
• listen to Swedish music.

That all being said, I hope you found something in my blog today that made you excited to start this journey!