Buying an apartment is one of the most serious steps in life. It requires a lot of planning, savings and to be as prepared as possible. On this part two of the series, I will talk about the mortgage and downpayment. To read part 1 click here. Know your Purchase Ability. Before rushing into apartment […]
learn Swedish
Settle in Sweden within 1 year
Have you considered relocating to Sweden alone? Are you worried about the language, culture, job opportunities, cost of living etc? It can be extremely daunting to move from one place to another. However, life is short but remember that preparation is key and adaptation comes next. Written by Teenie Fung Do your homework, measure the […]
On Learning Swedish: Practice, Patience, And A Whole Lot Of Mistakes
In my last Newbie post, I shared the reasons I chose to learn Swedish (if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend you do). After weeks of living in Stockholm, I was tired of apologizing for my lack of Swedish language skills. I needed to make a change, so I enrolled in a twice-weekly class. […]
Introduction to Swedish
I’ve been living in Sweden for a few months now and while I am far from fluent I have heard more than my fair share of Swedish and have begun stumbling through pronouncing a few sentences of my own. While Swedish bears remarkable similarities to English, German and the other Scandinavian languages, it is a […]
English in Sweden
Don’t speak a single word of Swedish yet? No problem! Everyone speaks English (but all the signs are in Swedish) ‘Is this a cucumber or a zucchini??’ I wondered, as I tried my best to figure out the Swedish on the label. After standing in front of the produce for an embarrassingly long time, I […]
Should I say ‘ni’ when talking to a superior in Swedish?
Swedish grammar is hard. The other day I received a request for language courses. The email started off with Respected Madame. This made me laugh. At that moment, I had just locked myself in the bathroom to escape my children – and to check my email, and I was trying to shut out the banging […]
To Learn Swedish Or Not To Learn Swedish
Learn Swedish or not? In the first few weeks that I lived in Stockholm, I started every conversation the same way: with a perplexed look while uttering the phrase I’m sorry, I don’t speak Swedish. From sales clerks to receptionists, I have apologized to pretty much everyone in the city. After my one-millionth apology in […]
5 Things I wish I knew about Sweden!
Sweden-a country somewhere in the far north, often and easily confused with Switzerland, is not a place people know much about. My knowledge about Sweden improved before coming here as my husband was here a couple of times before we moved. And of-course, I browsed through the internet a lot. However, there are always things […]
Swedish Language Milestones
Swedish language milestones are important to keep you going. I started learning Swedish six months ago and during this learning experience, I have defined some milestones for me. I will accept myself fluent in Swedish when I check all these milestones! Jaha This one is relatively easy but it is a good first milestone. “Jaha” […]
Weird Swedish expressions that make no sense
Weird Swedish expressions are just something you will come across sooner or later. Swedish, like any other language, is filled with expressions that obviously have some kind of origin and that probably made sense to the first person ever to speak them. Today, however, these are so wide-spread, maybe even altered a bit, so that […]
Most common mistakes Newbies make
Getting used to living in another country can be quite difficult and you might be making some mistakes. Swedes have some “rules” that no one tells you about, but can do wrong many times. Are you doing something wrong? Paying in cash Sweden has the most beautiful banknotes in the world (literally), yet they actually don’t really want you […]
Productive things to do when you’re bored
Free time is very important in the Swedish way of living.. but it can also be a bit boring from time to time. What productive things can you do in your free time? Well, many! Learn Swedish online Studying Swedish can be really boring… or really fun! There are many websites on which you can […]