“Sorry, I don’t speak Swedish”

By Connie Foy, Stockholm University, Sweden

There’s nowhere in Stockholm, from the metro, in a swimming pool, to the supermarket, where I have not apologetically repeated the phrase ‘Sorry, I don’t speak Swedish’. Despite my new Swedish friends telling me that I could pass as Swede here in Stockholm, the second I opened my mouth it quickly became apparent that my Swedish skills left a lot to be desired.

I used Duolingo over the summer before moving to Stockholm, however I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear that the words ‘milk’ and ‘bread’ come up a lot less in daily life than Duolingo anticipated.

Read more: “Sorry, I don’t speak Swedish”

My frustrations at the language barrier were growing, and it became draining at first to always be behind everyone else in conversations, despite my lovely Swedish friends translating for me. I felt that I had two options, either tattooing the phrase onto my forehead to avoid the awkward conversation, or signing up to Swedish lessons.

I think my Mum will be relieved that I decided to go for the latter.

So, I couldn’t wait for my evening Swedish language classes to begin, allowing me to learn some basics and meet people with a common goal: to feel less clueless about the Swedish language. My Swedish language module here in Stockholm is incredibly popular, the lecture hall filled up with students from all different subjects. It has been a brilliant opportunity to meet people from all across the world. I have met students from countries such as Brazil, Australia and Switzerland. The class is available for international students free of charge, which is an incredible bonus and something that I am very fortunate about as this is not common across universities. I really enjoy learning languages, which was one of the main reasons I chose to study in a non-English speaking country.

However, moving to Stockholm with no Swedish language ability has not come without its challenges. Imposter syndrome has definitely been an initial challenge that I have faced in Stockholm, as most people here are bilingual or trilingual. In our first Swedish class, the lecturer was quizzing everyone on what languages they could speak with people eagerly putting their hands up multiple times. I felt quite embarrassed that I could only speak ‘a little bit of German’ in addition to English. The beginner classes were based around learning everyday phrases, basic grammar structures and semantic categories like months, numbers and colours. I would recommend making physical flashcards as the best way to revise, particularly as our exam was heavily focused on vocabulary recall. Beyond the beginner module, it is advised that you utilise Swedish language work books, similar to what you might have used in GCSEs or A Levels, to work through tasks and build upon your understanding of grammar. I have now moved onto course 2, which as an intensive course is much more fast paced. It follows a very similar structure of weekly three hour lessons just like LEAP language courses at Manchester.

It is natural to feel out of place when you first move abroad, but this feeling is certainly amplified when you do not speak the national language. I would definitely recommend putting in some effort into learning the basics of your new country’s language. Even if Duolingo is the only accessible platform for you to use, at least you will be able to spout off some obscure nouns! In an icebreaker activity with the Faculty of Natural Sciences, we had to create mini sketch shows. As I was the only one in the group not to speak Swedish, our sketch show was set around me serving the others food and shouting random nouns in Swedish. Social anxiety is scared to see me coming this semester… 

Prior to studying abroad, people had told me how difficult it is to make friends with home students in your new country. That being said, I very quickly found myself as the only British person in a group of all Swedish friends. Many of my new friends are commuter students from Stockholm, which definitely comes with some benefits. Not only are they full of great recommendations of places to visit in Stockholm, but they very kindly help me out with learning Swedish. Having to recite the alphabet or days of the week on command when my friends decide to quiz my Swedish might make me feel like I’m in primary school again, but at least I’m learning. I can’t yet manage a full conversation in Swedish, but I’m hoping that after two semesters I’ll grow in confidence, order my cinnamon rolls in Swedish and maybe get to retire my stock phrase of “Sorry, I don’t speak Swedish”.

Lastly, to all the lovely Swedes that have been helping me out over the past few weeks, I really appreciate your help. Tack så mycket!