Expat Community > Sweden

allison2eia
Joined 2018
Posts: 2

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6 years ago

Hi, I am a newby on here so please forgive me if i have misplaced this post. I moved to Sweden (Near Alingsås) last December to live with my Swedish boyfriend.......Home life is great and the country is beautiful BUT...I am having great difficulty learning the language and finding work.I am still awaiting my personal number so i cannot resgister at my local language school!! Any way of speeding this process along ?..Because of this, i feel a complete dimwit in only being able to say the basic Hello's and Thank you's.I am committed to learning but struggling like i say.This is obviously holding back when i am looking for work,The other problem is that i have always worked within animal welfare (RSPCA) and finding reputable contacts and positions in a similar field over here is proving near impossible.My CV should support me, along with good refs' but again, as soon as i say that i am not fluent in Swedish any chance of employment seems to go out the window!! Any suggestions of how to learn this tricky lingo?? Has anyone got any animal contacts ? Or are there any Brits close by that could join me for a coffee and a chat??...Apart from my man and his family it gets quite lonely in my English bubble!! Any help most appreciated.

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6/7/2012 00:48 EST

I have to begin with that I'm sorry for the bureacratic hassle you're in regarding getting your personal number. Swedish authorities are not to play with. ;)
However, I'm Swedish and I could give a couple of advices. Go to a library and check out some books for children.! They contain simple swedish which is a good start to get the basics. Then learn simple but useful phrases, like learning how to order coffee in a café, grocery shopping etc. The cashier will most probably find your accent interesting and you don't have to be concerned of getting it wrongly. People will understand and think it's great that you even try.! Listen to radio, or music with swedish lyrics, watching english speaking movies with swedish subtitles also makes up for some great practise.
You know, I took english for 8 years in school but i learned much more in shorter time frame later on when I met people on the net through chatting networks. If you just dive in it will come to you very soon. Language isn't just grammar and spelling, but also reflects culture, mentality and alot of other issues that can't be comprehended through books. So getting out of the comfy chair and dive into the cold swedish water is what you have to do. But don't worry, it will get warmer sooner or later. :)

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