A fantastic purchase and a question to all you language learners!

Hej!

I am now back from my vacation. It was lovely while it lasted, but it is time to continue with the hard work! I took my new purchase with me (briefly mentioned in my last entry), Teach Yourself Complete Swedish and have been so impressed I felt it was important to write about it!

A book and audio CD pack.

Combined with my other ongoing methods of learning Swedish (i.e. Rosetta Stone, Lund University podcasts etc.) I immediately noticed, from the first few pages, how helpful the book was for pronunciation - who knew there were rules depending on consonants, vowels and syllables?! Add to this the CD enabling you to listen to the pronunciation and you are already well underway.  I particularly liked the example conversations - I have been making a conscious effort to decipher the conversation in Swedish before I double check with the translations underneath. All in all, this pack is excellent value for money and is a great addition to the other resources that I have been using.

As I have never learned another language before (apart from basic French in school which did not amount to much) I still feel a little out of my depth in terms of what to learn next. I would really appreciate some tips on how to do this - should I learn just a vast selection of words? Should I begin reading articles and make an attempt to translate them by learning new words along the way? Should I learn by forming sentences? At the moment I am trying to just do bits of each but it does seem somewhat unorganised. Please help!

One last update I have for you all is that the dates have now been released for when I can apply to the Swedish universities. My application timeline is now as follows:

Application opens: 17th October 2013

Application deadline: 15th January 2014

Notification of results: 27th March 2014

Fingers crossed! In the meantime, if anyone has any language learning tips, please get back to me!

It has been a while, but now I am going on vacation!

Hi all,
Haven't blogged in a while. Things have been pretty quiet in the world of all things Swedish, but I have been busy preparing for my vacation and this has distracted me from blogging (hence why I am sat in the airport writing this)! Don't worry though - I have still been practising my Swedish and recently got a copy of Teach Yourself Complete Swedish. I have also put lots of Swedish podcasts on my ipod to listen to on the beach!

I will write a better blog when I arrive home in a week!
Hej då!

Steady progress, not much to report.

Hej!

I haven't posted for a while as things are at a standstill for the time being. Apart from continuing to learn the language, there is little to do until September when life will suddenly get very busy! In the mean time, I thought that I would post a timeline of things that I need to do in the next year:

SCHEDULE

September 2013: Begin to apply for funding

Late autumn 2013: Apply for university courses

March 2014: Receive notification of university admission/rejection

March - July 2014: Organise accommodation if successful

The tasks of applying for funding and organising accommodation are going to be my biggest challenges (of course, being accepted into university will be tricky but unfortunately that is out of my hands!) so I would really appreciate any help that readers of this blog can offer!

In terms of accommodation, (the image is a little unrealistic I know!) my knowledge is lacking. I have a few sites bookmarked (blocket.se, easyroommate etc.) but I am really worried about actually being able to secure a room! Do I need to apply before I know whether I have a place at the university? What should I be wary of? Are there any areas to avoid? If anyone knows of any really useful websites, has any tips/advice or has a room available to rent from July/August 2014, then please get in touch! 

In terms of funding, to cut a long story short, there is little available for a UK national/resident. The only funding that I have found I am eligible for is the Leverhulme Trust, that offers approximately 20 studentships (I think!) - fingers crossed for a good application, or a miracle! Other than that, unless any of you readers know of some funding sources that I can apply to, I will have to rely on the savings that I already have and the hope that I am lucky enough to acquire a part time job. A money tree would be much appreciated at this stage!

For now, I am out of things to write! 

hej då!

Progress with learning the language!

Hej!

My initial approach at learning the language has been somewhat unorganised, as I have used a variety of websites, programs and podcasts to get me started so far. Nevertheless, I am making progress and as it is currently the summer holidays, I am able to spend quite a lot of time practising. Here are the resources that I have used so far:

• Rosetta Stone (so far I have completed the first two lessons - really aids memory but the speech recognition isn't very good!)
• Podcasts - Swedish: An introductory course by Lund University (really good - find on itunes)
• GoSwedish YouTube channel (again some useful videos - click here)
• SwedishPod101.com (useful podcasts to listen to a full Swedish conversation - click here)

The Swedish alphabet (det svenska alfabetet)

Given that I haven't been learning Swedish for very long, I am pleased with my progress! I am quite confident that I could hold a basic introductory conversation (i.e. names, location, basic greetings) and pick up a few basic words in a sentence (such as numbers, colours etc.).

If anyone is in a similar situation at the same kind of level and would like to practise with me, feel free to contact me!

Hej då!

A few hiccups, but must keep positive!

In the past few days since my first post, Let's go!, a few issues have emerged. I received my university transcript detailing the number of credits for each section of my undergraduate degree, and that's when it suddenly hit me - ECTS (European Credit Transfer Accumulation System) are only half the value of UK credits! This leaves me 15 credits short of the 90 that Gothenburg University have expressed they would like me to have in Education (the rest of my credits are in Mathematics). 

Unless I can find a course that will give me an additional 15 ECTS credits, I only have a realistic chance of studying for a masters degree at Stockholm University. 

Of course, I would be overjoyed to be accepted into Stockholm, but having my chances halved isn't exactly what I wanted...

Keeping Positive

My next task is to contact Gothenburg University to find out whether a TESOL course (in particular, the CELTA), which is the equivalent of a second year undergraduate degree qualification, holds any ECTS value.

...and I still have a chance of being accepted into Stockholm, because I have the relevant qualifications!

Let's go!

I am hoping to move to Sweden in August 2014 to complete a masters degree in Education. I am a recent UK university graduate, and will be spending the upcoming academic year completing a PGCE (hence the lack of a personal name!)

After visiting both Gothenburg University and Stockholm University earlier this month, the two universities that offer the type of masters programme I wish to study, it was easy to see the beauty of Sweden and the trip has made me even more determined to move there.

I have created this blog in an attempt to document my dream of moving to Sweden, provide others with (hopefully) useful information and to seek  help/ information/ advice/ experiences/ tips from people who visit this page, if they are able to do so.

Since deciding to make the big move to Sweden around two months ago, things have been pretty hectic. I have had to start thinking about:

• Learning the language (which is, in my opinion, vital for integration)
• Finances (including postgraduate funding - HELP!)
• Accommodation (which seems an arduous task)
• Part-time jobs (these seem tricky to come by) 

I will discuss my progress with the above in future posts, but in the mean time please get in touch!