STUDY IN SWEDEN

SWEDEN

1) Landscapes of Northern Europe

Be it small colorful wooden houses or landscapes of wild nature, you will necessarily take full eyes. It's always better to study in a nice setting

2) The sauna

Who says Sweden says Sauna, wooden huts heated between 70 and 100 ° C. It's a little national sport (and we're really sweating for the moment ^^). It's already fun at the base but I can assure you that after a day spent in the cold (-32 ° C in Lapland for example), it's really the best invention in the world. You will find it easily in hotels, in some student residences or in the city in which one can thus go free. There was even one in my university.

3) To progress in English but not only

This is often one of the reasons that drives us to study abroad. In Sweden, although the national language is not English but Swedish, everyone speaks it (from the 12 year old to the 65 year old). The reason is simple, on TV movies are in VO (with subtitles) and the books are not always translated. Besides, Swedish (and Scandinavians in general) are very good in English so you can practice with them almost as if you were talking to real English. But on top of that, you'll be able to show off on the way back by taking out the five words of Swedish that you will have learned during your stay. I made you a selection of the most useful (or not) (for the pronunciation by cons it is more complicated):

Hi: Hej
Goodbye: Hej då
Thank you: Tack
Thank you very much: Tack Tack (or tack så mycket for pros)
Salmon: Lax
Chicken: Kyckling
Merry Christmas: God Jul

4) Travel

We are not going to lie to each other, when we go to study abroad it is not only to improve our English but also to travel especially since we generally have less work, fewer courses or more "easy" courses and we also have less scruples about drying out non-compulsory courses. The advantage of Sweden is that it is quite central in Northern Europe. From Gothenburg, for example, you can travel in a few hours by bus / train to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Malmö or Oslo. From Stockholm you can go to Riga and Helsinki. Imagine the possibilities available to you if you fly. The big plus is that trains in Sweden are really cheap at all, if you go out weekend you can do Gothenburg-Stockholm (3-4h) for less than 20 €. Nothing to do with the prices of us. And then it's a golden opportunity to discover Lapland (my articles here and there).

5) It's exotic but not too far

It's never easy to leave home, your family, your friends, your boyfriend, your dog. The good news is that if you are homesick in Sweden, you want to go home so you do not spend all winter alone in the cold, you want to meet your family for Christmas or just have an emergency that requires you to go home, it is widely possible and it does not cost too much.

6) The school system

In studying abroad, there is studying (even if you forget it quickly) and the Swedish school system is pretty good, I gave you my first impressions here and my opinion has not changed. I found the operation (whether at the organizational level or at the level of teaching quality) really better than my courses in France. Instead of a partial week, I only had one. In the end we focus on a single subject or two per period and suddenly we assimilate much better, we are much more concerned than when we have 10 different subjects. In addition we really choose everything so we take classes that we like and we do not need to stuff courses that do not interest us at all. I also found that my teachers and speakers were all very passionate about what they were doing and available and it makes everything a lot more enjoyable. Going abroad is also an opportunity to study in internationally renowned universities for free (while they are sometimes very expensive) and it's a little more on the CV 🙂

7) An open, green and safe country

The Scandinavian countries are quite advanced ecologically and energetically. It is also a country where you feel good and safe. It is an open country with very few problems of tolerance or even gender equality. In 6 months, I have never felt insecure, threatened or just witnessed any manifestation of violence. The Swedes are shy at first but then they are very open, and nice (the ones I had the opportunity to meet anyway). You will not have to worry when you come back from bus evening at 3am.