jeff_lindqvist wrote:Brun Ugle wrote:Since you’re now actually in Sweden, I would think you could get audiobooks at the library. I assume they are free to borrow like they are here, so that should be a lot cheaper than StoryTel. Of course, there might not be quite the range of choice available.
Good suggestion! Elenia, if you have a library card at one of the public libraries (e.g.
Malmö stadsbibliotek), there is a fairly new phone application you can use. It's called
Biblio (interface in Swedish, English, Finnish and Arabic)) and enables you to browse "your" library's (e) audiobook
collection, pick a title or two (usually there's a limit - typically two titles per 7 day-period) and then listen in online or offline mode. The "real" catalogue and the app are synchronized, so if you browse the web catalogue and borrow a title there, it will also appear in the app. Sometimes I've run into a few problems, but uninstalling Biblio and then reinstalling it has worked fine. The audiobook is still in my account when I log in (and disappears automatically after 28 days).
Hope this helps!
Good point, Brun, and thank for the info, Jeff! I don't have a library card, but should look into getting one. Is a personnummer necessary? Because I don't have one (or rather, I have a tillfällig personnummer från universitet och ett samordningsnummer. För många nummer som gör nästan ingenting för mig).
PeterMollenburg wrote:
garyb wrote:
With regards to rent - yeah, depending on where you live it can be basically impossible. My friend told me that some students who get accepted to Stockholm University have to turn their place down because they can't find anywhere to live. It was easier for her brother to buy an appartment in Stockholm than to find a place to rent while he studied. Here in the South it's not quite as ridiculous, but still very difficult to get a place to rent. Lots of people have to sublet while waiting to get their own place. You can be on a waiting list for four years (and I've spoken to one person who'd been on a waiting list for seven years with no success). It does also depend on your income, I'm sure. If you're in a lower income bracket, you simply won't have as many options. But of course, this likely changes the further you get away from big cities/university towns. That's the only thing I have any real experience with.
With regards to language: I would say it depends on the branch you want to enter, and how. If you're good in your field, or at least good in a field that the country needs, you might not need Swedish skills. The same if you're entering an international company, or a company with a global focus (although certain roles will likely still require Swedish). On the other end of the scale, you can work a service job in a restaurant with just English (although I've only come across this once, in an American themed restaurant, so probably not that common). I'd argue against 'all the circumstances being against' someone willing to learn Swedish. Sweden has the excellent SFI program for people coming to the country, and it goes all the way up to the C levels, I believe - someone who has completed SFI is certified for university studies in Swedish. (I believe I haven't mixed my facts up!) SFI is free to anyone with a personnummer - anyone registered as living in Sweden. Time can be an issue, true - but then of course, we all know it's possible to learn a language with limited time
I have met quite a few English people who have moved here for work, who are doing their best to learn the language and who even talk to their children in Swedish when they can!
Also important here in Malmö is the demographic. Arabic is a major language here, and can for many jobs be a 'desirable' and sometimes even an 'essential'. It's not a 'must' as often as English is, but it is a language that would give a job application a boost. As I've said elsewhere, I don't think my native level English will help me that much in getting a job - or, it won't help me that much in getting the job I want. Most people speak English that is much better than my Swedish, and I have seen very few jobs advertised where Swedish isn't a requirement. Without being a specialist at anything in particular, I'd have a tough time getting a job here on English alone. (Hell, I'm having a tough time getting a job with Swedish and French thrown in, too... maybe it's just me?)
---
Got obsessed with knitting a hat. Unfortunately, I got confused about the instructions and so made it to about the same size as the instructions for a 'baby' specified. I'll send it to my ex-roommate. She has no hair, so it might fit her.
Otherwise, I cleared all my reviews for Clozemaster Swe-Eng yesterday, and 'played' fifty new words today. I was at school yesterday, and work today, so I couldn't really do more. I learnt a new word today. Actually, I learnt two but I've already forgot one.
Tegelsten - brick. I feel like I already knew this, but I couldn't remember it. I learn a new word at least once a week at work, usually more often. One of the volunteers in particular is great at teaching me new words and never gets tired of me asking 'hur säger man det på svenska?' I also have a friend like that. She has recently taught me lots of different fish names which I haven't even tried to remember: if I wouldn't know it in English, I probably don't need it in Swedish!
EDIT: That should be 'tillfälligt'. Agreement is definitely a thing I need to work more on.
It's feeling pretty good to be making quicker progress than previously, and to not be spreading myself thin over so many courses. I have also been steady with Portuguese (ten new cards a day and reviews) and have reintroduced Eng-Ger with just ten reviews a day. I think that's enough for now. I am missing Finnish, but I need to figure out a low pressure way to bring that back. Probably with music? But how to find music I like is of course the question. I will have to like it enough to want to learn the lyrics and binge listen to it. I tend to listen to the same things over and over again (I've listened to three new-to-me albums since maybe November? Wait, no, only two). This is great for my language learning - as long as I find something to be obsessed with.
I hate personal letters. So. Very. Much.