Posts from August 2009

Study in Sweden

Posted by Transparent Language 18 Comments
Aug 14 2009

Every so often somebody asks me about studying in Sweden. And my first response is “yeah, what about it?” But lately, the questions have become a lot more specific. Namely, one question – “Is university level education still free in Sweden?” And the answer is – at public universities, yes it is.

That alone is a deciding factor for many people to choose a Swedish university to continue their education. Add to that the fact that many schools offer Master’s degree programs in English, and people are hooked.

When I’m asked if I would recommend Sweden as a destination for international students, I always answer “you betcha!”

But before you start applying to programs offered by Swedish universities, there are still a few things to consider:

  • 1. Even though there is no tuition here, it won’t be a free ride. You still will have to cover your accommodation and living expenses. In fact, to be granted a student visa by Migrationsverket, you will need to prove that you have sufficient financial means to support your stay in Sweden. If I’m not mistaken, the amount is still standing at SEK 7300 per month. And that’s the absolute minimum you need to prove that you have to satisfy the immigration requirements to get a visa.
  • 2. Will you get accepted? I don’t want to dash your hopes of studying in Sweden, but just keep in mind that you will be competing for a place with people from all over the world. There is a finite number of applicants filling a finite number of available spaces and the competition is tough. So just in case, you might have better luck at a smaller school in a smaller city than in, for example, Uppsala or Lund.
  • 3. Accommodation… If you are a bona fide exchange student (under either the Socrates or Erasmus program) then your accommodation should be sorted out for you. If you are a free mover, then you’re on your own. Some people mistakenly think that if they are accepted at a school, then everything else will fall into place, too. Not so. In some cities and at some schools you will have no problem getting a “corridor” student room, but in other cities, you will be left to your own devices. And yes, there is a serious shortage of student accommodation in many cities. Just so you won’t say that nobody told you, OK?
  • 4. Living expenses. In many countries students are able to work part-time and make some extra money. In Sweden, due to how the courses and classes are structured, that will be almost impossible. And for most jobs you will need to speak reasonably fluent Swedish – something that many foreign students don’t realize. And living expenses in Sweden are higher than in many other countries – again something that foreign students are only vaguely aware of. So yes, you will need money. Plenty of money.
  • 5. The weather. This is a tired cliché, but it always amazes me how unprepared some foreign students can be. Sweden is a Nordic country and winters will be dark and miserable here. Your mood will be affected and because of that, it’s very possible that your academic performance will suffer.

These are just the few main biggies that immediately come to my mind when somebody mentions studying in Sweden. And from my experiences with foreign students, both prospective students and those already in Sweden, these five points are worth repeating over and over.

Finally, if you want to learn more, Study in Sweden is an excellent website chock-full of detailed info. And it’s amazing how many foreign students don’t even know it exists!

Driving and Driver’s Licenses in Sweden, part 1

Posted by Transparent Language 8 Comments
Aug 11 2009

So, let’s say you’ve been living in Stockholm, or in another big city for a while. You don’t own a car, because a) public transport is excellent, and b) you ride your bicycle pretty much everywhere pretty much year round. But then your sambo announces that he/she got a job in the sticks. And so you have to move, and buy a car, and drive everyday, even to buy milk and bread. And suddenly, you are faced with the challenge of getting a Swedish driver’s license.

If you are from an EU country, or from Switzerland and have permanent residency in Sweden, it’s easy, you can just saunter down to your nearest Länsstyrelsen office (or depending on what kind of setup your län has, it might be a Transportstyrelsen office, either way, it should be normally be somewhere near a Vägverket office) to exchange your current driver’s license for a Swedish one. The process is very straightforward – you just fill out some papers, pay some money and voila – your Swedish license will come in the mail.

Technically, you can drive in Sweden using your home country’s license for one year. After one year you should exchange it for a Swedish one (if you can), or go through the process of getting a Swedish license from scratch.

“Do I have to do that?” I hear you say. Well, it technically yes. But it all depends on how long you are planning to stay in Sweden. Let’s say, you are here on a two-year job contract and have no intention of staying in Sweden longer than that. And you have a license from your home country that is still good and valid. What can you do then?

There is a little-known option that allows you to drive in Sweden using your foreign license for longer than a year, providing that you can prove that you’re staying in the country only for a certain, limited time period. Like a two-year job contract. How to arrange this? First, make sure that your UT (uppehållstillstånd) is of the limited-time and job dependent variety, and not the permanent “spouse-visa” kind. Then you will need a letter from your employer confirming that and kindly asking Länsstyrelsen and Transportstyrelsen to allow you to drive on your foreign license for the duration of your contract.

You take that letter, your passport, proof of employment, your foreign driver’s license (if it’s in a funky language, get it translated into Swedish first!) and go down to the Länsstyrelsen (or in some place – Transportstyrelsen) office. Ask for the person who handles foreign driver’s license exchanges. Explain the situation to the person in charge of this process and get a paper to fill out. Don’t worry, Swedish officials are a very helpful sort (even if they don’t look it at first glance) and if you have any questions about the form you’re supposed to fill out, just ask. It’s also a well-known fact that they will not volunteer any information unless asked directly, so just ask away.

If your paperwork is all in order and your foreign license is valid and looks legitimate, you will be given a paper with payment info. After you transfer the applicable amount (don’t forget to put your personnummer in the reference field!), you sit back and wait. After a week or so, you should receive an official letter stating that you are legal to drive in Sweden using your foreign license for a certain time period, one year, or two years, or until your license expires, whichever comes first. Be sure to carry that letter with you at all times when you drive. And you’re good to go.

This handy bit of information is missing from the official Körkortsportalen website, and normally, this option will not be explained to you when you go down to the office to inquire about changing your foreign license to a Swedish one. Not so long ago, I was helping my friend with this process, and the lady at the office simply said: “Your friend didn’t ask about this specific option.” True, but she didn’t ask, because she didn’t know about it.

But then the lady very cheerfully explained that it was indeed possible, accepted the paperwork, copied my friend’s foreign driver’s license (American) and passport, and handed us a payment slip on which she marked the appropriate reference number and hand wrote the sum of 700 kronor. And that was all. Ten days later my friend got a letter stating that it was OK for her to drive on her American license even after her one year in Sweden was over.

However, as always, when dealing with all information that covers “official” stuff, please re-confirm all details with the appropriate authorities before attempting this process. And as always, when dealing with any Swedish officials, please follow the “three questions” rule – ask three different people the same question and then do what they majority said.

I will write more about driving in Sweden in the near future.

What Time Is It?

Posted by Transparent Language 11 Comments
Aug 7 2009

About an hour ago I was struggling to explain to someone how to say what time it is. In Swedish naturally.

You see, again, it’s one of those things that is deceptively easy on the surface and so similar to English that we tend to forget that there are a couple of bits that are different. Very different in fact.

First of all, what started this whole discussion was when my husband asked me what “Hur dags?” meant. He thought it had something to do with how the day was going. (Yes, shame on me, the guy speaks only two words of Swedish and relies on me for the rest).

But no, “hur dags?” simply means – “at what time?” And then the guy got all stressed out that the word “time” –“tid” wasn’t even in this phrase. To placate him, I said there is another expression, which starts with “vilken tid” and means something like “when”.

And then, very surprisingly, the guy announced that he decided to master telling the time. In Swedish naturally. So we sat down and I very patiently started to explain:

To ask what time it is, you say this:

  • Hur mycket är klockan?

or

  • Vad är klockan?

And here are some possible answers:

  • klockan 9 (kl. 9:00) – 9 o’clock.
  • halv nio – half past eight – 8:30 (yeah, it gets goofy here)
  • tio över nio – ten past nine – 9:10
  • tio i nio – ten till/to nine – 8:50

and here it gets really fun:

  • fem över halv nio – twenty five till/to nine – 8:35, but in Swedish it’s more like “five past half to nine”
  • fem i halv nio – twenty five past eight – 8:25, but again, Swedish it’s literally “five till half to nine”

Fun, isn’t it?
Personally, I hate this way of saying what time it is and normally stick with the military style of 9:10, 8:50, 8:30 and so on. It works just as well and people understand you just fine.

Here are some other handy time-related phrases:

  • Klockan går fem minuter före. – the clock/watch is five minutes fast.
  • Klockan går fem minuter efter. – the clock/watch is five minutes slow.
  • Min klocka går fel. – my watch is wrong (shows wrong time)
  • Klockan slår tolv. – the clock strikes twelve (noon/midnight)

And now that you know how to tell the time in Swedish, you have no more excuses to be late. And that I suspect is the secret reason why my guy will give up on learning these useful phrases in about 3 minutes. :)

The Rotting Month

Posted by Transparent Language 3 Comments
Aug 4 2009

So… Another rotting month is upon us. Yes, it’s “rötmånad” time again – from either the 22nd, or 23rd or 24th of July until either the 22nd or 23rd or 24th of August. And to be honest, I really don’t understand why in this day and age we still have to put up with this old superstition. But is it just a superstition? Or maybe something more?

I read something not so long ago that the old folk belief that more people get sick during the “rotting month” is actually a fact. A bunch of Finnish scientists wanted to know whether it was true or not, and guess what? They set out to disprove this belief and got a mighty surprise when the results came in. Surgery patients double the risk of developing bacterial infections during this time of the year.

And “according to old Finnish folk beliefs, hot and stagnant conditions during summer slow the healing process and increase the incidence of infection between mid-July and mid-August.”

Oh really? If this was really true then people in Greece, Spain and Italy should be dying by the thousands. Hot and stagnant conditions in Finland or Sweden? “Is this some kind of a joke?” asked my Spanish friend who read about this study, and who just happens to be an exchange student in Sweden.

But then the same friend went down to his local Ica supermarket to buy milk and bread and wept in the vegetable isle. “Most of the vegetables were disgusting,” he complained. I told him it was the rotting month and that this was tradition. Even in the day of refrigerated trucks and freezers the size of train carriages, the old time-honored custom of rotting must be preserved. He laughed at me and bought a carton of milk.

The very next day he called to say, “Guess what? The milk has turned sour already!” Now the poor fella is not laughing anymore and knows that rötmånaden should not be mocked. Because it does exist.

But what I want to know is how it works – do things rot because we believe this is the rotting season, or do they rot regardless of our belief, because this is the rotting season? My very rational mind tells me that in this day and age things should not rot anymore, and especially not in Sweden. But the milk in Jose’s fridge tells a very different story. Hmmm…

Either way, take care to avoid food poisoning during this season!

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