Want to put your Swedish skills to use in a fun social setting? Join Language Exchange – STOCKHOLM to practise your svenska and meet new people in a casual, friendly environment.
Here at Your Living City we are all too familiar with the process of learning Swedish and the variety of courses available in Stockholm. In previous articles we provide you with information on Swedish language programs that are conducted in a more structured classroom setting.
However, we know that in order to really improve your language skills, you will need to put what you’re learning into practice outside of the classroom. That’s why we highly recommend you check out the Language Exchange – STOCKHOLM Meetup Group, where more than once a week you can meet new people and hold friendly conversations in Swedish in a cozy café atmosphere.
The Stockholm Language Exchange has sent us a video of one of their groups.
Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Some reasons why the Stockholm Language Exchange might be right for you:
- You are learning Swedish by attending SFI or another Swedish course or using online programs and tools.
- You still don’t have your Swedish Personal Number.
- You and your Swedish partner/friend/family member practise the language at home as much as you can, but it just doesn’t feel natural yet.
- Your Swedish partner wants to learn or improve on your native language too (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, etc), but has nobody to practice with here in Stockholm.
- You want to maintain other languages you have learned in the past.
- Despite taking SFI and other Swedish courses, you still lack confidence when approaching Swedes in their native tongue.
About the Stockholm Language Exchange:
The Stockholm Language Exchange is organized and run by Andy Foster and co-organised by Jonas Rognon along with his great team of volunteers from different backgrounds who help with the different languages.
“We call it ‘Language Exchange’ as we are a bunch of volunteers who love languages and we exchange our time helping others with languages in return for help practising those languages we wish to improve” -Andy Foster (Organizer)
A leader is assigned to each table to support and guide the group discussion; each group will have no more than 6-8 people, so everyone gets a chance to interact and most importantly talk!
The group has weekly scheduled meetings and meet Up dates are announced on the Language Exchange – STOCKHOLM Meetup page. Each event lasts 90 minutes and is held in the same place, downstairs in a cozy alcove of a cafe in Gamla Stan, with great coffee, food and friendly staff.
Previously there was a small admin charge but now it is completely free.
The benefits:
- Improves your spoken language level, ability and confidence.
- It’s not just Swedish language that’s offered! Spanish, French, German, English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and Russian groups are regularly held.
- You meet like-minded people who want to practise what they know and learn new conversational phrases.
- It’s a great way to make friends who are new to the city!
How to join the Language Exchange group:
Join the Language Exchange – STOCKHOLM Meetup group. Join an event and RSVP before the deadline to attend. If an event is full, put yourself on the waiting list; there could be a cancellation. There will be events every week, so don’t be disappointed if there are no places the first time.
You can also find language partners in their active Facebook group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/cafemultilingua/
Language exchanges offered by the group:
- Swedish (3 levels) Basic, Intermediate and Advanced
- English Intermediate to Advanced
- Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and Russian
Link to website: http://www.meetup.com/intercambio/
Link to the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cafemultilingua/
Article: Shephali Sardesai and Andy Foster
Photos curtesy of Language Exchange Stockholm
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