Bra slut!

That means “good ending” in Swedish.

Beyond avoiding hilarious miscommunications, immigrants to Sweden need to learn the language in order to get by in daily life, integrate into society, and join the workforce.

Sweden received 102,4000 immigrants in 2022, and its municipal-backed system for teaching Swedish to these newcomers, is, well, headed toward a very not bra slut.

Okay, but hold on. The majority of immigrants (about 9,869) were Swedes returning home. So we’re left with something like 92,531 newcomers, which is still a lot — and that’s all just in one year. These newcomers are mainly from India, Poland, Germany, and Syria. Many of them are refugees, who don’t have the means to afford private language teachers, and need to rely on free government or municipal classes to learn Swedish.

These classes, however, are severely understaffed, and a new immigrant can wait up to six months to get accepted to one.

Okay, but are they helpful? What’s the deal?

So firstly, the classes are provided by a municipal-backed organization called SFI, or Swedish for Immigrants. A 2023 report by the Swedish National Agency for Education found that only 55% of the serving SFI teachers had the appropriate teaching qualifications and authorization to teach Swedish at adult level during 2022/23.

The report details how the students often don’t get to prepare for situations relevant to their lives. This is unsurprising, since it also found that the teachers simply don’t design their lessons or homework to reflect realistic situations, nor to correspond with the students’ interests and goals.

The real-world implications of unrealistic language instruction are pretty bad. Even after learning Swedish for a long time, the students still could not communicate with staff at the grocery store, nor with governmental agencies and authorities. And beyond the struggles of everyday interaction, it can prevent them from finding work.

“If students at SFI do not have enough of a chance to speak Swedish, the barrier for them to enter into society and the labor market is raised.” — Helén Ängmo, Director General, Swedish National Agency for Education

I spoke to Hannah Larsson*, a Swedish teacher who offers virtual language lessons. Hannah’s home country is Sweden, but she’s lived in Israel for a bit, and has now relocated to Spain. She has experience both as a language teacher and as an immigrant integrating into a new culture.

Hannah shared her perspective and insights on the issue, and we talked about the struggles that newcomers face when learning Swedish and integrating into Swedish society. We also had an honest conversation about the stark differences between Swedish and Israeli culture. Check it out below:

DIVORA SARAFRAZ: So where are your students from?

HANNAH LARSSON: I have from all over actually. But mostly I get people that are PhD students, doctors, lawyers, from Japan, China, India, USA, and Brazil.

DS: Why are they learning Swedish?

HL: 90 or 95% are people who live in Sweden, like foreign workers or immigrants. They don’t necessarily need it, because many can get by with English, and they can work using English. But they stay, they live there, their kids go to school, and they realize they’ve got to pick up the language, because they’re there to stay.

There are also free courses in Sweden, so people who are coming from a difficult economy go to those.

DS: Interesting. Why do you think some people come to you instead of a free course?

HL: They have a better budget. So to commute to the course, to sit with another 20 people in a two hour session, is for them a waste of time. With me they get 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or one hour, and they talk.

DS: Yeah, it’s the speech practice that you don’t get in traditional classes.

HL: Yeah, they get very high value; it’s one on one, and it’s specifically adapted to them. If you’re a doctor, I do the doctor lesson plan, including the medical terms, and how to talk to a patient. If I have someone that has a need for another direction, we’ll go there. If someone is curious about psychology, we read about psychology. So I adapt to you. And that is why it’s very attractive.

When you have kids and a job, you don’t have a lot of time. But with a private teacher, we meet when you have time. I would say it’s a very stress-free situation for them. Because they’re in charge. And I think that really appeals to people, that they have 100% control of their time management. If you take a course outside, you have to fit into those hours. And that doesn’t work.

DS: And with government courses, the students have no say when it comes to the lesson plan. They can be learning something that’s totally irrelevant.

So, as for my next question — Where would you say your students struggle most, and what helps them?

HL: [Sighs heavily] The listening. Listening is hard for them.

DS: Really?

HL: Yeah, and expressing themselves. But firstly hearing and understanding. Swedish people speak very fast. So with reading, they get along best. They do. And they tell me, “I don’t want to go with the books, talk to me, I need to listen. I’ve got to get used to hearing you speaking.”

I have a student, she’s a young woman, a mom. She has a four month old baby. And she’s like, “I’m so pissed, because I have to go meet with the other moms, and I don’t understand them! They talk over my head.” And these are new people, she doesn’t have anything in common with them. The only thing that connects them is their babies. So it’s very awkward.

DS: Do you think she doesn’t understand them because they’re speaking quickly, or because they’re using phrases and terminology that just isn’t taught in a Swedish course?

HL: Yeah. Yes. The terminology when you have babies is obviously totally different from going out and ordering a cup of coffee, or sitting in a restaurant. Being immersed in a situation like that, where you can’t communicate, it makes you feel lost. And it’s hard for them to cope — and then they just switch to English. Right away. Safety. It’s safer in English.

DS: What would help them?

HL: I think to be patient, first of all. Because it’s going to take time. And to be resilient. They have to stick to a plan. This is what I’m trying to tell everybody — don’t look for an hour. Try to find half an hour. Everyone can do that. Try to do it three, four times a week.

DS: I think something that can be really discouraging is that some people really do take the time. I know in Israel, there are people who study a few times a week, or even every day in these classes, and they’ll do Duolingo. And they still… don’t understand anything.

So it’s that loss and frustration that makes them feel like, but I put in days, weeks, years! And I’m no closer to getting a job, making friends, or advocating for myself.

HL: Yeah. And Hebrew is also a difficult language. I think Hebrew is even harder than Swedish.

DS: Well they both have fancy dots around the letters! So where do your students excel? Where do they shine?

HL: I think, when it comes to the social aspect, if they let go and don’t hold back. And they really say “I’m going to do this.” They excel when they let go of that fear of looking like an idiot. Really. And they don’t overthink. That’s when they excel. It’s when they just let go and talk.

DS: It’s true, that’s why the only time I’m able to hold a conversation in Swedish is when I’ve had a drink! So my next question — what are the most common requests in a lesson?

HL: The most common would be that they want to be able to express themselves. They also want to understand the Swedish people. And quite a few of them are smart enough to realize that they’ll comprehend the personality and character of the people in a much deeper way when they learn the language. They know it’s the key. They know they will understand the society through the language. And they’re curious, and they want that. They want to feel like a part of it.

DS: So there are also people who will move to another country and they don’t have that curiosity. They’ll just speak English, and they won’t try to learn the new language. They simply aren’t motivated to learn the language or the culture, to learn the personalities.

What do you think differentiates a person like that from a person who’s like — I’m going to learn Swedish! I’m going to befriend the Swedish people in their own language! I’m going to get to know that part of them!

What sparks that motivation? Because like you said, you don’t really need to use Swedish in Sweden, you can use English.

HL: Yeah. I think that some of them are embarrassed that they live in a country and don’t speak the language. Some people are like, I’m embarrassed to say I’ve been living here for ten years and this is all I can say. They start to criticize themselves. They have expectations for themselves.

And secondly, believe it or not — the kids. When you have kids, you fall into that slot. You have to meet with teachers, you have to meet with moms. The kids bring home friends and you feel like an idiot that you can’t communicate with a five year old. Then you know you have to learn.

DS: That’s actually fascinating because a person’s native language is usually the language of the country. Because the language of the home is great, but it’s kind of confined to the context of the home.

So the kids usually end up conversing with their friends and expressing themselves in the language of the country. Then with time, they sometimes start responding to the parents in the language of the country too, and they stop using the language of the home as much. And the parents actually can’t understand them, and it’s an issue.

But I feel like at that point, for the parent who’s realizing that they can’t understand their kids, they already have so much to do, between their work and their family life, where do they now fit in the time to learn Swedish?

HL: Yeah. A lot of my students come to me when the kids are still babies. Because they see already — uh oh. Now I’m going to need to take them to preschool in six months. I’ve got to get into this language and deal with it. So I have people who are motivated, because they see what’s going to happen.

But when it comes to the government courses — well in Denmark they make you pay to learn Danish. But once you speak enough Danish to get around, and you pass a certain level, you get all your money back. That’s an incentive to get you started, to get you more dedicated to your studies.

But in Sweden, it’s all for free. So a person can come and sign in, and then not pay attention in class, not do their homework, and drag the classes on for two years, and never learn to speak much. There’s no time limit, and if you attend, they pay your rent and living expenses. It’s a sign that you’re studying. And it doesn’t seem to be a method that works. Even the SFI has criticized this system. And I’ve had so many people — I would say 97% have had a bad experience from this system.

The few that have a good experience are — let’s say you’re a doctor, they can have a special group only for doctors, nurses. And there it can work out. It’ll be an intensive course, and there you have people who are similar to you.

It’s an uneven system, and that’s why I think it’s failing.

DS: I hear that. And when it comes to the instruction, the language of these classes is usually quite formal. So even if they pay attention they might not learn how to hold a conversation.

So on that note — What does an immigrant need to learn in order to understand Swedish native speakers? Because there’s a huge gap between what people are learning and how natives actually speak.

HL: Well, we have this whole “belief system.” So in English you would say, “I think it’s a good idea.” But in Swedish we say, “jag tror — I believe it’s a good idea.”

Until the thing we’re talking about is done — until it’s tested, we would never say we think. We’re always in the belief stage. And that’s tricky to wrap your head around.

DS: So once something’s confirmed, then you would say “I think.” But — if something’s confirmed — at that point, wouldn’t you say “I know?”

HL: So in English, you could say, “I’m going to Thailand next week, I think it’s going to be a good trip.” But in Swedish you would say jag tror — I believe it’s going to be a good trip. When I come back, I’ll tell you if it was good or not.

DS: I didn’t know that, and nobody tells you that! Amazing. So if a Swedish person is listening to an immigrant or a new learner speaking, and they’re saying, “I think this, I think that,” the Swedish person thinks that that person is overly confident?

HL: Yeah, and it’s kind of awkward in Swedish. Also, if we work in the same company, and you ask me if the meeting is at five — I know the meeting is at five. But I would say I believe it’s at five.

We don’t want to go to an affirmative. We always try to stay somewhere in the middle. Never to get stuck in a spot that we can’t get out of. We can seem like we’re indecisive.

DS: So that leads me into the next question. What’s important to know about Swedish culture when speaking the language?

HL: Well, you always have to wait for the Swedish person. You shouldn’t be interrupting him. You have to be very respectful, and how should I say… you should be very attentive to what’s happening, and sensitive to what’s going on around you. Because Swedish culture is very — it’s not like in Israel and America. There, it’s very direct. This can make Swedish people feel attacked. When they speak to Americans or Israelis, sometimes they feel attacked.

DS: What happens if you’re half American and half Israeli like me???

HL: Then you’re canceled! You have no chance, Div.

DS: [Laughs] Oh no!

HL: Swedes can feel cornered. Israelis many times can be considered impolite, compared to Europeans, right? And they might not necessarily be. But it’s because they have this directness about them that may land in the wrong place, to a European. So British people, Swedish people, we’re very much alike there. We don’t barge in. And I think that’s very important in Sweden.

Also, you don’t talk about what you earn, you don’t express every opinion. We have this saying in Sweden, “talking is silver, being quiet is gold.” So Israelis in my opinion are very lively and very opinionated, and Swedes are the opposite. And a Swedish person — if you want to know his opinion, ask him. He might not share it with you otherwise.

DS: I hear that. So let’s say we have an immigrant that has perfect Swedish, no accent. What would make it recognizable that it’s not their native language?

HL: Listen, look at me for example. I’ve been speaking English for years, and I’ll always have some accent. There are studies on this. If you come to a country before the age of 10, you’ll be able to get the accent, and you’ll be able to integrate as if you’re a native. But anyone that comes as an older person — we never, ever nail it. And it’s very hard to put a finger on what it is exactly, because for every native — if you’re coming from Brazil, or Israel, or the US, you’ll have different things that I would distinguish, no matter how long you’re here. It’s an individual thing.

DS: Your accent is beautiful, though. So I don’t think that you should make an American or British accent in English.

HL: You know, that’s what I say to everyone too. Don’t try to sound like a Swede! I mean look at Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. They sound great! Of course they have the Spanish accent, that’s the charm. We should embrace it.

DS: Yes! Okay, so, you’ve moved around and integrated into new cultures. What was that like for you?

HL: Well, Swedish people are very respectful. We are brought up very self-conscious about not being rude. So we have an easy way to slide in and out of cultures, thanks to that.

DS: That’s so interesting, because I think that this concept of being self-conscious about being rude is actually something that holds a lot of immigrants back in Israel.

Because if you’re worried about that, you won’t succeed. Being confident and assertive are part of the culture. If you’re overthinking, if you’re too shy, if you’re too quiet, you’re not going to get ahead. So it’s interesting that being self-conscious about not being rude is something that can help you in many places, but it really depends on where you’re going.

HL: I know, it’s a cut-throat society, and so Israelis tend to take on an authority position. But for example I’m in Spain now, so I need to play their game. You know, “when in Rome.” So that’s what I mean. We come to a new place, and we accept their culture. An Israeli, well… I’m generalizing, of course, but you understand what I mean. If he’s loud, he’s loud, whether he’s in Israel or Japan. That’s him. He’ll be himself everywhere.

DS: So what tips do you have for learning Swedish or any new language?

HL: The process. First of all, you have to just let go of judging yourself. And you have to immerse yourself. You just have to talk. You can’t be criticizing yourself. And don’t be afraid to make mistakes. I mean, think about them speaking your language.

DS: Do you have any anecdotes about miscommunications in Swedish with new learners?

HL: Yes, I know this Canadian girl, she lives in Germany. She lives there with her Swedish husband. And they go to Stockholm every summer to visit his family. One day she decides to make some recipe, and she goes to the supermarket. She asks the person working there for ginger, in English. The guy working there says, ingefära. And she says, no! I need ginger. And he goes again, patiently, ingefära!

In the end, she’s really pissed. So he takes her over to the spices section and pulls out the ginger. It says ingefära on the bottle. All this time she thought he was saying, ingen fara, which means, no problem. As if she’s telling him she needs ginger, and he’s telling her no, don’t worry, you don’t need any, you can use something else!

DS: [Laughs] People who work in any type of retail need one huge raise all around!

Hannah, thank you so much for your time! It’s been a pleasure.

*Name and some details have been altered for privacy upon interviewee’s request.