{"id":237,"date":"2009-07-18T23:54:02","date_gmt":"2009-07-19T03:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=237"},"modified":"2009-07-18T23:54:02","modified_gmt":"2009-07-19T03:54:02","slug":"svenska-for-invandrare-swedish-for-immigrants-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/svenska-for-invandrare-swedish-for-immigrants-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Svenska f\u00f6r invandrare – Swedish for Immigrants Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, how\u2019s your summer coming along? Having fun? I know that quite a few of you are contemplating a post-summer move to Sweden and have many questions regarding this process. I\u2019ve already started covering some of the most basic issues, most recently \u2013 how to read apartment ads, and a while back there was a post about getting personnummer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

But the question that keeps coming back time and time again is \u201cOnce in Sweden how do I sign up for Swedish classes?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, that depends on in which kommun<\/strong> you are going to live. Why? Different kommuner<\/strong> have different ways of managing their SFI<\/strong> programs. What\u2019s SFI<\/strong>, I hear you ask? Svenska F\u00f6r Invandrare<\/strong> \u2013 Swedish for immigrants program.<\/p>\n

So, how does it work and where do I sign up, I hear you ask?<\/p>\n

OK, let\u2019s take it one by one.<\/p>\n

It works like this \u2013 All legal immigrants who have personnummer<\/strong> and are registered (folkbokf\u00f6ring<\/strong>) in their kommun<\/strong> are eligible for free Swedish classes in that kommun<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Now, because SFI<\/strong> works differently in different kommuner<\/strong>, you have to get all the details regarding those classes directly from your city office.<\/p>\n

In some towns, SFI<\/strong> is a separate school and has its own teachers. In some cities the SFI<\/strong> program is run by Folkuniversitetet<\/strong> (and here you have to be careful not to get confused, because in many cities FU<\/strong> offers its own Swedish language classes for which you have to pay, quite much, actually), and in some places SFI<\/strong> is handled by Komvux<\/strong> (adult education school). So yeah, I can\u2019t really tell you how it is where you\u2019re going to live.<\/p>\n

The quality of Swedish language instruction you will get at SFI<\/strong> also varies greatly from kommun<\/strong> to kommun<\/strong>. It might be excellent in one place and beyond dismal somewhere else. There are many foreigners who praise SFI<\/strong> and just as many who have nothing good to say about the system. So it all depends. And as in most schools, it depends on two main factors: funding and teachers. And of those two, I\u2019d say that funding is the most important one. You can have the best teachers in the world, but they can only do so much without any money.<\/p>\n

At some SFI<\/strong> schools you might be asked to buy your own books, and at others you will get a daily xeroxed handout. At some SFI<\/strong> schools you will have a library and a computer lab, and at others \u2013 zip, zilch, nada.<\/p>\n

But in general, what can you expect when signing up for SFI<\/strong>? First, someone should check your current Swedish ability and based on that assign you to the appropriate class. Second, you\u2019ll get put on a waiting list for that class and go home. Then, when a space becomes available, you\u2019ll get either a letter or a phone call telling you to show up for school. But don\u2019t trust the system, that phone call or letter may never come, if you are not being persistent. I\u2019ve heard of people waiting patiently, only to be told months later that \u201cWell, you never contacted us, so we thought you were no longer interested.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In some SFI<\/strong>s there might not be any initial division between the levels \u2013 everybody gets more or less dumped into one big class. So you might have people who don\u2019t know how to read and write in their mother language and people with master\u2019s degrees from their home countries. After a few weeks, the teachers usually sort out who needs to go where.<\/p>\n

Basically, SFI<\/strong> has four levels: A, B, C and D. In reality, most moderately intelligent people who know how to spell their own name start at level B, then very quickly move to level C. There is, or at least \u2013 should be, a test between levels C and D. And level D ends with a \u201cbig\u201d national test. Don\u2019t worry, it\u2019s not all that hard to get to level D and pass that test. It’s not meant to get you fluent in Swedish, but merely – functional. After completing level D and passing that test, you should be able to communicate in Swedish, that\u2019s it. It gives you the sort of communicative skills required to hold down a simple job.<\/p>\n

If you want to, for example go to university and study in Swedish, you need to continue with your Swedish education. But we\u2019ll cover that subject another time.<\/p>\n

Now, if any of you have any interesting SFI<\/strong> stories, please, by all means, share them in the comments section!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, how\u2019s your summer coming along? Having fun? I know that quite a few of you are contemplating a post-summer move to Sweden and have many questions regarding this process. I\u2019ve already started covering some of the most basic issues, most recently \u2013 how to read apartment ads, and a while back there was a…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3079],"tags":[3274,3402,3439,3453],"class_list":["post-237","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-swedish-language","tag-life-in-sweden","tag-sfi","tag-svenska-for-invandrare","tag-swedish-for-immigrants-school"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}