Hi! I am moving to Göteborg in September for my company, and will be working there for at least one year. I don't know anyone and have only been for a weekend before. My boyfriend is hoping to move there with me, but he will need to find a job! Neither of us can speak swedish although we are going to start learning straight away (him intensively!)

So... any ideas on intensive swedish courses, and any ideas on interim jobs for him (i.e. is it easy to get bar work etc, even if you don't speak swedish? I've heard it is difficult to find a "proper" job in Göteborg if you don't even have the basics? If he did are there some recruitment companies in Göteborg we could look at?)
What are our best bets to meet people!? (we are both 23) Will it be difficult for me as I don't speak any swedish? I hope not! :)

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to answer my questions!

Göteborg is your best place to move to in Sweden as an English speaker so don't worry! With a history full of prominent Scotsmen who donated this that and the other to the city, we have Chalmers university, Carnegie porter brewery and the Dickson house...and so on. Its nickname in Sweden is Little London because of its strong British links, more rain than the east coast (its only drawback) and we (oups, a slip since I grew up there) still have the ferry to Newcastle of course. Used to run to Harwich too but could't survive both the arrival of budget airlines and duty free abolition without stopping in Norway en route so just Newcastle it is now :)))

You will have a hard time practicing Swedish as everyone will want to practice their English. Coming from England, you might not want pubs, let alone "mock" Swedish ones :))) but places like Dubliners and such is actually were you will meet people.

The only negative thing I can say is that temping agencies is more or less useless when it comes to non-Swedish speakers. My husband got all his papers in return :( It is better to ask the consulate and see if they've got a list of British companies to approach. Or for that matter, pub jobs if that's an option. There is always the expat pub I have on my Göteborg page. I used to know one of its staff, also English, but I don't know if he's still there. Göteborg is swarming with Brits though (enough to have a cricket club) :))) They might be able to help him even if you're after some Swedish influences to. It could be a start...

I forgot...as EU citizens, you should qualify for the local SFI courses (Swedish for immigrants). However, it was quite a mix of students with all sorts of educational backgrounds when my husband did it in Göteborg so unless they've changed, I wouldn't recommend it even if it is free.

Folkuniversitetet is good but probably the most expensive. Otherwise, there is ABF, Medborgarskolan and of course students at the university to approach (their noticeboard perhaps).

I really understand that new participants in sfi groups can find it confusing with the sfi. So do also many sfi teachers :-) as the conditions aren't the best everywhere to be able to make a good education ....

I do hope SFI is changed even in Gothenbourgh (as it is in Stockholm since 2001). Then there should be 3 "study ways" from the beginning Number 3 for those with most schoolbackground/studies from there native countries,number 2 for those with not so many years behind them and number 1 with no one or just a few years as background from their home countries. These 3 levels study in different ways and in different speed.

Then it depends on how many participants there are, the more there are at the local school, the easier it is to make mor homogegeneous groups, otherwise have to work with more heterogeneous groups and that is not so easy neither for the participants neither for the teachers.

One bad thing is that the sfi-schools/groups have to let new participants start very often (the rules are like that, so that new participants don't have to wait too long), in Stockholm on some places every month or every second month there may come new participants to the different groups.

Another bad thing is that the schools often have to put in too many participants in the groups, hard both for the participants and for the teachers (!), but so are the economic conditions.....

Anyway: good luck!

Birjak

Hi! Just wanted to say I live in Göteborg, so if you have any questions feel free to pm me. I think the absolute best courses for swedish are at Göteborgs Universitet, which is where I took mine. I'm afraid they can be a bit challenging to get into because of the small class size, and applications were due in april, but you could try for the spring term. But they are very intense and very good.

Otherwise, your luck with sfi is hit and miss. I found out quickly that the university courses were far superior to the sfi so I quit those as they were a waste of time and I had found a job anyway. But that doesn't mean either of you shouldn't give it a try. You might have a better teacher and a better experience!
The classes at Folkuniversitet are a bit pricey and I've heard good and bad about them, but they have several courses to choose from. I always recommend the courses at Göteborgs Univ., just from the great experience I had there.

Finding a job isn't *so* difficult, but it's not easy either. Use any connections you have and just ask around. You might have to send out your CV 25 times before you get a bite, but something will turn up for him.

Have a nice move! :)