Social media – a gateway to Stockholm and the University
If you’re heading to Stockholm University in the near future – you practically don’t have to leave the desktop of your computer to get an idea of what's going on here! There’s a wealth of information about life in the city and at the University available on the Net.
Stockholm University bloggers
Sweden in Touch is a network for international students, alumni, and guest researchers wishing to develop or maintain a connection with Sweden and Swedish universities. Here you can find many different blog pages – including two students from Stockholm University (from June 30):
As well as finding friends, connecting with other people, there’s a good calendar and bulletin board www.swedenintouch.se/Bulletin-Board with apartments for rent, and things for sale.
Meet the Community of Sweden
If you just want to look at how beautiful Sweden is before you arrive, check out Community of Sweden www.communityofsweden.com – an excellent resource for pictures, travel tips and insights into getting the most of your stay in Sweden.
Visiting Stockholm
If you are planning to visit Stockholm before term begins you can visit the Stockholm Tourist Board's excellent website, which contains masses of information on events, places to stay, restauraunts, etc. http://beta.stockholmtown.com/en
You can also find a list of forthcoming events of interest to visitors to the University – including conferences, lectures and seminars – on the University's calendar page. www2.su.se/kalendariet (Some events are in English, some in Swedish).
Stockholm's online community
To get a different flavour of what’s going on in Stockholm, check out A Swedish American in Sweden – the blog of a twenty-something American-Swede living in Stockholm. http://welcometosweden.blogspot.com
Laugh-out-loud funny, A Swedish American is written by Marcus Cederström who moved to Sweden a couple of years ago from the US and covers a wide range of topics from citizenship to cell phones and generally finding your feet in the Swedish capital.
Marcus says his aim is “to give a flavour of what it’s like here.” Positive about moving over to Sweden, he warns prospective visitors that it’s not as easy-going as, say in the US.
“You can’t go shot-gun and be really up front with people. Swedes are reserved and take a while to get to know,” says Marcus. “But if you stick at it, you’ll find you can fit in – eventually.”
Pratar du svenska?
If you’re keen to pick up a smattering of Swedish before you arrive, why not check out by Sweden blog www.transparent.com/swedish by US language software company Transparent. Regularly updated by “Anna”, the blog offers both grammar tips (such as how to get your head around irregular verbs www.transparent.com/swedish/more-past-participle-goodness-irregular-aka-strong-verbs/#comment-1771), easy phrases to learn and cultural insights.
Other notable Sweden bloggers worth checking out are:
- How to learn Swedish in 1000 difficult lessons http://www.francisstrand.blogspot.com
- Cool Stockholm www.coolstockholm.se – for the hottest trends in fashion, film, design, art and music
- Something about Sweden http://linds-farawayfromhome.blogspot.com – for lots of pictures
More Social Media
With Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter booming, there’s also a huge Stockholm community of microbloggers, particularly on Twitter at the moment – much of it in English. The #svpt hashtag is a good way of following conversations directed to the Swedish community on Twitter. Stockholm University publishes, during term-time, regular updates in English on the micro-blogging service Twitter. http://twitter.com/Stockholm_Uni
Swedish news in English
The English-speaking community in Stockholm is well served by established media outlets, including web-based newspapers, The Local and Stockholm News, as well as a host of bloggers and microbloggers.
To get a quality overview of what’s happening in Sweden and the big news stories of the day, The Local, updated 7-days-a-week, is the site to read.
“We do our best to reflect the stories which are making the Swedish headlines, so that our readers have a good grasp of the country's current affairs,” says The Local.
YouTube
Last but not least you can see more of Stockholm University, including new student interviews, on the video-sharing site YouTube. Visit Stockholm University's English language channel. www.youtube.com/user/StockholmUniversity
Text: Jon Buscall / PP
Content owner: External Relations Office
Created:
June 24, 2009
by
Paul Parker
Updated:
June 25, 2009
by
Paul Parker
