sCOOLa tankar

Let me start by telling you briefly about my background.

I moved to Sweden in 1995, exactly 21 years ago. This year,  2016, is a pretty important year for me for one simple reason - this year is the year in which I equally lived as long in Sweden as in Croatia. First 21 years of my life I spent on the Adriatic coast in Croatia, the last 21 years in Sweden. Most of these Swedish years are in the yellow, rape seed rich Skåne area.

What impact did the move in 1995 have on me? It changed my whole life in several ways, but the biggest change was something I went through inside, silently and unconsciously, a change that grew slowly over a few months . From an extrovert psychology student I turned into a shy and introvert person who got lost in the Swedish social system. I was looking actively for a way to become part of society, following the trail that authorities signposted with different signs. Sometimes  the signs showed the right direction, other times they came to a dead end and I had to turn around to look for a new path.

It took me many years to recognize myself, to once again rediscover the boistrous laughing and cheerful personality that I developed at a young age, which was "put on ice" in 1995 beacuse of insecurities over a new language.

Not long ago I found somewhere on the net a quote, which aroused a lot of self-reflection and thoughts about my own identity. The quote says: when you learn a new language, you become a new person into the bargain. I agree with the fact,  it applies to every single one of our swedish for immigrant students in the country.

How aware are we that it is a rebirthing process for the  people who are in swedish for immigrant classes around the country? How aware are our swedish for immigrant students themselves that this is what happens to them, when they get lost trying to find their place under the Swedish sun, while they do their best and hope that's enough? If we are aware of this process of change  - how can we facilitate and speed up the process of belonging for them?

I am not ashamed to tell you that it took me many years to begin to feel at home in Sweden, to begin to feel that I mastered my own life here. It took me many years to feel comfortable in different everyday situations, which others do not even think about - for example something as simple as calling and talking on the phone needed courage. Phonecalls can be very stressful in a language that is not your native one.

Now I meet all these wonderful new arrivals who do their best and I wonder  - was there a way I could start to feel home in Sweden faster, and if so - what and who could help to catalyze the process of my rebirth to the Swedish version of myself?

We have in swedish for immigrant classrooms individuals who themselves are undergoing the process, people who need to find the Swedish versions of themselves.

Let us help them.

To offer them professional language training is a step in the right direction, but it is not the only step society can take. It is good, but more can be done.

Other very important things we can give them are the following:

1. reasons to love their new country

2. feeling that they are at home here and belong

3. knowledge that they have not betrayed their old country if they begin to love their new one.

You can have two home countries and love them both equally.

How do we do it?

It's 23:41 now, so I will continue in the next post, another day.

Good night beautiful homeland Sweden.