study swedish in uppsala Summer 2018 www.uiss.org The UISS staff: from left: Emma, Ruud, Nelleke, Jonas and Felicia Midsummer celebrations with the Swedes Swedish language class Cornelis Vreeswijk Class, performing at one of the farewell Dinners Testimonials From Our Students Karissa Tysklind, 23 SPAIN STUDENT, [email protected] I could not think of a better way of spending my summer. I knew this summer would be awesome, but it was even better than I imagined it. I started at the beginners. After 6 weeks in the program, I was able to converse with both my dad and my uncle and un- derstand them pretty well. I was so impressed with my progress! I enjoyed it so much that I want to continue my studies and become fully fluent in Swedish. I loved both the morning classes and the afternoon classes. You get to learn so much in one day! I loved the Swedish Pop Music afternoon class because you’ll learn a lot of Swedish through the plays that we wrote, the songs and the games that we played. I also practiced and learned a lot in Svensk Folkmusik because you don’t only learn about the culture and traditional Swedish music, but you analyze the lyrics of the songs you are singing. And what is the best, you get to perform at the Musical Evenings and the Farewell Dinners! But the best part was to get to know all the amazing people from the program. I made great friends that came from completely different backgrounds, but we all became so close to each other. By the end of the program, you feel like you have been living in a dream that you don’t want to wake up from. I feel so happy and grateful for the experience, I wouldn’t have changed it for anything. Phil and Jake Adamson, 22 & 23 USA SOFTWARE ENGINEER AND PHYSICIST, [email protected] Our six weeks at UISS were genuinely some of the best weeks of my life. I was taken by surprise with how much I fell in love with the program. My brother and I decided to enroll in UISS after our respective college graduations. Our goal was to finally have real Swedish conversations with our relatives. But what we got out of the program was so, so much more than a scholastic exercise in conversation and grammar. UISS is, in short, an exceptionally happy and welcoming place. People of all ages and backgrounds come together to forge lifelong friendships, sing, laugh, learn, love, and above all, be themselves. The atmosphere created by the entirety of the UISS community is so uniquely welcoming and kind; I have never before been in an environment where so many different types of people are so comfortable being honest with each other, being goofy around one another, and being themselves. There is such a high bar of mutual respect and kindness that at the end of the program we couldn’t all help but think, “man, if only the rest of the world could treat each other this way.” A rapid-fire list of highlights and tips: • The staff is so much fun! Spend time with them, talk with them at Fika, get to know them. • Go to the UISS events. All of them. The potluck dinners, the social and musical evenings • Lapland and Finland are absolutely highlights. • Try something out of your comfort zone in the afternoon! I had never sang or performed in any way, before UISS. But I took a drama/music course (Förbättra din svenska) and then a music course (Cornelis Vreeswijk) for my two afternoon courses. It was so different from anything I’ve done before, and so much fun. The teachers are some of the most talented, friendly, and charismatic people I’ve ever had the pleasure to learn from. • Smile, and try to appreciate the finite time you have in Uppsala. We miss it already. Orko Biswas, 22 INDIA STUDENT, [email protected] The UISS was one of the best experiences of my life. I can simply exclaim that it is the epitome of intercultural dialogue while being immersed in the beautiful language and land of Sweden. The class sizes in the UISS are small which ensured that my learning of the Swedish language at my level was apt. I wholeheartedly enjoyed my classes. My teacher of Level A2 was excellent. She helped me in all ways possible to learn Swedish. Traveling all the way from India to Sweden, I was quite nervous from the be- ginning. This brings me the most important point. The director of the UISS, Drs. Nelleke is a superb director and a great person. She perfectly balanced the fun of the program and maintained the decorum of the UISS’s functioning. But what I would like to express it that, she ensured that each and every one of us was comfortable at the UISS and in Sweden. This personal touch and a personal connect with the director, as well as with the teachers and the UISS staff is what I feel makes the UISS one of the best programs to attend. 3 A Word From the Director Welcome to the Uppsala International Summer Ses- with different backgrounds, is a valuable and unfor- sion, UISS. I am so happy that you are looking into gettable experience. The weekend trips to Helsinki, what our program has to offer and I hope to be able Värmland and Lapland are great experiences, so to welcome you to the wonderful city of Uppsala and make sure to take part in at least one of them. Two our program in 2018. Please read this brochure very highlights during the summer are the potluck dinner, carefully as it will provide you with all the information where students bring food that is typical for their you’ll need to fill out your application and to prepare homelands, and the farewell banquet. Each three- for your studies with the UISS in Uppsala, Sweden. week session ends with a 3-course dinner or buffet The UISS is a non-profit organization and is com- and dance, a so-called “student gasque”, where pletely self-supportive. We teach all classes at Vux- students and teachers perform songs and sketches. enskolan, a modern facility in the centre of Uppsala. The dinners will have a theme. July 5 will have a “Pi- All teachers within the UISS are qualified to teach rates and Vikings” theme, July 26 will have a theme at an academic level. The newest teaching methods “Typically Swedish”, where people can dress up as a are applied resulting in an active, motivating and famous Swedish character or in blue and yellow. On stimulating atmosphere in our classes. Our courses August 16, we will have a more formal, three-course are intensive and are intended for the serious and dinner. The theme is “Dress-up”! In short, I think the motivated student. When learning a language it is UISS has a lot to offer and I can assure you that you also very important to learn about the culture, his- will have a great summer with us as you combine tory and society in which the language is embedded your studies with interesting and fun experiences and we do offer quite a number of those classes. while living as a Swede in Uppsala. Our experience is that it is a very good combination to focus on studying the Swedish language in the I personally love working with this program as no morning and to do something entirely different in the summer is the same and I get to meet so many afternoon. For example the numerous courses we people from all corners of the world with one thing have in which music and/or theater are involved, will in common: an interest in Sweden, its language and teach you much more than just a song or a scene. culture. For one who is deeply in love with Sweden, New horizons will open up and you will be surprised what better job could I have than to be able to offer at how much more you will have learned both about a program that is all about teaching Swedish and all the language and the culture and sometimes also aspects of Sweden. about yourself. I am well aware that it is important Please don’t ever hesitate to contact me directly if to organize free time activities along with all the you have any questions. I hope to see you in Uppsala classroom hours, that our students see something of in the summer of 2018. the country and that they have some time to travel Nelleke Dorrestijn, on their own. Equally important to us is to maintain [email protected] the personal atmosphere that always has been a strength of this program. Every year about 230 students and professionals from all over the world participate in the UISS. Spending a summer together with people from 40 different countries, ages 18 - 65, 4 Valkommen.. hit, valkommen.. hem ‘WELCOME TO UPPSALA, WELCOME HOME’ Uppsala is a beautiful and lively city The lake is close by and one will often find during the summer. The frozen Swedes our students there on the weekends. Gamla wake up from their hibernation and nature Uppsala offers a look into the history of not falls into bloom. Numerous events are only Uppsala, but of Sweden, with remains arranged by cultural organizations, and from the Viking Era and mythical royal several of Uppsala University’s student graves. And Stockholm with all the capital has organizations - the student nations - open their to offer is only a 45-minute train ride away.