I started learning Swedish 3 months before I got to Stockholm to start my Master’s. And boy am I glad that I started right away with Anneli! The goal for me was simple (if not easy) – to learn enough Swedish in 2 years that it is not an issue when applying for jobs. Fast forward 1.5 years, standing somewhere between B2 and C1, I could not be happier with our progress. After arriving in Stockholm, while my non-Swedish friends were busy dabbling with Duolingo and considering going to SFI classes, I was already on way to finishing up B1. All that elitist talk, just to get across the point that taking classes with Anneli will give you an insurmountable edge. By the way, all of them gave up on learning Swedish... Swedes’ good English is a hidden curse because you can get by without learning Swedish. In fact, it took a while before they stopped switching to English with me. That’s why I found it all the more valuable when Anneli started conversing almost exclusively in Swedish with me after our first 3 months. I needed all that practice (and still do..). Her patience and genuine curiosity meant that I was not afraid of making mistakes in Swedish – something I wish I could say for the other languages that I am learning. This also makes the classes with her a lot of fun! I still look forward to every single one of my classes with her. Finally – and this one’s a doozy – it is the most efficient way of learning Swedish. I can’t afford to spend my time commuting to a 3 hour-long evening course with perhaps 15 min of personal attention from a teacher.

Sid Agarwal PhD Candidate