I came to UISS very grateful for the opportunity to study the language intensively for 6 weeks thanks to a generous scholarship, but with reserves regarding whether I’d be able to, in such a short period of time, improve linguistic skills which seemed to have stagnated. I am happy to say that, not only did I recover and improve those skills, but had an awesome time while doing so. The teachers at UISS are genuinely committed to their job, enjoy it and listen to the students’ needs and do their best to meet them, both individually and collectively. They plan and deliver their lessons in trying to meet everyone at their level and challenging us to improve, doing so always in a gentle, positively reinforcing way. They also foster a good environment in the classroom, encouraging everyone to participate, planning meaningful exercises that promote mastering of the language as well as camaraderie. I can say that, during my stay, such camaraderie extended beyond the classroom, aided by UISS-planned field trips and activities that allowed me to get to know people of all ages, from all walks of life and different countries (and even continents!), which made the experience all the better. To top it all off, Uppsala is a beautiful city with good museums, downtown area and nature to offer its visitors, not to mention its magnificent cathedral, whose ringing bells woke me up every morning as I contemplated the summer skies from my bedroom at the student housing; certainly a good destination to spend one’s summer.
I definitely walked out of UISS not only a more competent speaker of Swedish but a richer person, having made new friends and memories to treasure for many years to come.
Alex R. Olvera
