Interview with a language coach: Katarina
Katarina holds a degree in Business Administration from Beijing Foreign Studies University. She has experience working with companies and institutions in Beijing, Stockholm and Hong Kong in the business and educational fields. During her time in Beijing and Hong Kong, she worked as a Swedish and English teacher.
Katarina, you’re not originally from Stockholm, right? How do you do to keep in touch with your family?
– I’m originally from Växjö County south of in Sweden. I’m very close with my family, I talk to them several times a week and go visit as often as I can. My sister lives in Stockholm, which makes it easy to hang out!
You used to live in China. What do you think is the best thing about living abroad?
– Definitely the incredibly interesting expat community you get to be a part of. I love meeting people with different backgrounds and experience! You learn so many interesting things about the world as well as yourself.
Do you have any tip you want to give our expat friends who are living in Sweden?
– My experience in China taught me that the most common regret expats seemed to have after leaving was that they never learned the language properly. I am glad I put in the hours to learn another language. Knowing Mandarin gives me an insight into the culture that non-Chinese speaking expats don’t have. My tip is therefore to seize the opportunity, and learn Swedish while you are here!
How come you chose to be a language coach?
– I decided to become a language coach because I want to help others understand the Swedish culture and society! I am very familiar with the feeling of being new in a country and I think that in order to feel a sense of belonging to a place, understanding the culture is essential.
About Katarina…
Coaching:
I believe it’s important for the language coach to understand how and what the students want to learn. Speaking several foreign languages myself gives me a feeling of what is most relevant to know when you are new to a country. I have come to genuinely care for my students and their experience in Sweden. Their success is my success, and I can relate to what they are going through.
Her favorite thing about Swedish Spring:
When it finally gets warm!
Katarina is a language coach at Swedish for Professionals and SSES. She will be coaching the summer language camp Swedish for Entrepreneurs in June.
