Digital Fika

Digital Fika in 2024

Digital Fika is a digital activity for foreign-born and newly arrived women/girls who want to learn moving Swedish by participating digitally but from home.

➢We work for foreign women to reduce isolation, and loneliness and increase their participation in Swedish society.
➢Digital Fika is carried out in collaboration between Folkuniversitetet and Hand in Hand for Women.
➢ Digital Fika is a digital integration activity to encourage foreign-born and newly arrived women to improve their language skills and include their participation in Swedish society.

THE GOAL

➢ The goal is to create inclusive environments and a democratic/equal digital platform where women can speak freely and participate in Swedish society, as well as to reach foreign-born and newly arrived women who have an isolated life in society.
➢ The purpose is to encourage them to improve their Swedish and make new friends in the community they live in.
Digital Fika is carried out in collaboration between Folkuniversitetet and Hand in Hand for Women.
➢Digital Fika creates an inclusive and easily accessible digital meeting place for foreign-born and newly arrived women/girls to strengthen them in Swedish society.
➢By using digital platforms such as Zoom we make it easier for everyone to participate, wherever they live.

CONTENT

➢The groups consist of 4–5 participants and a volunteer, they meet once every week. We try to have groups where the participants have the same or similar language level.
➢Each group has a volunteer who knows Swedish to support participants' language development and the volunteer handles communication and planning between the occasions.
➢Each group decides which days and times they will meet.
➢The events are held on Zoom or WhatsApp
➢All volunteers receive a contact person at Folkuniversitet and/or Hand in Hand For Women
➢Folkuniversitetet has a study material that is shared with the volunteers, but they are also free to use their own material instead of or as a supplement.

DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPANTS

➢ Learn the language and dare to speak in Swedish in the society they live in.
➢Gets the opportunity to meet others in a similar situation, create new friendships, and counteract loneliness.
➢Strengthens self-confidence and gives women the courage to get out into society and the labor market.
➢ Make sure you speed up your integration of newly arrived women in Swedish society.
➢ Make new friends by practicing Swedish in a digital environment and ensure social cohesion by getting to know each other.

Swedish Conversation - Digital Fika in 2020-2022

It is a social project initiated to ensure that women do not lose their own activities in socio-psychological terms and that their education in Swedish is not interrupted during the pandemic days when social life is limited.

From April 2020 until the new year, 236 newcomer women from different countries got to enjoy “Svensk konversation-digital fika”. 140 newcomer women, 30 groups, are now active participants in ongoing projects. We are grateful for everyone’s participation!

In the study circles, there is a permissive, democratic climate where everyone has a say and shares experiences. You as a circle leader work as an educator, inspired, and a cohesive force in the study circle.

For this, you need to attend a circle leader training at ABF Norra Stockholms län (it is located for a day or two evenings, digitally), and we have several dates ready already now, but if you do not have the opportunity to go now, you can go when the next opportunity is offered. There you will learn about folkbildning, ABF, a little about rules and other useful things.

Together with the participants, you write a work plan, where you decide approximately what you want to talk about at each opportunity and what material you want to use (eg books, websites, movies). And you as a circle leader are the ones who have contact with ABF and report attendance via a digital attendance list (so-called E-list).

Regarding how many meetings you should have and how often you should be seen, you decide it together. The rule for a study circle is to be seen at at least three meetings and that you get up to a total of at least nine study hours when the circle is over (a study hour = 45 minutes). Our proposal is to be seen 45 min / week on 9 occasions, but you can design it almost any way you want. You can be seen more often than that, and you can be seen more times after that, if you want.

PROJECT GOAL

To accelerate the integration of newcomer women in Swedish society,

Contribute to learning the language of the society in which they live,

To make the time they spend at home during the pandemic days instructive,

Making new friends by practicing Swedish in a digital environment and ensuring social cohesion by getting to know each other.

During the project of Swedish Conversation Digital Coffee, as Hand in Hand for Women, we tried to help newly arrived women for their language learning process with speech activities online. In this way, they managed to dare to speak Swedish and integrate into Sweden's social life.

We think it can be an important step to learn Swedish to build a strong life for them in the future. From beginner to high school level, many participants joined online conversation groups to reduce the negative impact of the covid-19 pandemic on language learning. In addition, at the end of the spring term we had two wonderful galas that we celebrated with a large number of participants.

Now we are very happy to have such a project as Swedish Conversation Digital Coffee and therefore we as Hand in Hand for Women once again appreciate our wonderful participants, Group Leader and @abfnorrastockholmslan.

Swedish Conversation Digital Coffee will continue due to the demand of newly arrived women. But we invite all participants to reorganize Digital Fika's group together. Because we work and study at the same time working with our association's activities. It will not take much time to work on the digital project but it will be best to help each other.

And we ask for your help in working on these important projects for newly arrived women. We believe that we will be strong together and we will develop with each other.

PARTICIPATION

Chat in Swedish

Hand in Hand for Women wants to unite people to speak Swedish on the same screen.

Various programs will be used for the project via the internet (zoom, whatsapp, skype, etc.). We can practice in Swedish while drinking our coffee in our homes. We continue to develop and learn.

Our goal is to gather women with people at their own language level and offer the opportunity to speak Swedish.

Each group is accompanied by a volunteer Swede and can practice speaking Swedish together.

Groups will consist of 3-4 people.

2 – 3 people who want to learn Swedish and a Swedish participant to learn and groups are matched.

Minimum it will meet once a week and once.

Each group can decide for themselves with each other what day, time and how many times a week they should meet.

DO YOU WANT TO BECOME A CIRCLE LEADER TO
"SVENSKA KONVERSATION-DIGITAL FIKA"

What was previously called “Digital Fika” is now becoming a study circle at ABF Norra Stockholms Län and changing its name to “Svensk Konversation – Digital Fika”. Many women are waiting to get started with circles, and there is a lack of circle leaders who can volunteer. Is it maybe you?

For some time now, Hand In Hand For Women has had conversation groups where foreign-born women conversed with an established Swede over a coffee on any digital platform. How often you meet varies, but many have chosen to see each other once a week. It has been much appreciated by everyone, and now the pressure is so high that many circle leaders are missing.

Here we tell you briefly what it’s about, and you can read more at the link below about public education, rules, the role of circle leader, etc. And you are always welcome to contact Jenny at ABF if you have any questions.

Together we do this for a better world ❤

Their friendship has started as digital through the "Digital Coffee" project. When the pandemic became a little smaller, Karin and Aysel were able to meet physically and they walked together in the woods.

Karin

Hello everybody!

My name is Karin. Aysel and I met on the internet via Digital Fika. We decided to organize our own group, just her and me.

We have had good contact, have fun and interesting conversations, the Swedish is fluent.

Practicing Swedish is important, but our contact means much more than that.

Around midsummer we got a chance to meet for real.

Together we went for a beautiful walk in Västervik, sat on a bench overlooking the small town, could talk to each other about each other. Now it's even easier to meet on Skype.

Aysel

I would like to introduce myself and my dear friend Karin to you. How and where did we meet? Now I will tell you a little about our history.

My name is Aysel Kamal. I'm from Azerbaijan. I worked as an academic at a university in Georgia. I moved to Sweden two years ago and I am learning Swedish. We met in one of Hand in Hand for Women's projects which is Digital Coffee. We talked online almost two months ago.

I live in Västervik and Karin lives in Stockholm. Karin has come to the city where I live. That day we met for the first time and could talk face to face. It was very exciting to meet. I feel very happy.

First, I want to thank Karin for helping me improve my Swedish. And I am grateful for the association that is hand in hand for women. I can also say that this was a nice project that Hand in Hand for Women has developed.