Nihlus

Hello everyone! This is a post to share some experiences. I am a masters student in Sweden, currently on my second year. I had studied Swedish for merely 3 months before my arrival here in my home country, where I covered the absolute basics. Then I had a university course for a semester, mostly revisiting what I already knew and of course learning new things also. After that, I haven't had any tutoring on the language, although I kept practicing reading, listening and writing in Swedish on a daily basis. I would say I have reached an intermediate level by now, Meaning, I understand (simple to normal) texts, simple conversations (not just the really typical small-talk lines, but a simple everyday conversation in general) and since I text some friends in Swedish sometimes, I rarely have to switch to English to express myself. If you are familiar with the european framework, I'd say I'm B1+ or something, just to give you a little understanding of my level (that is also based on several assessment tests). I almost always understand what people are saying to me but (here it comes) I just don't seem to be able to talk. It's very frustrating and it gets me down. I feel I sound like a retarded. I have Swedish friends who are happy to help, talk to me in Swedish (slowly and clearly also) but I just turn mute on or reply in English. I was wondering if you had similar experiences that you could share in this thread. I would be more than glad to read through them. Thank you very much for your time