- English
From Hanoi, a city with more than 7 million inhabitants to Växjö, a city in the south of Sweden with a population of less than 100 000 people, Khoa moved to study his Master degree in marketing at Linnaeus University in 2013-2014.
"It was nice with a small city.”
The difference is remarkable. Växjö is city surrounded by forest and lakes, the peaceful silence might be a bit difficult to find in vibrant Hanoi, but in Växjö you just have to take a walk in the forest to experience tranquility. Khoa felt that the Nordic culture fitted him well, and he didn’t experience any major difficulties when settling in. People were very welcoming and open, and that in combination with everyone speaking English made communication with local Swedes easy.
One thing that many people think about when they think about Sweden is the weather and it is cold. Colder than in Vietnam, colder than Khoa initially thought it would be, but the cold was never a big problem.
“To see snow is cool, and autumn in Sweden is beautiful.”
He noticed that Swedish people valued their big personal space and initially they might seem distant and hard to get to know. Swedes were seldom the ones initiating contact but once you break the ice they are very nice people.
“If you start the conversation they are keen to help.”
Khoa had some criteria when it was time to choose country and one main criterion was that people had to be good at English. Even though Khoa could get around with English everywhere in Sweden, he decided to take Swedish language classes. Still today he remembers some Swedish and would suggest to future Vietnamese students who go to Sweden to try to learn some Swedish.
“Swedish is not too hard to learn.”
Another criterion was the ease of travelling. Going all the way from Vietnam to Europe, he wanted to be able to see as much as possible during his time there. Sweden is part of the Schengen cooperation, and today there are 26 countries part of it who shares a common visa policy. That means if you study in Sweden, you can travel to the other 25 European countries without having to apply for several visas.
The last criterion was cost. The country had to fit his budget, and Sweden is often considered rather expensive, so how come he decided to study in Sweden?
“The tuition fee is low compared to many other countries.”
Khoa went to Sweden self-financed and not with a scholarship; therefore a reasonable tuition fee was essential when deciding where to study.
The way of studying is very different in Sweden compared to Vietnam. Khoa experienced a more theoretical approach in Sweden.
”It is totally different from studying in Vietnam. In Sweden, we were thought methodology, we did research by ourselves by reading articles and the way of learning is in general more researched based.”
According to Khoa, there are two main things he learned during his year in Sweden. First, critical thinking is highly valued. In Sweden, students are challenged to question facts and find different sources for information. Second, no matter what project or what subject he studied it was important to think outside the box. Students were encouraged to tackle problems in a new way, or try to find other solutions. Everything of course needs to follow the basic rules for university work, but one can still find a solution in a new innovative way. Both critical thinking and thinking outside of the box stimulates creativity and innovation, those qualities are highly requested within his field of work.
When he got back to Vietnam after his year in Sweden he got a new job and his Swedish master degree was a big help in differentiating himself from others and a great competitive advantage when applying for jobs. Nowadays Khoa has his own company and his studies in Sweden have in many ways helped him become the entrepreneur he is today.