English: Swedish-English or Swinglish

Rule: Swedes have exceptionally good English
Exception: But they cannot write properly

In Ireland one of the daily newspapers shared some jokes about the foreign staff working in the now booming tourist sector again: like, how do you know it is a Swede waiting on you?
The answer was: they will clean the table first - and speak correct English.

I heard the same while working in Ireland, many compliments for my English, sometimes delivered with a questioning look as if the person was wondering inside how that was possible. I had, however, to leave my posh British accent behind. The Irish pretended not to understand it. But when it came to writing - well, there I soon noticed that I had to struggle in order to keep it perfect. Suddenly the Swinglish tone would appear, or the Swinglish vocabulary, or the Swinglish syntax or grammar...

Now, after three years at the University studying English I have a different style, but still - the Swedish tone would appear even now. But, is that such a bad thing? The English I write would at least be understandable now, even if I would give myself away sometimes as not being native. However, as I enjoy reading Swedish novels written by mutlilingual people, I hope the same is true the other way around.

The English speaking world already enjoys the presence of people writing in English although they do not come from the US or Great Britain. Hiberno-English is different, Australian-English is different and Singapore-English is different.

That, my friends, is great! Enjoy a more diverse literature.