Besides promoting language learning, Language Buddy Online helps fulfill the human need to have contact with others. By pairing newly arrived immigrants with established Swedes for video calls, the organisation wants to help reduce social isolation at a time when more and more workplaces and language training centres are forced to shut down, causing many people to lose social contacts in their everyday life.

According to Bäckström, many established Swedes who are isolated at home will appreciate the opportunity to do something meaningful while limiting their physical social interactions. In this way, the project addresses two current social challenges at the same time.

Technically, it is not difficult to meet online. There are plenty of digital video calling services, but the challenge for newcomers is to find people to talk to whom they have never met before.

Kompis Sverige makes sure that matching is easy: people who are interested in participating provide their contact details and indicate which digital apps or services they prefer. Then Kompis Sverige matches a new and an established Swede together and makes sure that they can contact each other. Sign up is done through the organisation’s website.

This is a recently launched, ongoing project responding to sudden difficulties created by the coronavirus pandemic.

The project directly benefits newly arrived immigrants as well as established Swedes, who get an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to integration while following the advice to minimise their offline contact with other people.

Kompis Sverige is part of Axfoundation’s project Open Door, which aims to broaden networks between new and established Swedes.