English Checklist: Fill & Download for Free

Nah. In my opinion, it means shuffling sh!t round on that internal checklist everyone has in their head when they think of a partner.An internal checklist might look something like this:Must be physically attractive to me.Must look like Ryan Renolds twin brother.Must enjoy reading.Must be hung like a porn star.Must be able to declaim the entirety of Shakespeares “Much ado about nothing” (in an English accent) from memory.Must not be mean to kittens and puppies.Has a job that he’s passionate about and good at.Has to be able to backflip on a pogo stick.Father must own a winery and offer family discounts.Must believe in genuine equality of the sexes.Must not pee in the shower.Must wear a Naval uniform and sweep into my office and carry me out (a la ‘An officer and a gentleman’ - when I’m having a bad day).Some of the things on that list are unrealistic and significantly decrease any chances of meeting people who can match all the criteria on that list and so it makes sense to ‘lower those standards’ when the standards were unrealistic in the first place.Physical attraction is a pretty important component in most sexual relationships so it doesn’t make sense to remove that but there will be other items on the list that can be removed or downgraded:Must be physically attractive to me.Must look like Ryan Renolds distant cousin.Must not be mean to kittens and puppies.Has a job that he’s passionate about and good at.Must believe in genuine equality of the sexes.Must not pee in the shower.Must be willing to wear a Naval uniform…No, lowering your standards does not mean forcing yourself to be with someone you’re not physically attracted to. PS - forcing yourself to be with someone you’re not attracted to is a *really* bad idea. It’s also not fair to the other person.

Watch lots of sitcoms/soaps from that country. It will help you understand the culture.Prepare a checklist of all the documents required and keep ticking them off.Learn how to cook bare minimum stuff.Teach your parents how Skype and Whatsapp work. Show them Viber as well.Get a decent camera or camera phone.If the major language of that place is not English, start learning it. At least make sure you know how to have basic conversations like where is this place or how much does this cost or which bus to take for where.

During my almost thirty years of admiring, and coming to Sweden, I have developed a “Swe-dar” that allows me to spot a Swede abroad quite reliably.Here’s the checklist. If you see someone like that, they are very likely from Sweden:A certain style of classic, pilot style metal eyeglass frames you’ll usually see associated with New York Italian mafia gangsters in Martin Scorsese movies; my theory is though that this style has been made popular by the Swedish king, who wears a similar style. Particularly women wear these, and Sweden is the only country where this occurs en masse since they were made popular by Ray Ban and Carrera in the 1980s.Eye contact. Swedes will make and maintain very intense eye contact. Only Finns will rival them on that front. A staring contest between the two would take a long time, and insects crossing in between the contestants might crash.Stillness. Swedes tend to be extraordinarily still in interactions. It’s as if they are “switched off” while the other person talks. You have their full attention, and they won’t interrupt you, ever. Also, they won’t fidget.Saying “yust” instead of “just” when speaking English. The Swedish word for “just” is just that - “just”, but with a different pronunciation, which tends to cause frequent confusion, like the case of Germans saying “wideo” instead of video (which is not a mistake a Swede would make normally, but I have heard them do it sometimes, too).Readiness to accept coffee black. It’s the most common way to drink it here, and while others may do this, as well, it is an indicator that thickens the plot.