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Swedish Learner's Society

It's a long shot but why not have a go ay

Any Swedish speakers would be greatly appreciated, if not, I'm sure we can trundle along if anyone else wants to learn Swedish!

I'm taking a different approach this time, instead of learning **** loads of grammar, I'm j gonna go through stuff slowly. In fact I haven't learnt any tenses yet.

I'm using Duolingo as a starting point, and then any points I'll Google. Like how to form definite articles etc after I've done the duolingo lesson

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Ingen vill lära svenska :frown:

Varför?!
Seems like I'm the only person here who speaks Swedish :L

Ahh well. Ask if you ever need any help :P
I really want to learn Swedish - I was very close to applying for Scandinavian studies at uni but settled on Japanese. My original aim was to learn Swedish in my own time, but I don't have any free time haha. Still just wanted to say good luck with it! :P
I'm fluent in Swedish (born and raised up to the age of 11 so it's slightly rusty but nevertheless) too so drop me a message!
Reply 5
Interesting.

Always wanted to learn Swedish might check out the Duolingo course
Original post by Squaresquirrel
I really want to learn Swedish - I was very close to applying for Scandinavian studies at uni but settled on Japanese. My original aim was to learn Swedish in my own time, but I don't have any free time haha. Still just wanted to say good luck with it! :P


Ooh. You did/are doing(?) Japanese at uni? That's what I'm applying for :biggrin:
Original post by TheTechN1304
Ooh. You did/are doing(?) Japanese at uni? That's what I'm applying for :biggrin:


Ye, I'm in (repeating) my first year at SOAS. Feel free to PM me if you want any advice/ask any questions. :biggrin:
Original post by TheTechN1304
Seems like I'm the only person here who speaks Swedish :L

Ahh well. Ask if you ever need any help :P

Tak :smile: I will definitely ask

It's so straightforward so far it's great. Although I am going very slowly
Original post by Squaresquirrel
I really want to learn Swedish - I was very close to applying for Scandinavian studies at uni but settled on Japanese. My original aim was to learn Swedish in my own time, but I don't have any free time haha. Still just wanted to say good luck with it! :P

One dayyyy
Original post by orphan_black
I'm fluent in Swedish (born and raised up to the age of 11 so it's slightly rusty but nevertheless) too so drop me a message!

Oooh, do you know grammar and stuff or just how to speak it?
Original post by AdamCee
Interesting.

Always wanted to learn Swedish might check out the Duolingo course


It's in beta mode so no speaking into it, and audio can be a bit off sometimes I feel, but it's good!
Original post by L'Evil Fish


Oooh, do you know grammar and stuff or just how to speak it?

I can understand it better than I can write or speak it if that makes sense so I'm better at correcting something as opposed to writing something from scratch :smile:
Original post by orphan_black
I can understand it better than I can write or speak it if that makes sense so I'm better at correcting something as opposed to writing something from scratch :smile:


Ja, that makes sense.

Jag kan inte tala svenska med om jag talar on here, I should improve... But then again, who knows
Original post by TheTechN1304
Ooh. You did/are doing(?) Japanese at uni? That's what I'm applying for :biggrin:


So how do I use the definite article with the adjectives? Cos it's like a double thing isn't it

When do I use de/den/det?
Original post by L'Evil Fish

I'm taking a different approach this time, instead of learning **** loads of grammar, I'm j gonna go through stuff slowly. In fact I haven't learnt any tenses yet.


The grammar is super easy. The lexicon takes a little more work, but it is listening comprehension in Scandinavia that is the most difficult.
Original post by I. Dzhugashvili
The grammar is super easy. The lexicon takes a little more work, but it is listening comprehension in Scandinavia that is the most difficult.


Talar du svenska?

I feel I might actually go live in Sweden and work in biotechnology/pharmaceuticals :lol: so I think I'm gonna take Swedish seriously
Original post by L'Evil Fish
Talar du svenska?

I feel I might actually go live in Sweden and work in biotechnology/pharmaceuticals :lol: so I think I'm gonna take Swedish seriously


Nei, ikkje akkurat. Eg flytta til Noreg og brukar oftast nynorsk. Men i Skandinavia er alle dei skrivne språka veldig nær til kvarandre. Problemet kjém med dei mange dialektar i kvart land. For eksempel er det lettare for meg å forstå "rikssvensk" enn dei fleiste dialektane i Noreg.

Nej, inte precis. Jag flyttade till Norge och använder oftast nynorsk. Men i Skandinavien är alla dessa språken mycket nära till varandra. Problemet ligger med de många dialekterna i varje land. Till exempel är det lättare för mig att förstå "rikssvenska" än de flesta dialekterna i Norge.

Lycka till!
Original post by I. Dzhugashvili
Nei, ikkje akkurat. Eg flytta til Noreg og brukar oftast nynorsk. Men i Skandinavia er alle dei skrivne språka veldig nær til kvarandre. Problemet kjém med dei mange dialektar i kvart land. For eksempel er det lettare for meg å forstå "rikssvensk" enn dei fleiste dialektane i Noreg.

Nej, inte precis. Jag flyttade till Norge och använder oftast nynorsk. Men i Skandinavien är alla dessa språken mycket nära till varandra. Problemet ligger med de många dialekterna i varje land. Till exempel är det lättare för mig att förstå "rikssvenska" än de flesta dialekterna i Norge.

Lycka till!


All I understood from that was you're from Norway? Problem are all the dialects?

:lol:
Original post by L'Evil Fish
All I understood from that was you're from Norway? Problem are all the dialects?

:lol:


I am not "from Norway" but I moved to Norway, rather like you might move to Sweden, for a job. What I was trying to explain was that you have written forms, I use nynorsk (Norwegian has two official written standard languages - bokmål and nynorsk), which is the most peripheral. All the same, Danish-Swedish-Norwegian generally look alike. The problem is that there are many dialects in each country which can remain unintelligible even if you learn your own very well and can read their written language just fine.

For example, if I travel around Scandinavia and use Western Norwegian, in Oslo they will understand but know immediately where I am from, in Sweden they will ask me to switch to English, and in Denmark they might laugh (that's okay, though, because EVERYONE laughs at spoken Danish). I can understand rikssvenska (let's say a traditional "Standard Swedish") better than most dialects of Norwegian but I've never left spent much time there. There was a funny story once about a local councillor for a Swedish nationalist party (Sverigedemokraterna) who was actually from rural Denmark and his fellow councillors made him take a Swedish course because nobody could understand him. Normally, these language courses are not offered to Scandinavian foreigners because of the pretence that the languages are mutually intelligible - but the dialects aren't!

The intonations of the different dialects can be especially difficult. Of course, the communication-wary culture up here also makes comprehension difficult.

That's all I meant - if you come to Sweden I think the difficulty will not be the grammar of Swedish, which is very easy, nor the vocabulary, which just takes a little work, but actual verbal communication.
Original post by I. Dzhugashvili
I am not "from Norway" but I moved to Norway, rather like you might move to Sweden, for a job. What I was trying to explain was that you have written forms, I use nynorsk (Norwegian has two officia written standard languages - bokmål and nynorsk), which is the most peripheral. All the same, Danish-Swedish-Norwegian generally look alike. The problem is that there are many dialects in each country which can remain unintelligible even if you learn your own very well and can read their written language just fine.

For example, if I travel around Scandinavia and use Western Norwegian, in Oslo they will understand but know immediately where I am from, in Sweden they will ask me to switch to English, and in Denmark they might laugh (that's okay, though, because EVERYONE laughs at spoken Danish). I can understand rikssvenska (let's say a traditional "Standard Swedish") better than most dialects of Norwegian but I've never left spent much time there. There was a funny story once about a local councillor for a Swedish nationalist party (Sverigedemokraterna) who was actually from rural Denmark and his fellow councillors made him take a Swedish course because nobody could understand him. Normally, these language courses are not offered to Scandinavian foreigners because of the pretence that the languages are mutually intelligible - but the dialects aren't!

The intonations of the different dialects can be especially difficult. Of course, the communication-wary culture up here also makes comprehension difficult.

That's all I meant - if you come to Sweden I think the difficulty will not be the grammar of Swedish, which is very easy, nor the vocabulary, which just takes a little work, but actual verbal communication.


Aaaaaaaaah I understand!

Well, I'd just pretend I only speak some random language they'll never have heard of and that I don't speak English, so they'll be forced to let me practise :colone:
Original post by L'Evil Fish
Aaaaaaaaah I understand!

Well, I'd just pretend I only speak some random language they'll never have heard of and that I don't speak English, so they'll be forced to let me practise :colone:


If you move south around Malmö or Lund, the dialect is like Danish, it might take more time. If you go to Stockholm or Uppsala the difference between spoken and written languages is small. Up North, it is great, but you won't likely be working there.
Original post by I. Dzhugashvili
If you move south around Malmö or Lund, the dialect is like Danish, it might take more time. If you go to Stockholm or Uppsala the difference between spoken and written languages is small. Up North, it is great, but you won't likely be working there.


It'll be a while before I actually end up there anyway. By then I'd probably learn Norwegian as well!

I have at least 5 years before any travelling out of UK for a job

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