Swedes don't talk

I spent this past weekend in New York with two Swedish girlfriends. I flew from middle of nowhere/Alberta, Canada, and they came from middle of Sweden. New York seemed like half way and way more exciting than any of the places we all normally live in.

What hit me the most was my girlfriends reflections of the people we met everywhere. "Wow, they are so polite!" "So many people are talking to us!"

What they meant by "talking" was maybe the phrase "There you go!" or "How are you today?" or "Have a nice day!"

This makes me wonder: How do the tourists and new immigrants to Sweden see the Swedes? Propably totally rude! The most Swedes would say to a stranger is: "Hej!" or "Tack!" (Swedes do know how to say thank you).

This little blog is to warn anyone going to Sweden. Don't expect an overwhelming welcoming! Swedes don't mean to be rude. Being quiet when seeing a stranger is just the way we are. We are maybe shy. Most of us simply don't think it's necessary, or meaningful to talk to strangers, asking for example how they are doing. We wouldn't get an honest answer anyway!

Take Swedes for what they are, and enjoy Sweden as it is! You will hopefully find our positive sides eventually, even if it may take time.

Basic difference in pronunciation between the Swedish and English language

When it comes to pronunciation, you probably know, no matter if you are a beginner Swedish learner or an advanced, that the the way the Swedes pronounce their words are very different from the English language.

Here are som basic differences between Swedish and English:

W

Swedes don't really have the letter w. You may see it in last names and names of places, but really no. When we sing our alphabet song in Swedish we skipp it. Therefore, if we do happen to find the letter that has snuck in to our language, it is always pronounced as v. So if a Swede, while speaking Swedish, want to say Washington, for example, it will sound like: Vashington.

Å Ä Ö

No need to say, the extra three vowels are of course a major difference between our languages.

Å is pronounced ... similar to the sound in Awesome (if you are speak the Brittish English)

Ä is pronounced... kind of like the long a-sound in glad. Close, but not really...

Ö... do you know French? More similar to the French long u-sound in un, for example. I have a tough time finding an English equivalence.

G

The English word gym has a g-sound that the Swedes don't have. Whenever a G shows up in the Swedish language, it's always pronounsed y (a Swede would describe it as a j, but that doesn't help an English speaker) or the hard G (sometimes it's a sj-sound, but not that often). What am I trying to say? That the "dj"-sound that the English speakers do, Swedes never do.

Of course there's more differences between Swedish and English pronunciation. But not for now.

What's good about snow? + Verb lesson

If you are not interested in reading about snow and winter, scroll down, for a quick lesson about the verbs "går" and "åker".

In the dark and cold winter Sweden, it may be uplifting to hear some good things about snow. Well, here you go!

• Snow is dryer than rain.  Snö är torrare än regn.
• Snow is white - it lights up the dark hours (which are many!). Snö gör vintermörkret lite ljusare.
• Snow shoveling gives you free exercise. Snö ger dig gratis motion.
• Snow makes you laugh. It's hard not to, when racing down a hill on a sled. Snö får dig att skratta, när du far nerför en backe på en pulka.
• Snow makes you want to try activities you've never dreamed of: downhill skiing, skating, cross country skiing, hiking with skis (gå på tur), Nordic skating, snowball fights, snow angel creations, making snow lantern and many more!

Enjoy snow! Winter is short, so look at it from the bright side.

Some Swedish phrases in the winter:

åka pulka, åka skidor, åka längd, åka skridskor, åka slalom, åka snöskoter

göra snöänglar, kasta snöboll, bygga snölyktor 

Now your lesson: Åka och gå

Att åka = to go
Att gå = to go (or to walk)

What's the difference?

The easiest explanation is that we use "gå" when we use our feet. Therefore we cannot say this sentence "Jag ska gå till Sverige." We must say: "Jag ska åka till Sverige."

When we use some kind of transportation, we are therefore not using "går" but "åker":

Vi åker buss. Vi åker tåg. Vi åker bil. Vi åker kollektivtrafik. Vi åker motorcykel. Vi åker moped. And you see all the winter activities with some kind of help of transportation above: skates, skis, sleds...

Now that was the easy part. The verb "går" is however also used in a more general way than only when using our legs. We have quite a few standard phrases where we use "går":

Vi går på bio. Vi går på restaurang. Vi går på teater. Vi går i skolan. (Meaning that we are students in school. This is not the same as "Vi går till skolan", which is describing the way we get to school.)

The winter subject is also described in this YouTube video.

This, among many other grammar and language explanations, is also covered in the 8 hours of lessons, if you are curious about knowing more.