Video with Swedish phrases: Sommar i Sverige

Summertime is here and if there is any time, it's this time, that Swedes come out of their shells. Go to Sweden in July and watch them enjoy life. This video will give you some phrases good to know for this time of year.

Studera till SFI-prov

(Below you'll find this Swedish text translated to English)

I slutet av varje skoltermin är det hög tid för nationella prov i SFI - svenskundervisning för invandrare.

Nationella prov i SFI kommer från Skolverket. Testen finns för SFI-kurs B, C och D. D-kursen är den sista kursen på SFI.

Många elever frågar oss lärare:

Vad kommer på SFI-provet?

Vad ska jag studera till ett SFI-test?

Vi lärare kan inte svara, för vi vet inte! Nationella prov ska testa ditt språk på alla sätt: läsa, skriva, höra och prata. Ett språk är stort, och därför är svaret på VAD du ska studera inte så lätt. Det vi lärare kan göra är att rekommendera hur du kan studera.

Swedish2go rekommenderar dig att träna på att skriva. Det är viktigt att du förstår hur man exempelvis skriver e-post, vykort, brev, meddelande, formellt brev.

Det är inte bara viktigt att veta formen på de olika texterna, utan också att du kan vara din egen lärare. Här kommer dina grammatikkunskaper in. Du får inte ett grammatiktest med specifika grammatikfrågor på nationella prov i SFI, men du måste visa att du förstår svensk grammatik när du skriver dina texter och svarar på frågor i testet. Skriv din text, läs den sedan som en lärare. Försök att tänka på grammatiken när du läser ditt eget språk!

Det är viktigt att visa att du kan skriva olika typer av texter, men det är också viktigt att du kan känna igen olika typer av texter när du läser. En kategori av texter kallas för en genre. Exempel på olika genrer är: nyhetsartikel, recept, instruktion, novell, brev...

Träna läsförståelse hela tiden när du studerar. Det är en ganska lång process att bygga upp sin läsförståelse, men genom läsning blir ditt ordförråd och din förståelse större, starkare och säkrare. Det är alltid bra att läsa mycket och träna sig i att förstå vad författaren/skribenten menar. Allting står kanske inte tydligt och klart. En del fakta och innehåll måste man läsa mellan raderna.

Vad betyder "att läsa mellan raderna"?

Detta är en fras som vill förklara att det finns en mening med författarens text, som kanske inte skrivs så tydligt, eller inte alls. Författaren vill att du ska förstå det han/hon menar genom göra andra beskrivningar. Ett enkelt exempel kan vara: "Det började bli mörkt på kvällarna, och de flesta löven hade fallit av träden". Här ska läsaren gissa att handlingen är i ett nordligt land, som exempelvis Sverige, på hösten.

Materialet på Swedish2gos medlemssidor ger dig en bred bas, från SFI B till SFI D. Om du vill ha extra träning och förklaring är videofilmerna och övningarna ett bra sätt att bli bättre på svenska. Swedish2go kan också hjälpa dig att träna på skrivning av olika typer av texter.

Här kan du se Skolverkets publicering av gamla prov på SFI kurs D.

Lycka till på ditt SFI-test!

Vi firar våren!

Spring is in the air!

Swedish2go celebrates with more study material for members and non-members. Swedish listening comprehensions are intensively being produced right now. And what is already done, is up and running for you to work on. As a trial member you can have a peak at it all! The listening comprehension material for members will be offered our premium members.

Cheaper Swedish studies for a full year!

We also celebrate spring with spring coupons! Take the advantage to sign up as a member for a full year, but only pay for half a year, on our already low course prices! Hurry! Offer expires on June 30th.

Premium Swedish for 12 months: Coupon Maj2013
Get 400 kr off our regular low price! Enter coupon code in check out on our website.

Swedish courses for 12 months: Coupon Juni2013
Get 320 kr off our regular low price! Enter coupon code in check out on our website.

What else is new?

Swedish learning through literature is on it's way. For our more advanced Swedish premium members, this will be a fun and stimulating way to study Swedish. Keep your eyes open!

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.

Swedish birthday celebrations

According to my own little statistics, looking around on everyone I know, there is a huge chunk of people who has a birthday at the end of March, and April. Actually some official statistics also point to those months with the most birthdates in Sweden.
This is not a big suprise, if we start counting 9 months back that a woman usually is pregnant. That will take us right to Midsummer, and into July, the month when the big majority of Swedes have vacation. Hmmm...
Hense, this is a good time to talk about how Swedes celebrates birthdays.

What to give to a Swede for birthday?

Flowers or chocolate works in Sweden too. A gift in this form, or at least in the form of a thing, is more appreciated than a birthday card with nice words. I find this being a big difference from culture here in North America, where I spend this year. Swedes are not so sentimental and emotional, so Hallmarks birthday cards are not really a big deal for Swedes. The purpose of giving a card is more just to show who the present is from.

Ha öppet hus vid födelsedag | To have an open house at a birthday

Att fylla jämnt = to turn "even"

This is a big deal and it means that someone turns the big "zero" (20, 30, 40, 50 ...). The older we get, the more common it is to celebrate this with an "open house". By an ad in the newspaper, or simply by mouth to mouth, we welcome everone we know and who wants to come and celebrate in our own house. The open house is usually a full day thing, from morning till late night, and each guest may stay a couple of hours. One tricky thing is that you never know how many guests you will have and when they come, so make sure to be prepared with cookies, cake and "smörgåstårta" all day long. An advice is to ask someone to help with the serving part.
If you don't want a crowd to come to your house on your big day, you can also put an ad in the newspaper saying this: "All uppvaktning undanbes." (= All petitions are declined)

Att fylla halvjämnt = to turn half even

Not only the "zeros" mean something special, but also the "5's". When turning 25, 35, 45, we can also make sure to celebrate ourselves a bit extra. Maybe not with an open house, but a big party with friends, or throwing a surprise party for the one who has the birthday is common.

Hissa flaggan

A lot of Swedes have their own flag pole, and for every official flag day in Sweden, the flag needs to be hissed. But you can also have it up during the private special Days, like the birthday, to show that this is a special occasion.

Breakfast in bed

Frukost på sängen is a very common tradition. The family members that are to celebrate the birthday "child" (this is not only for children though), sneak up, make breakfast and put it on a tray together with a candle or flower. Then head to the birthday childs bedroom and start singing: "Ja må han/hon leva...". Of course there are presents brought too, but they are not to be opened until the breakfast is eaten (or is that rule maybe just in my family?)

Hooray x 4 | HURRA HURRA HURRA HURRA

We sing to the birthday child several times throughout the day, depending on the situation. After every time, we say the four "hurra hurra hurra hurra". This is introduced by someone saying the phrase (and learn this, because it may be you who wants to do it one day):
Ett fyrfaldigt leve för (NAME). Hon/Han leve:
Everyone: HURRA HURRA HURRA HURRA!
The reason we say this four times comes from the 1600's, when war ships needed to identify which country they belonged to. Sweden had the code 2 canon shots. When the King was present this was doubled, hense our 4 "hurra" today.

Important Swedish birthdays

All the "zeros"
7: You begin first grade of school.
15: You get to drive "moppe" = moped.
16: You can begin your driving practice.
18: You come of age = Du blir myndig.
20: You can buy alcohol from the liquor store "Systembolaget".
30/40: With some employments, especially within the public sector, you get an extra week of vacation (5 weeks being very short according to Swedes).
50: You get a day off from work to celebrate your big birthday.
65: (This may vary between 61 -67) You retire, if you want to.

In the video from Swedish2go you also get to know some useful words about birthdays in Sweden. Have a look at that!

One phrase I should give you here, right away though:

Grattis på födelsedagen!

Easter in Sweden | Påsk i Sverige

What is an Easter witch?

The children soon has Easter break, but long before that many of them has started to prepare their Easter letters, colourful drawings with the text GLAD PÅSK (Happy Easter), and thereafter folded them together in the special Easter letter way. The more letters prepared, the more neighbours to visit and that gives more candy!

Which day to expect a visit from an Easter witch depends on where in Sweden you are. Some has the tradition of going out as Easter witches on the Thursday, while other wait until the Saturday.

We have the custom of Easter witches because of traditions from the old folk belief, which is mixed in with the traditions from Christian traditions.

The children dress up by putting some old clothes on, often found in mom's closet, take som make up from mom and paint some rosy cheeks and freckles in the face. And one shouldn't forget to bring a basket or bag to be able to carry all the candy home. After all the preparations, the children bring their Easter letters and go from door to door, wishing everyone a happy Easter. Once back home again, they have more candy than mom and dad allow them to eat.

What do Swedes eat for Easter?

Påskafton (="Easter eve") is like any other eves in Sweden the day we celebrate the most. We often visit with our family and have an Easter buffé. The ingredient that is on everyone's Easter table is egg. Other than that, this buffé is similar to the julbord (Christmas buffé). Of course both alcohol and alcohol free drinks, such as must, are being served on the table.

What is Swedish must?

Must is a soft drink that we often have to our buffés and often as an alternative to alcohol drinks, like beer. We can buy it in any food store. At Christmas we call it julmust, and at Easter - guess what? Yes! Påskmust. The recipe is the same though.

Easter eggs

The Swedes don't have a strong tradition of Easter egg hunt, or Easter Bunny. Instead we buy cardboard eggs, påskägg, and give those to the children, filled with candy or maybe a Little toy. The bigger egg the better!

Here are some Words and phrases for you to learn to survive the Easter:

• Glad påsk = Happy Easter
• Påskkärrningar = Easter witches
• Skärtorsdag = Thursday in Easter
• Långfredag = Good Friday
• Påskafton = Saturday in Easter
• Påskdagen = Easter day
• Annandag påsk = "Boxing day" Easter
• Klä ut sig = Dress up (Klä ut is a reflective verb that you can learn more about from our Swedish grammar site)
• Smörgåsbord = you know this, this is one of few Words that has actually been exported from the Swedish language, and we are pround of it!
• Sill = pickled herring
• Pynta = Decorate with traditional arnaments
• Påskris = Easter twigs (we have it both inside and outside)
• Blåkulla = The place we say the witches fly to
• Lov = School break

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.