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Where to start with... Swedish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| Iddish Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5962 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 21 06 August 2008 at 8:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi, first time language learner, and poster.
For the past four years, I have been interesting in learning a language. I would hear people shouting: "Does anyone speak French?" or "Can anyone translate this Russian for me?" and I would wish that I could put my hand up and say "Yes, I can." Alas, I am a chronic procrastinator, and still only speak the Queens English. I recently realised that in those four years, I could have learnt two, maybe three languages. And I thought that enough was enough and decided on Swedish. One, I am a sucker for blondes, and two, it would not only open up the other Scandinavian languages, but other European languages as well. With the vocab also being 30% English it seems the sensible choice. I'll leave languages like Mandarin and Russian until I'm more proficient. Anyway, were to begin? I have Swedish Pimsleur, a book with a CD and a dictionary. The book goes straight into pronunciation of the alphabet, long/short vowels etc. I assume that I will have to spend some time going over this until I can recite the Swedish alphabet with the speed and fluency that I do with the English one? Part of me just wants to jump in; learning phrases, words and grammar, not pronunciation. If so, does everyone do this when they learn a new language? I was also wondering where I could obtain some reading material such as childrens books (of the pre-school variety) or newspapers. If I was to email/call the Swedish consulate here in the UK, would they be able to help? Anyone that responds, thanks for taking the time and trouble to help out a language newbie. Warren. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| altito425 Triglot Groupie United States Joined 5968 days ago 65 posts - 70 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 2 of 21 06 August 2008 at 9:12pm | IP Logged | ||
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http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/Swedish.aspx - This seems like a pretty good (free AND legal) program to use after you've done pimsleur and the book & CD you have. A lot of it may just seem like review after your other programs, but I'm almost sure that you'll find something you didn't know in it. I haven't used this program, but am very familiar with it and most people who have used it claim to have gotten good results (like the Administrator for example). I would also recommend getting a book of Swedish grammar, just to make sure that you've got everything down. About the resources for books, I really couldn't say. I've looked for books in Swedish myself (although, I've yet to actually study the language), but have found few. But, you live in the UK so a trip to Sweden in the near future seems farely plausible for you. Why not wait and buy books there? If a trip to Sweden for you isn't in the near future or just isn't possible, then there are always websites ( & Wikipedia articles!) in Swedish.
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| sajro Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6004 days ago 129 posts - 131 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 21 06 August 2008 at 10:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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Welcome to the world of language-learning!
It's quite normal to delve in without specifically learning pronunciation. It will come along naturally and, if not, you can look back to correct problems. One of the most important things is to enjoy yourself. Never let it become work, and you'll never stop loving it. Remember, once you've studied a while, you should TALK. Instant message people, Skype them (I suggest The Mixxer to find Skype partners), put up writing for correction (on a site lite Lang-8). I've no firsthand experience, but I've heard good things of LiveMocha (unsure about whether the have Swedish or not). Several online resources for languages are in this jimmyr blog post. Best of luck! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Garaidh Decaglot Groupie United Kingdom Joined 6071 days ago 43 posts - 57 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Croatian, Serbian, French Studies: Scottish Gaelic Studies: Faroese | Message 4 of 21 07 August 2008 at 5:22am | IP Logged | ||
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Warren
A few ideas for you :) 1/ If you're in London, pop down to Foyles, Grant and Cutler or the European Language Bookstore. All have good Sweish sections , especially Granrt and Cutler which would have the Childrens books your after (be warned though - theyre expensive both in Sweden and the UK!) 2/ http://www.swedex.info/def_eng.asp Swedex runs Swedish language exams. Even if you do not want to sit the exam, they provide free words lists to download which could provide a basis for your studies. 3/ Many places here have a Swedish Church (especially in port towns). They might be able to help you. 4/ Put Swedish on your fridge! http://www.magpo.com/search.asp 5/ Invest in a good course such as Colloquial. You can get get language courses for free (or a minimal fee from your local library) 6/ If all else fails, pop down your local Ikea, grab some meatballs and take read one of the Swedish books they always put in their display bookshelves! Hope this helps! Lycka till! G 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Iddish Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5962 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: English* | Message 5 of 21 07 August 2008 at 7:05am | IP Logged | ||
That seems unfortunately so. I was just checking the Grant and Cutler website, and found books aimed at kids 4+ to be £18. Might have to make a trip to London (I live about 70-80 miles away) so I can see the books in person. And thanks for the help everyone. Another thing that I am concerned about is accent. I have been listening to a lot of Swedish news, Swedish dubbing on DVDs etc, and am finding the almost singing like quality to the accent hard to replicate. Should developing an accent be left until a grasp of the vocab/grammar is obtained, or is it important to get the accent down early on? Thanks, Warren. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6447 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 6 of 21 07 August 2008 at 7:25am | IP Logged | ||
I can't give a decisive answer about when the best time to learn pronunciation is: I'd say it's easiest to do at the beginning, but some people manage (with significant effort) to master it later on; it's a matter of your priorities. You can easily be understood even with a quite noticeable accent, although you should avoid pronouncing everything as if it were English. However, if you do decide to actually study sounds near the beginning: get audio. Hopefully the audio on the CD accompanying the book contains the alphabet and all the sounds of the language; if not, seriously consider getting some supplementary audio material that does. Written descriptions of the sounds of a language are always extremely lacking. Knowing the alphabet near the beginning is of questionable value. If you were going to Sweden immediately, it would likely be a good idea, and it's something often taught at the beginning of classes. I generally only bother with it later. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| TheElvenLord Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6088 days ago 915 posts - 927 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Cornish, English* Studies: Spanish, French, German Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin | Message 7 of 21 07 August 2008 at 7:57am | IP Logged | ||
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I would reccommend getting Barry Farbers book "How to learn any language", I think it would help you immensly.
TEL 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Espling Diglot Newbie Sweden Joined 5954 days ago 17 posts - 18 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Japanese, German | Message 8 of 21 14 August 2008 at 12:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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I am a native swedish speaker and I'd like to commend you on learning our language. Most swedish do not care much for their own language and finds English much... "Cooler". I personally love my language with all the poetic worth it has and it is not really that hard.
I'm sure you already know this, but many sounds in swedish have four to six different spellings and only the spelling and context decides the meaning. For example "hjul" (wheel) and "jul" (christmas or yule). Spelling is very hard, but this is easily remedied by how easy it is to find swedish resources. For a beginner childrens books might be a good start and we have some very good ones written by the somewhat famous Astrid Lindgren. Her works include "Pippi Långstrump" and "Ronja Röverdotter". Although somewhat aged they are still captivating us swedish, adults and children alike and could be your first step into swedish literature. Astrid on Wikipedia How to find books however, I can't really comment on. When you've got some proficiency in the language I could always recommend some of the resources avalable to communicate with swedish people on the net. Swedish love foregneirs taking an interest in their country, mostly because they can't understand why, and therefore gladly welcomes anyone with a good use of English to their otherwise swedish only communities. My personal recommendation would be a "poetry community" available with an English translation by the name of Haket (which translates as "the hang-out"). As with all languages, communication with native speakers is very important. I don't know if I've answered any questions, but you could always ask away again. I'd absolutely love helping out. EDIT: I should give some anwers I guess to thet pronounciation thing you were wondering about. Vowels are important. Very important. Make sure you learn them or swedish people will have a hard time understanding you. The differences between E, I and Ä are important, but also the swedish A can be hard sometimes. Consonants are not quite as important for the beginner, but do your best. Native English speakers often use too hard Js and would instantly mark you as a foreigner. The sj-sound can be hard, too, since it resembles the scottish CH-sound from "loch", but actually is quite different. When it comes to grammar you'll notice that some articles are pronounced radically different from how they are spelled. Examples are "att"(to) and "och"(and) which are both pronounced "å". Other similarities has resulted in even swedish people having some trouble in distinguishing which articles or pronome are correct. For some news in swedish (which has the most easily understood language usage) check Dagens Nyheter. Lycka till, min vän! Edited by Espling on 14 August 2008 at 1:11pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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