Archive for June, 2008
Swedish Checkout Habits Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 30, 2008
Sweden is a very organized country. Everything has its place and there are rules and regulations for just about anything. Some rules don’t even need to be officially written down, they technically don’t exist, yet people here follow them anyway. That of course makes life a lot easier in many different situations – when boarding…
Hej Hej! Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 27, 2008
Everywhere you go in Sweden, people “hej” at you. If you don’t know that “hej” means “hello” in Swedish, you might be slightly confused as to why everybody is trying to get your attention. Because that’s what we use “hey” for in English, among many other things, right? “Hej!” in Swedish doesn’t have any of…
Beware of False Friends Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 25, 2008
There are some words in the Swedish language that just make English speakers giggle. Sometimes even more than giggle. You know which words I’m talking about. You too had a goofy smirk on your face when you saw them for the very first time. Especially when you didn’t expect them. And then, when nobody was…
En or Ett Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 23, 2008
It’s time for a little bit of grammar today, don’t you agree? And this particular bit of grammar is always confusing for English speakers. People, Swedish people naturally, will tell you that Swedish nouns are classed according to gender. And it’s all good, except when you try to find out exactly what gender those Swedish…
Midsummer’s Eve Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 20, 2008
It’s that time of the year again when the entire Sweden goes outside to sing, dance, drink and celebrate the arrival of summer. Yep, it’s Midsommarafton (Midsummer’s Eve) today. Regardless of the actual day of the summer solstice, the holiday is always scheduled for Friday-Saturday between June 19th and 25th. On Midsummer’s Eve businesses close…
Take a Break – Swedish Style Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 17, 2008
One of the very first words of Swedish, right after hej and tack, that every foreigner learns is fika. Which also happens to be my favorite Swedish word, too. And you’d be hard pressed to find a word more Swedish to the core than fika. You could even say that fika is a social institution…
The Basics: Swedish is Easy! Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 3, 2008
I know some foreigners who’ve been living in Sweden for about 10 years, yet they still don’t know any Swedish. They say there’s no need for them to learn, because everyone here speaks English. Some even go as far as to complain that Swedish is difficult to learn. Yeah? You think so? How much Absolut…