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Learning Swedish with Janne Lucas Posted by on Nov 22, 2011 in Grammar

I’ve written a couple of posts about Melodifestivalen here at Transparent, one titled (creatively enough) Melodifestivalen and the other (again, my creativity knows no bounds) Swedish Schlager. I am a shameless promoter of schlager music, whether it be Swedish, English, or German. I find the performances hilarious and the catchy songs even more so. It took a while to get used to, but by the time I left Sweden, I was hooked.

Of course, the challenge for me now, while living in the US, is trying to keep my love for schlager alive while also making it halfway useful to learning Swedish.  Luckily, old school Swedish schalger can do just that.

A friend of mine introduced me to this song after I mentioned that I was in search of a song that used the preteritum a lot.   She did not disappoint.

What I’ve done below is included the lyrics to the 1980 Melodifestivalen song Växeln Hallå by Janne Lucas. You’ll notice though that there are some holes in the text. I’ve removed several verbs in the preteritum (for a review of preteritum see the post Preteritum – the Swedish Past Tense). Watch the YouTube clip below, and try to fill in as many as you can. It’s a quick song at times, so I suggest you watch it a few times. Don’t be frustrated if you don’t nail them all the first time. Once you’ve done as best you can, check your answers below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8ClvvHR8pE

Växeln Hallå by Janne Lucas

Det _______ en kväll jag _______ ingenting för mig
Jag _______ till stadens hotell
Jag _______ i baren och där _______ hon framför mig
Wow, vad hon _______ sensationell

En liten blick, det _______ jag, sen _______ jag
Liksom i trans och _______ henne gå
Mitt hjärta _______, det ticka och ticka
Och där _______ du på rum tjugotvå

En telefon och jag _______ slå nummer nio
Och någon _______ då:

Växeln hallå, hallå, hallå
Växeln hallå, hallå
Fröken hallå, hallå, hallå
Koppla mig till tjugotvå
Det blir inget svar där, hon är inte kvar där
Ja, jag är ledsen, försök på nytt igen
Växeln hallå, hallå, hallå
Koppla mig till tjugotvå

Där _______ jag ensam på mitt rum och fundera
Tänk vad man kan hitta på
Som ni förstår så ville jag veta mera
Om henne på tjugotvå

Min telefon, den _______ jag, sen _______ jag
En nia till och vänta på svar
_______  det nåt fel? Det ringde och ringde
Sån tur att hon i växeln _______ kvar

Det spraka till och jag _______ höra en stämma
Och sedan _______ jag till svar:

Refräng

Växeln hallå, hallå, hallå
Växeln hallå, hallå
Fröken hallå, hallå, hallå
Koppla mig till tjugotvå
Växeln hallå, hallå

Check your answers here at LetsSingIt.com.

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About the Author: Marcus Cederström

Marcus Cederström has been writing for the Transparent Swedish Blog since 2009. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Scandinavian Studies from the University of Oregon, a Master's Degree in Scandinavian Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a PhD in Scandinavian Studies and Folklore from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has taught Swedish for several years and still spells things wrong. So, if you see something, say something.


Comments:

  1. Mallie:

    Hello,
    Is there a translation for this (into German or English)? I’m having some trouble understanding bits of it.
    Thanks

    • Marcus Cederström:

      @Mallie I don’t know of any authorized translations, but I’m sure there are some out there!