Archive for June, 2012
Countable vs. uncountable nouns Posted by Stephen Maconi on Jun 29, 2012
In English, there are countable nouns and uncountable nouns. An example of a countable noun in English is “cat”. It is considered a countable noun because there can be one or several instances of “cat”. Uncountable nouns, such as “music”, cannot have several instances – you cannot have *”one music” nor *”two musics”. It’s just…
Visiting Sweden – Gamla Stan Posted by Marcus Cederström on Jun 28, 2012
All this language learning should be good for something. Like visiting Sweden maybe. There’s hardly a better time to visit Sweden than summertime. Having lived in Stockholm for quite some time, I’m especially partial to the capital. It’s a beautiful city built on several islands meaning you’re never far from the water. There are museums…
Allsång på Skansen Posted by Katja on Jun 27, 2012
This week an old Swedish favorite TV-program has started yet again. Allsång på Skansen. (Allsång means “singalong”). Eight weeks forward different artists will sing live at Skansen in Stockholm. The very first broadcasting of the event was on SVT on the 3rd of August 1979. Every couple of years different numbers of programs were broadcasted…
Hej då! Posted by jennie on Jun 26, 2012
Dear fellow Sweden lovers and blog readers, the time has come for me to say goodbye to our beloved Swedish blog. After almost three fantastic years, I will attempt motherhood and everything that might bring… With only days to go until due date and possibly the worst June I have ever experienced weather-wise here in…
Facts about Sweden Posted by Marcus Cederström on Jun 25, 2012
We all spend a lot of time speaking, reading, and writing in Swedish as we try to teach and learn the language. But sometimes, it’s nice to get away from some of the grammar and vocab. So this post is going to be a simple one – just some fun facts about Sweden (if you…
The origin of the word ‘på’ Posted by Stephen Maconi on Jun 22, 2012
Different people learn languages for different reasons. Different people are also interested in different aspects of the language they are learning. One of my personal favorite aspects of the Swedish language is its history, and having studied the history of the Swedish language at Uppsala University, I have a lot to share with you about…
Flooring in Sweden Posted by Katja on Jun 20, 2012
Have you seen one of these around and wondered what are these things? Well in Swedish they are refererd to as en mattställning. You hang your rugs on them and hit them with en mattpiska, literally translated as a rug whip. Now you might wonder why there is such a need for these mattställningar…