Archive for July, 2012
Problems arising when picking berries in Sweden Posted by Katja on Jul 31, 2012
Right now the berry season is in full bloom. Many people pick berries around their summer cottages (sommar stugor) where a lot of older people live as well. I’m going to tell you about an incident which occurred not too long ago and even surprised me but which however seems to be pretty normal when…
Happy Birthday in Swedish Posted by Marcus Cederström on Jul 26, 2012
This blog has been plugging along now for over five years now! Pretty impressive. The blogs fifth birthday was just last month in fact. With that in mind, I think it’s time to take a quick look at singing Happy Birthday in Swedish. Of course, it is not a direct translation, and doesn’t even use…
Swedes eat on average 17kg of candy a year Posted by Katja on Jul 24, 2012
Now that is something amazing, 17 kg/person a year. I’ve heard that Swedes eat most candy in the world. In Swedish there is something called smågodisätande (candy snacking might be a good translation?) and this sums the Swedish way of “candy-thinking” up quite well. Just a little bit (often turns into a whole lot more)…
Stockholm at a lack of student dwellings Posted by Stephen Maconi on Jul 23, 2012
This year, Stockholm University accepted over 47,000 students, 2000 more than last year, setting a record for the university. Of those 47,000 students (both continuing and new), approximately 20,000 need student accommodation for this coming semester and beyond. But when Stockholm only has 12,000 student rooms and apartments to offer, what do you do with…
Swedish Prepositions Posted by Marcus Cederström on Jul 19, 2012
Prepositions are hard. In just about any language. Just think about some of the prepositions we use in English. They don’t always make sense. Trying to learn a different language, like Swedish, prepositions can be a challenge. There are plenty of prepositions to choose from. Below you’ll find a quick list, but this post will…
Learning to drive in Sweden Posted by Katja on Jul 17, 2012
Alright everybody, I’m writing this blogpost while I am experiencing this myself. I am learning how to drive a car. Now, this is actually something many young people get very excited about so it is a big event in the coming of age in Sweden. As soon as you have turned 16 years old you…
Where does the -s-passive come from? Posted by Stephen Maconi on Jul 16, 2012
The -s-passive is something that doesn’t exist (at least not in the same form) in English, so one might be curious about how it appeared in Swedish. Here’s your explanation from Uppsala, Sweden! (Those of you who missed last week’s post about passive verbs in Swedish will want to read it first, unless you already…