Allt gott har ett slut, all good things must come to an end. The Transparent Language Swedish blog is being discontinued so it’s time to say hej då kära läsare (goodbye, dear readers!). From Swedish grammar to music, food, and culture, we’re covered a lot of content together over the last few years. Don’t worry, the Transparent Language Swedish blog articles of the past aren’t going anywhere – you will still have access to your favorite and most helpful posts – but for this last article, I thought it would be fun to share some content highlights I enjoyed writing the most.

I stumbled upon Transparent Language as I was lesson planning for my own Swedish students. As you know, the Swedish blog is chock-full of great language learning and cultural content so naturally, I wanted to be a part of it! I said hej to you all for the first time with the post As Fall Sets in, Swedes Bring on the “mys” in October of 2019. 

Since then, I’ve written one post weekly -123 posts if you count today’s. I remember thinking it would be difficult for me to come up with an original idea every week. But in hindsight, it wasn’t. The nature of language learning is so vast and complex that topics abound! Let’s dig into some of my favorita blogginlägg (favorite blog posts) from the last few years.

Favorite Swedish grammar posts: 

Ah, grammar. Vi älskar det, ibland mer och ibland mindre. We love it, sometimes more and sometimes less. Despite a love-hate relationship with grammar, we depend on it as language users. Hej nybörjare! (hej, beginners!) once you have a good grasp of present tense verbs, it’s time to use the infinitive form with helping verbs – it’s a way to step up your Swedish. Below are some oth

 

Intermediate learners should not neglect the basics but also focus on developing their language with concepts like present participles and mastering bisatser and present participles! See these topics below:

 

Favorite Swedish food post:

I loved highlighting Swedish cooking traditions with Det svenska köket series, but my favorite post would have to be Bake Swedish Cinnamon Buns Using Imperative Verbs. I put together a step-by-step guide for making soft, delicious cinnamon buns. I also got to write about Våffeldagen with my friend and Nordic food geek Patrice:

Not a waffles fan? Practice your Swedish while you roll out pepparkakor och dricker glögg.

Swedish Blog with the most comments:

Idioms are always a fan favorite amongst language learners. They are metaphors, figures of speech, that most often cannot be translated well into another language. In this post, I give readers the Swedish idiom, the literal translation in English, and the English language idiom of equivalent meaning. It was the post with the most comments!

Swedish culture blog posts:

Ever had trouble staying motivated in your Swedish study? A great way to mix up your study routine is to infuse your personal interests into your study routine. For example, you can follow Swedes on social media, as I’ve explained in this post.

Enjoy poetry? Meet Karin Boye in this blog article, although her biography is kind of a bummer, I ADORE her writing. Music meets poetry with this blog about Molly Sandén’s interpretation of an Edith Södergran poem. And finally, literature fans should definitely check out this intro to contemporary writer Johannes Anyuru. 

Swedish Blog Favorite music post:

Missed the boat about monthly music posts? Do a bit of rewinding and you’ll find that the post first of every month is music-themed. If you’re a newbie to Swedish music, see this intro post – and bonus, the spellista (playlist) is all Swedish artists singing på svenska.

I think my favorite music post highlighted sámi music. My friend Evelina contributed to it. Read it here!

Slutet gott, allting gott! All’s Well that ends well.

Thanks to Liz Stopka for hopping on the blog team recently. Catch up with Liz and her work for the American Swedish Institute education team.

As for me, you’re welcome to follow along with my adventures on Instagram @djingenting, although I’ll admit I don’t post that often. I want to say a big tack to all of you for following this blog and sharing your enthusiasm for learning Swedish with me. I’ve appreciated your readership and kindness, and encourage you all to keep up with your language learning discovery – immersing yourself into another language and culture can be more valuable than you first expect it to be.

Sköt om er, take care.