Archive for 'Culture'
How to small talk in Swedish Posted by Katja on Aug 14, 2012
Small talking is a very important thing in many cultures, maybe not so much in Sweden as in other places but still not to be underestimated. In Sweden you often try to start up a conversation by finding something in the surrounding area that you both have in common or can see etc. For example…
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)…
IKEA Furniture – Cultural Differences? Posted by Marcus Cederström on Jul 11, 2012
For a lot of people, the first thing that pops into their heads when they hear “Sweden” is IKEA. And who can blame them? The blue and yellow everything. The Swedish product names (check out below for the method behind the madness to their naming system borrowed shamelessly from the IKEA Wikipedia page). The Swedish…
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…
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…