Archive for 'Swedish Language'
Building Particle Verbs with Gå Posted by Chelsea B on Dec 11, 2020
Verbs start out as just one word like in the example “Speak.” But when they add a particle “Speak” + “up” = “Speak up” the meaning changes completely. The short words that help transform regular old verbs into particle verbs, or phrasal verbs, are common prepositions or adverbs – so you’ll recognize them! Words like…
Musikblogg: Fill in the Blank with SVT’s Musikkalendern Posted by Chelsea B on Dec 4, 2020
SVT is treating us this year with the premier of Musikkalendern (Music Calendar). In typical advent calendar fashion, a different artist gives a personal greeting and in-studio performance each day of December until Christmas. The best of the best in indie, pop, rap, and rock, and classic vocals join together in an attempt to bring…
12 Variations of Thanks in Swedish Posted by Chelsea B on Nov 25, 2020
I know that discussing 12 different usages of “tack” for Thanksgiving week is not a very original idea. But when I started compiling this list, I was quite impressed by the variety. Below, I’ll review a tiny bit of Thanksgiving history, and then get into our list of thanks! Thanksgiving is the American Holiday meant…
Swedish Literary Bad Boy, August Strindberg Posted by Chelsea B on Nov 20, 2020
Renowned Swedish dramatist and literary bad boy August Strindberg is one of the greatest contributors to modern Swedish literature. This week, we’ll learn a little bit about the Strindberg legacy, what’s behind his tormented artist persona, and read one of his poems, “Högsommar i vinter.” August Strindberg (1849-1912) was a författare (writer), dramatiker (dramatist), and…
The Swedish Kitchen Series: Cozy Friday Posted by Chelsea B on Nov 12, 2020
Fredagsmys literally means “Friday cozy.” This Swedish concept is about treating yourself after a long week. Oddly enough, it was made famous by a marketing campaign for chips. This week on the blog, we’ll pull from a resource called Det svenska köket and dig into the fredagsmys concept. Svenska institutet’s Det Svenska köket från fika…
Swedish Idioms Round Two, Go to Hekla and Fox Sleep Posted by Chelsea B on Oct 29, 2020
Last week, I wrote about some common idioms that you’re bound to hear in every day Swedish. In doing research for that post, I discovered some rather obscure ones too. I’ll share some of those in this post as well as share the origin stories behind a couple of classic idioms. Nu kör vi! Let’s…
10 Common Swedish Idioms – “Shrimp Sandwiches” and “Cows on the Ice” Posted by Chelsea B on Oct 22, 2020
Idioms are the best. They are playful phrases we use to describe a situation by metaphor or figure of speech. The literal translations don’t make sense and often leave non-native speakers scratching their heads – “Huh, what do they mean by saying it’s raining cats and dogs?” There are several of these sayings that sound…