Vikings, Verbs, and Very Old Swedish Posted by Marcus Cederström on Sep 23, 2016
“De gingo i land och kommo genast i strid med ställets innebyggare, som bodde tätt här” [They went ashore and immediately came in conflict with the inhabitants, who lived close together here], writes Frans G. Bengtsson in his novel Röde Orm about a Viking named Red Serpent. But what’s the deal with those weird verb…
Way out West Posted by Tibor on Aug 31, 2016
The Way Out West music festival is one of the biggest events in Gothenburg and also in Sweden. Gothenburg will constantly do things differently than the capital. Sometimes it succeeds sometimes it’s less of an accomplishment. The line-up is fancier and fancier every year and the rumors tell that the management organizing probably the festival…
Monica Zetterlund – Trubbel (with English subs) Posted by Tibor on Aug 29, 2016
Monica Zetterlund, born Eva Monica Nilsson, was a Swedish singer who mostly recorded jazz work. She began by learning the classic jazz songs from radio and records. She didn’t know the language and what they sang about in English but because of her strong will and hard work, she put her had to it. She was…
Greetings, Swede-lings: Five Posts on Swedish Greetings Posted by Marcus Cederström on Aug 24, 2016
We’re reaching back into the vault here on the Transparent Swedish blog to bring you five different posts on greeting someone in Swedish. Below you’ll find the basics, like saying “hello” and “hej” to people you see. You’ll learn some phrases to help you meet new people in Sweden. You’ll even learn how to address…
Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. In Swedish. Posted by Marcus Cederström on Aug 19, 2016
Learning a new language involves a lot of statements. My name is Marcus. I speak English and Swedish. I like gummy bears. You know, the usual. But to learn how to take that language and turn it into a conversation, you’ll need to know your question words: who, what, when, where, why, and how. In…
The currency of Sweden is “spänn”?! Posted by Stephen Maconi on Aug 3, 2016
The Swedish “crown”, as some English-speakers refer to it, is called den svenska kronan in Swedish. The international currency code for the Swedish krona is SEK. When you start spending a lot of time with Swedes, you’ll notice that they don’t always call their currency by its proper name (krona/kronor [plural]). In the Western…
(Sommarsverige har semesterstängt) Summer Sweden is closed during vacation Posted by Tibor on Jul 27, 2016
Oh so you haven’t yet fixed your new id-card or maybe your EU-health insurance card before leaving for your summer vacation? You might end up having some problems that you haven’t really accounted for, like opening hours, delays, (sommarvikarier) summer substitute staff that work slower and less efficiently. July and August are the most popular…