Swedish Madlibs – Part Två Posted by Marcus Cederström on Feb 20, 2012
I know, I know. You’ve all been waiting with bated breath for the continuation of the Swedish Madlib that we posted a while back. Wait no more. Below you will find the story that all your different words will fill in. If you haven’t yet filled in your words, just for good measure, check out…
Long and short vowels in Swedish: The a-sound Posted by Katja on Feb 16, 2012
“Long or short vowel sound, does it really matter? I bet it doesn’t” I’m sure you’re thinking. But oh how wrong that would be. Because Swedish is full of tricky words that become completely different words if you mispronounce them. In this post I’ll just take up what you will be saying if you mispronounce…
Hen – the Swedish gender neutral pronoun Posted by jennie on Feb 15, 2012
A tiny three letter word is causing debates and mixed emotions in Sweden at the moment. The word is “hen” and it’s the new suggested gender neutral pronoun – born from what many people feel is a need for a pronoun free of preconceived notions about gender. (I should point out that the word itself…
Will you work until you are 75? Posted by jennie on Feb 9, 2012
Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has sparked a huge debate the last couple of days due to his new suggestion that Swedes should keep on working until they are 75- instead of 65 as the standard retirement age is today. “The pension’s scheme isn’t based on magic. It is a welfare ambition based on large-scale…
Slickepott – The rubber scraper Posted by Katja on Feb 8, 2012
Ok, so I thought of another kitchen utensil which can be found in almost all Swedish house holds. I don’t know who invented this one, so it may very well not be a Swedish invention. That does not stop swedes from using it religiously however. Kids love to help out with baking, wanting to clean…
Swedish Madlibs Posted by Marcus Cederström on Feb 7, 2012
We’re going to try something new here. A Swedish Madlib. I’ve used Swedish Madlibs before, at the behest of a good friend actually, and loved them. They tend to get you thinking about various grammatical forms, how to use them, and of course what words you actually know. It’s a great way to practice the…
The great Swedish vowel shift Posted by Stephen Maconi on Feb 6, 2012
Last week, I continued my series on the three special Swedish letters, å, ä and ö. Now I’m here to explain how the letter å even came to be at all. As I explained last time, the letter å in writing came to be like so: first as a double-a (aa), then as an a…