Tag Archives: Swedish culture
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…
Music meets Reality TV with Så mycket bättre 2020! Posted by Chelsea B on Nov 6, 2020
Så mycket bättre / So much better a popular music meets reality television show by Swedish network TV4. The 11th season is currently airing and it’s all the gossip in the music and entertainment world. If you like the diversity that Swedish music has to offer and enjoy a good cover song, this is the…
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…
Swedish Autumn Vocab with Elsa Beskow’s Höstvisa Posted by Chelsea B on Oct 9, 2020
“Det glimmar i guld och klaraste rött / It’s glimmering of yellow and the clearest röd.” It feels as if I’ve landed in Elsa Beskow’s version of autumn as it is in her poem Höstvisa. In Minnesota, the trees are almost glowing with reds, yellows, and oranges, and the light it casts it reminiscent of…