You Will Be Assimilated Posted by Transparent Language on Dec 3, 2008 in Culture
Resistance is futile.
Oh, wait! That’s a different movie!
I was going to write about something else, but then I started to read The Local, (because someone sent me a link to one of their articles – an opinion poll on the Swedish language) and now today’s topic has changed.
I don’t normally read The Local, because I have very little need for it at this point, but once in a while when I have to, it proves to be a very edifying read. So, what is The Local? In short, it’s an internet newspaper about Sweden in English. Put out by expats for expats. And it’s that expat perspective that sooner or later gets to you.
True, The Local might be the only way that fresh arrivals to Sweden can access any sort of news in English. But that’s not really true, SR (Swedish Radio) also has English language news, and they are not as biased as what The Local presents.
After a while you will notice the pattern – it’s always about how hard Swedish is, what a strange foreign country Sweden is, what odd creatures the natives are. And though I can almost agree with the last bit – they do seem odd until you get to know them, a steady diet of such info can really affect a person’s perspective – in a very wrong way.
I strongly believe that the sooner new immigrants can break the grip of The Local, start reading Swedish newspapers and forming their own unbiased opinions about the country, the sooner they will feel at home in Sweden.
It’s not as if Sweden was some wild, undeveloped country (with sincere apologies to all wild and undeveloped countries out there) – it’s a mainstream, western, European nation not that different from other mainstream, western nations. It might have a few quirks here and there, but all countries have them. That’s what makes them special.
You’re stuck in The Local rut but want to learn Swedish? Then make friends with the natives. How? Talk to them! It’s not as hard as it sounds. They may seem shy and skittish at first, but get a six-pack (though even half a pack will do, really) into any Swede and his/her cold, icy exterior melts to reveal a funny and engaging personality underneath. This is the ideal season to meet people. There are parties going on practically everywhere. And despite their tough appearances, Swedes are very curious people – chances are they WANT to meet you and talk to you, they’re just painfully shy and don’t know how to begin.
If you’ve come to Sweden to be with your Swedish partner, you already have a built-in support network at home. Use it! There are many of us who didn’t have that luxury and had to assimilate the hard way. But then again, how hard is it to make a new life in a modern, developed western nation when you yourself come from a modern, developed western nation? Or even from a modern, developed eastern nation, for that matter.
So, when you read The Local, take its opinion on expat life with a grain of salt. And then go out and form your own opinions on Sweden, Swedes and Swedish.
The Local does serve a purpose, it helps to make the initial transition from an English speaking environment to a Swedish one a little bit easier. Heck, our own regional newspapers could use a weekly section in English to cater to the rather larger foreign population in Västerbotten. But once you become proficient in Swedish, it is essential that you embrace the new language, and make every effort to use it on a daily basis. Even if it means getting your news in Swedish. Even if when you speak Swedish with a thick foreign accent, people automatically answer you in English. Don’t give up. The sooner you take that plunge, the sooner you will begin to feel at home in Sweden. Tough love baby, tough love…
PS. And I feel like a total hypocrite giving this pep talk, because I have one of those whiny and complaining expats at home. And he stubbornly refuses to take my advice.
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Comments:
ceci:
hej!!! i realized that swedes are courious, but in a good sense! and as someone said: the problem of sswedish, is english…(or something like that heheh) and i think it is totally true
hej da anna!
ceci
nick:
Hej Anna!
I have never read the ‘Local’ but a similar example of a great-publication-idea-ruined-by-editorial-slant, which you might remember, was an ‘easy swedish’ newspaper called ‘8 sidor.’ It had a website for a while but for years published an actual newsletter which we subscribed to in the UK. But the content! From reading some articles in it you would think that Sweden was the most depressing, intolerant, racist, weird nation on earth. All my experiences in Sweden have been 100% different so I just could not take this seriously. At the time, it was the only thing we had of this sort available in the UK so we put up with it for a while just to practice the Swedish. Don’t get me wrong, 90% of the articles were fine, about sport, general news, travel etc. but because of the slant of the rest of it, we gave up after a while 🙁 So, moving on from the article about The Local and 8 Sidor… can you recommend another alternative printed easy-swedish newspaper?
Or better still..! Taking French as an example, I know of some fantastic resources, the likes of which I would really really really like to see for Swedish, but never have. The idea is to provide ‘transliterations.’ The printed audiomagazine I get is called ‘Champs Elysées’ and another great website resource is called ‘Yabla:’ http://french.yabla.com/home.php . Basically the idea is that you get listen to lots of articles spoken by native speakers and at the same time you see a word-for-word exact transliteration in text. Any idea if such things are available for swedish learners? Thanks 🙂
timan:
As usual , the topic is seminal.based on subjective judgement as well as objective one.when i was child i used to travel across the country ,later i’ve got a lesson , one must not tilt at windmill..the world is just the Big pic of any country , everywhere humankind are quite similar…u’ll hear this and that..Londoner are Conservatives (introvert),Mancunian”Manchesterian” are Liberals(extrovert),check out.. a cheeky person owns half of the world!Dutch proverb.A mountain doesn’t reach out to mountain,But a man Is reaching out to a man..Afghanistan prov..
Lizbeth:
My husband and I visited Swedish friends June 2008. We are from Mississippi and have lived here all of our lives.
After being there a few days, shopping, having parties and sightseeing, I was shocked to realize how similar most aspects of our lives are. From banking to restaurants, transportation to grocery stores, I felt very comfortable. Now, I want to learn Swedish so I can read those headlines next time we’re there. Thanks!
Linda:
I agree that the Local is a bit biased, but they do have some interesting articles. Have you noticed you can use a new Tyda.se feature which translates words, gives definitions and has an audio sound clip for “uttal”. Another website to check out is 8sidor.se this is a web-based Swedish news with “read speaker” feature that reads the articles in Swedish so you can listen and learn. I like this to become familar with pronunciation and grammatics. Another saying is “When in Rome…Do as the Romans Do”, so immersing oneself in Swedish language and embracing the Swedish way will help one adjust to living there as a new immigrant. I have yet to move to Sweden, but it will happen in the future and I plan to be ready! Thanks Anna for your wonderful blog! and Thanks Ceci for introduding me to it! Hej då! Linda c”,)