Video corrections

So it's been just over a week since my first Swedish video went up. I have to say, I did not anticipate the amount of feedback that I received. Shortly after uploading, I submitted the link to /r/svenska. Within minutes I was getting tips on how to sound more natural, corrections on pronunciation, and all sorts of ego boosting compliments.

The compliments were nice, but the feedback was why I was there.

After I posted the video, I showed it to my Swedish friend. He approved but commented on my accent. He told me that I sounded American, but it's ok because an American "can't break from the American accent".

Some of the feedback from reddit was pretty similar. My pronunciation isn't the best. I could use the excuse Well I'm just a beginner, but that wouldn't be accurate. The truth is, I glossed over much of the early stuff like pronunciation. The result is, I don't sound as good as I want. Sure, I'm understandable, but why settle for just understandable when I know I could do better?

So where are my issues? 

Vowels. Specifically  o, a, u, y.
So I went to forvo and listened to the words where I was pronouncing these letter incorrectly. 

Tala(r). I used it quite a bit. It's the word I know to convey the idea of speaking. But it was pointed out to me that 'talar' sounds too formal, and to sound more natural I should use 'prata'.

Det är slutet. I used it to signify the end of the video. In my mind it was correct, and it was understood to mean the end of my video. However, it just doesn't sound natural. 'Det var allt' would have been a better choice for 'that's it'.

The rest of my issues were mostly grammar, and I'm not surprised by that at all. Swedish has a lot of patterns and rules, and I just don't know them all yet. I'll get the hang of it eventually though.

Plurals

I'm not going to lie, Swedish plurals are tripping me up right now. It took me longer than it should have to work through the plurals section on Duolingo last night. I'm probably going to go back through it just to make sure I understand it all.

The helpful thing about Swedish, is that it seems to use a lot of patterns. (Except when it doesn't. Which can feel like all the time.) Most of the time, you just have to learn the patterns (like with verbs) and then apply them when necessary. Thanks to the explanation on Duolingo, I have a decent pattern for plurals which I'll explain below.

If you haven't tried the Swedish course on Duolingo, you really should. You can find it here.

Alright, on to the good stuff.

So as you probably know, Swedish nouns are grouped by gender. (If you didn't know that, now you do.) They are either common -en- words, or neuter -ett- words, and you pretty much just have to learn the gender when you learn the word. And you can't skip them, because then you'll never be able to say a or the in regards to a noun. Fun!

I'll be breaking up the explanation on plurals by the noun gender, which is how I learned it.

EN Words

 Common -en- words that end with an 'a' will switch to an 'or' in plural form.
en flicka > flickor  (girl > girls)

If your word ends in an 'e' it will switch to 'ar'.
en pojke > pojkar  (boy > boys)

Words ending in 'ing' become 'ingar'.
en tidning > tidningar  (newspaper > newspapers)

 Words ending in 'are' don't change.
en läkare > läkare  (doctor > docktor)

 Words with a stress on the last syllable will add an 'er'.
en elefant > elefanter  (elephant > elephants)

Words ending in 'el' 'er' and 'en' will usually drop the 'e' and add an 'ar' to the end.
en vinter > vintrar  (winter > winters)

 One syllable words will usually take an 'ar' but sometimes will take an 'er'. You just have to learn them.
en hund > hundar  (dog >dogs)


ETT Words (the easy set)

  If the word ends in a consonant, there is no ending.
ett barn > barn  (the child > children)

 If the word ends in a vowel, it gets an 'n' on the end.
ett äpple > äpplen  (apple > apples)

 Irregular Words

There are both -en- and -ett- words that  don't follow any of these rules (because why not?). Instead, they often change the main vowel of the word.
en man > män (man > men)

Unfortunately, you have to learn these words as you run into them.


So that's it. You should now be able to puzzle your way through Swedish plurals. Once again, all this information came from Duolingo. Go check out their Swedish course, it's really helping me along.

Until next time. Tack så mycket och hej då.

My first video!

So, I recorded my first Swedish video today. It's nothing special, just me trying cram as much Swedish as I can remember into about a minute's worth of video. The pronunciation is probably bad. The intonation is probably bad as well. This is literally (and I mean literally) the first time anyone has heard me (try) to speak Swedish. I feel this is an important step on my path to learning the language, and once I get this out there, it should be easier to make more.

As always I welcome comments and feedback. If you can correct me, please do so. If you're learning too, make a video of your own (and be sure to send me the link).

New Resources Page

It's taken a few days to go through all of my saved links, and I'm still not done. I do, however, have enough content compiled that I feel comfortable publishing the new Resources page a bit early. Keep in mind that this list of Swedish learning resources will never be complete. As I find more things that seem helpful, or just entertaining, I'll update the list.

As always, I'm open to comments and suggestions. So if you have something to say, don't hold back.
I hope this is as helpful to you as it is to me. Tack så mycket and have fun.

Click here for the resources page.

Duolingo has a Swedish course now.

So I'm back after my (too long) NaNoWriMo break, and I'm ready to get back into the Swedish saddle. To be honest, I think the break did some good. I was slowing down and beginning to lose focus. That's something that I have to be especially aware of, because, as I've mentioned before, I'll drop subjects in favor of something new and shiny. I'm like some sort of educational magpie.

I wasn't slacking while I was away, not too much anyway. I've still been listening to Swedish music and talk radio every chance I get. I've also taken to setting my ipod to shuffle the Pimsleur course while I'm at work. I think I have that thing pretty close to memorized. I also have a list of irregular Swedish verbs sitting in front of me that I've been looking over and we'll get to those soon on this blog.

Here's what I have coming up...

 Videos. I'll be setting up a youtube page pretty soon and linking videos from there. They'll probably be me, trying to speak Swedish and asking for feedback. I'll also be making videos to show off any random sort of Swedish awesomeness I happen to come across. I don't want to reveal too much, but this should give you an idea.


Resources. I've been collecting all sorts of free tools and links that should be helpful to anyone learning Swedish, or anyone interested in Swedish and Sweden in general. So look forward to a page dedicated to that.


Here's what I'm doing now...

Duolingo. Before I started my break, I knew that Duolingo had a Swedish course in the works, but it hadn't been released yet. As I was catching up on /r/svenska, I was pleased to learn that it was finally available. You can find the course here, and if you want to be my Duolingo friend, you can find me right here. I've only made it past the first three levels so far, but I like what I'm seeing.





That's all I've got to update this time, but I'll be back soon with more.
 Until then, tack så mycket och hej då.

And here is some Swedish humor, because why not?

Helpful Finds

Hej everyone. Before I get into this post, I'd like to address where I've been. You may have noticed that the month of October has been a bit lacking in (more like devoid of) Swedish posts. That's because I've been prepping for NaNoWriMo.
For anyone who doesn't know what that is; NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write a 50,000 (or more) word novel during the month of November. For me, that means plotting all October. That also means that November will be a bit slim on blog posts as well.

I've been a writer for a while, and sometimes everything else has to take a back seat for a bit. After all, I can't get paid for it if I don't do it.

I haven't been neglecting my studies completely, however. I've been turning up the passive learning, which I'm pretty sure is important too. And in this post I want to pass along some of the things I've been using to keep my Swedish fresh.

*Also, I'm planning on creating a resources page in the near future. If you have any free resources you think should be included, send an email to me at tillswedish[at]gmail[dot]com. (hint: [at] = @ and [dot] = . ) I've had some questions about that recently.*


Now on to the good stuff.

Aftonbladet is an online tv channel, or better yet, a tv channel's website (probably). It has a live stream, news clips, sports, etc. My favorite part of the site is the show Viral TV. It's interesting or funny internet clips from around the world, hosted by two Swedes who speak Swedish (which is the point). I've been tuning in when the storytelling part of my brain needs a break and the rest of me needs a laugh.

Dar.fm is an online radio recorder. You can sign up for free (some features cost money but you don't need those). Once you're logged in, pick your radio station, set it to record (up to five hours), then come back later and download the mp3 files. This is actually good for just recording radio in general, but I've found a enough Swedish stations make it worth mentioning here. I'm sure you could use it for learning any language, but I haven't looked into countries other than Sweden and U.S. yet.


That's all I got for this post. I hope these are as helpful to you as they are to me.

Just a reminder, group 4 verbs are still on their way, I just have to figure out the best way to post them. Group 4 is a tricky group, at least it is to me.

Tack så mycket for stopping by.
Hej då.

Verbs: Group 3

Hey guys, it's verb time again. Today's post is going to be a short one, and for good reason.
What reason is that? Well, we're talking about Group 3 verbs today, and the third group (like the first two) is easy so it won't take long.

Let's get to it.

Group 3 verbs have a stem that ends in a vowel other than -a.
The Infinitive will be the same as the stem.
The Present will end in -r.
The Past Imperfect ends in -dde.
The Past Perfect ends in -tt.

Example: att tro - to believe
                 Jag tror - I believe
                 Jag trodde - I believed
                 Jag har trott - I have believed

And that's all there is to Group 3. Below are some Group 3 verbs to practice with. As always, you can find these words on the (currently evolving) memrise course. I use it to learn the definitions of the words I'm learning to conjugate.

tror - believe

syr - sew

mår - feel

bor - live/stay

flyr - flee


Tack så mycket for stopping by.
Dustin

Are you a Swede or familiar with Swedish grammar? Do you have questions, comments, or random statements you just can't hold in? Leave a comment below or email me at tillswedish[at]gmail[dot]com.

Soft Consonants

So, I mentioned in an earlier post, that a 'k' placed next to 'ö' sounds like a 'sh'. But it's not just 'ö' that causes a change, and it's not only 'k' that changes.

This is an easy pattern (easier than verbs), and I picked it up fairly quickly.

The consonants are G, K, and SK. Normally these consonants will make the same sound they make in English.
However, if you place one of these consonants next to E, I, Y, Ä, or Ö, the sounds get softer.

*For the nitpickers* Technically S and K are two consonants put together, but for this post I'll be referring to them as one.

Just for the record, I've never liked the whole hard and soft consonants thing. It has always confused me. I once had a Russian try to explain it to me (about the Russian sounds) and I ended up more confused than I started. There should be a better way to describe this. Maybe I'll come up with something later.

Back on topic. G, when placed next to one of the vowels above, will make the sound of a Swedish J.
Example: Gillar

K, will make the SH sound.
Example: Köpper

 And SK makes the Swedish SJ sound.
Example: Skära

The SJ sound is tricky. Some people say it's close to the German 'ch' sound but I don't hear it. I do believe that it is important enough to get its own post, and I'll try to do that soon.

Until then, keep practicing.

Tack så mycket for stopping by.

*edit* It seems this guy gives a good explanation of soft consonants as well. I guess I got it right.

Are you a Swede or at least familiar with Swedish grammar? Did this post make sense to you? Let me know how I'm doing. Leave a comment below or email me at tillswedish[at]gmail[dot]com.

Pronouns

When I started this blog almost a month ago, the weather was warm. Now, it's starting to get cold. I know that it's only been a month since I started, but I feel like I'm not moving fast enough to meet my goal. I want to start speaking competently, and as soon as possible. So, while I'm learning the last two groups of verbs, I'll also be taking on other parts of speech. The sooner I understand the parts, the sooner I can understand the mechanics of using them together. When that happens, you may be seeing video updates in Swedish.

So today I want to talk about pronouns. Pronouns refer to whoever is speaking or is being spoken to, or is being spoken about.

Example 1: I - jag
                 you - du
                 he - han
                 she - hon
                 we - vi
                 them - de/dom

Example 2: me - mig
                     you - du
                    him - honom
                    her - hennes
                    us - oss
                    them - dem/dom

Example 3: my/mine - min
                    your(s) - din
                    his - hans
                    her(s) - hennes
                    our(s) - vår
                    their(s) - deras

So with these, we are one step closer to forming complete sentences.

I feel a little better now that I've picked up a little new information. I knew a lot of these already, but not all.

Tack så mycket for stopping by.
Dustin.

Verbs: Group 2

Hey guys, it's that time again. Today we're covering Group 2 verbs. And before we start, I have to put my disclaimer out there.

***The information I provide here is what I have learned so far. I believe it to be correct as I have learned it. However, there is a chance for error. If you spot an error or think you can explain it better, please contact me right away. My goal is to keep these posts updated with correct information, not only for me, but for anyone who follows after me.***

Alright. Let's get to it.

You may remember from Group 1 verbs (I hope you remember) that the stem always ends in -a and the present tense in -ar.

For Group 2 verbs, the stem ends in a consonant. The infinitive will still end in -a. The present tense will end in -er. The past imperfect will end in either -de or -te. And the past perfect will end in -d, -t, and -da, or -t, -t, and -ta.

This may sound confusing at first, but it gets easier. Just stay with me.

Group 2 is split into two sub groups. 2a and 2b. Which group a verb falls into is decided by the stem.
If a stem ends in a voiced consonant (such as -g in ring) it is 2a. If the stem ends in a voiceless consonant (such as -p in köp) it is 2b.

Example 2a: Ring - ring
                    att ringa - to ring
                   Jag ringer - I ring
                   Jag ringde - I rang
                   Jag har ringt - I have rang

Example 2b: köp - buy
                        att köpa - to buy
                        Jag köper - I buy (am buying)
                        Jag köpte - I bought
                        Jag har köpt - I have bought

*note: The 'k' placed next to the 'ö' in this situation, sounds like an 'sh'. We'll go over that in another post.*

That's it for Group 2. With a little practice, these should be as easy as Group 1. Here are some Group 2 verbs to practice with, which you can also find in the memrise course.

köper - buy
ringer - ring
åker - go / ride / drive
hjälper - help
läser - read
stänger - close
behöver - need
tycker - think
försöker - try

That's it. Tack så mycket for stopping by.
Hej då.

Are you a Swede, or just familiar with Swedish grammar? Let me know how I'm doing. Leave a comment below or email me at tillswedish[at]gmail[dot]com.

Memrise Course

Hej guys. Just a quick post to let you know what's up.

Group 2 verbs will be up in a day or so. Be sure to come back for that. In addition to the verb posts, I'm making a memrise course that corresponds to the posts. The section for Group 1 verbs is already done and I'll be updating the course as I update the blog.

I may create more courses as I learn more about the language and interesting topics. If I do, I will be sure to share with you.

If you'd like to try the course (and give some feedback), click this link.

Come back soon for the next post.

Tack så mycket for stopping by.
Hej då.

Verbs: Group 1

Ok guys, it's time to get down to it. This is the post about Group 1 verbs. Please keep in mind that we're learning this together. Unless, you already know this stuff. Then you're just watching me learn.
The information I'm putting here is what I believe to be correct as I have learned it. There is a chance for error. If I find an error, I will edit it with the correct information. If you find an error, please let me know so I can fix it as soon as possible.

Alright, enough of that. Let's learn how to work with Group 1 verbs.

Group 1 is probably the easiest group to work with. About 80% of Swedish verbs are in the first group, and conjugation follows a very easy to learn pattern.

The first thing we need to do is find the stem of a verb. Let's start with öppnar (open).

Here it's in the present form, which is how you'll probably encounter most verbs.
Example: Jag öppnar dörren. - I open the door.

If you remove the -r from öppnar, you get öppna. Öppna is the stem.

With Group 1, the stems will all end in -a. This means that all present tenses will end in -ar.

Easy enough, right?

The infinitive form will be the same as the stem. Öppna

The Past Imperfect will end in -de. Öppnade

The Supine form, which makes Past Perfect, will end in -t. Öppnat


Examples: att öppna - to open

                   Jag öppnar dörren. - I open the door.
                 
                  Jag öppnade dörren. - I opened the door.

                  Jag har öppnat dörren. - I have opened the door.


That's it! All group 1 verbs conjugate this way.

Do you want to give it a try? Below are some group 1 verbs in the present form (with translation). See if you can conjugate them. Also, you can use this site to practice conjugating.

öppnar - open
stoppar - stop
betalar - pay
börjar - begin
kollar - check. look at/ watch
visar - show
hittar - find
älska - love
talar - speak
arbetar - work
hoppar - jump
slutar - stop, cease, end
smakar - taste
svarar - answer
gillar - like
jobbar - work
dansar - dance
frågar - ask
lyssnar - listen

How did you do? I'm willing to bet you did pretty well.

That's it for Group 1. I'll be back in a few days for Group 2.

Thanks for stopping by.

Are you Swedish or just familiar with Swedish grammar? Let me know how I did. Leave a comment, question, or correction in the comments below or email me at tillswedish[at]gmail[dot]com.

Verbs Introduction

I said I was going to do it, and here it is. The first verbs post. This will be the first in a series of posts covering verbs and how to conjugate them. I decided to break it up into multiple posts. The reason is that Swedish has four groups of verbs. So each post will cover one group, and we can digest it all in smaller, more manageable chunks.

This is the introduction. I thought that these things should be accessible to beginners and those without a lot of grammar experience. So I'm just breaking down terms. The first group of verbs will be in the next post. That should be up tomorrow, or very shortly after.

Before we start, I want to cover some general information about verbs, so we can all do this together. And keep in mind, this is what I've learned and believe to be correct. Any corrections are welcomed.

First, the verbs don't change according to people or number. This means that no matter who is doing it, or how many of them there are, the verb stays the same. Neat!

Second, there is no subjunctive case. Ok, that's not entirely true. There is a subjunctive in Swedish, but from what I've found, it's seen as archaic and therefore not used.... Except for the word vore, which is equivalent to 'would be' or 'were' in the conditional form. But even that is optional. So don't worry about it right now.

Swedish verbs do change according to tense. Again, so we can all be on the same page, I'll give a quick description of the tenses.

Infinitive: This is the form you find in the dictionary. It will usually have 'att' attached to it. It is similar to adding 'to' to an English verb.
                  Example: to dance, to walk, to cook.

Present: This is what is happening now, or what happens on a regular basis.
                Example: I dance, I walk, I cook. I am cooking.. etc.

Past Imperfect: This is quite simply anything that has already happened. In English we add 'ed' to the end.
                            Example: I walked, I cooked, I danced.

Past Perfect: This is the same as Past Imperfect, except you use a helping verb, and the main (Swedish) verb takes the Supine form. We'll get to that.
                       Example: I have danced, I have walked, I have cooked.

These are the tenses I'll be covering to get you started. Future and passive tenses will come later. Check back in a day or so for the post covering Group 1 verbs.


Do you speak Swedish? Are you familiar with Swedish grammar? Let me know how I'm doing. Leave a comment below, or email me at tillswedish[at]gmail[dot]com.

Reality TV in Sweden

I want to preface this post with a couple of points.

1. This is more of a cultural exploration. If you're not into that, come back for the next post in a few days. The next one should be about verbs.

2. No matter how far off track I seem to go, I will come back to something (probably) useful.


Now on to the good stuff.

I'm an American, (calm down, there's more) and as such, I like to brag. I think we all do, to some degree. We like to boast about the things we've accomplished. We got the first flight. We made it to the moon first, though, not the first to space. One thing we didn't do first, was reality tv. No, ladies and gentleman, we have the Dutch to thank for that. At least, that's what wikipedia says.

However, a year after the Dutch show Nummer 28 aired, Americans took the idea, and we made it our own. This has in no way improved any part of American culture.

I was 8 years old when I had my first encounter with reality tv. It was 1992, and I was watching MTV. You know, back when they played music videos. I was waiting for that song by Ugly Kid Joe that I liked, when instead I was treated to this. The Real World. I didn't know it then, but we would soon be treated to Road Rules, Joe Millionaire, The Bachelor, Survivor, and a whole bunch of stuff we got from the U.K.

My 8 year old brain couldn't comprehend it. Why would anyone want to watch complete strangers make fools of themselves on national tv? 22 years later, I still don't get it.

So jump ahead to a few years ago, to the first time I wanted to learn Swedish. I was working the night shift at a hotel, so there was plenty of down time to watch youtube, and I came across something that caught my interest right away. Sweden, it seemed, had its own reality show. It was like Survivor had gone to Sweden. And the kicker: The contestants were Americans.





Allt för Sverige takes a group of Americans with ties to Sweden, and makes them compete against each other for the chance to meet their long lost relatives. Of course, I watched all eight episodes, cheering for the guy from Kentucky the whole time. I like to think of it as local pride.

I finished the show with the feeling that I had caught some special glimpse into Swedish culture. And then, in true starter fashion, I started something else.

Jump ahead again, to just recently. I was searching youtube for more videos in Swedish, when I came across three more seasons of Allt för Sverige. I wasted no time in getting into season 2, but as I watched I noticed one strange thing. Everyone was crying. Everyone. For no real reason.

*Dramatization* The group is walking along when one person stops and points. "Look, a house. My morfar lived in a house." And everyone starts crying.

It took a little time to figure it out, but it came to me. The reason everyone was crying, was because they were all Americans. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Americans sit around crying all the time. But we've been doing this reality tv thing for over twenty years. Put us in front of a camera and we can make it dramatic, or at least pretty uncomfortable.

Again, it's not one of those things we want to brag about, but turn on any reality show and you'll see it. Our reality stars will break down in tears for any reason. Friendships (none of them real) are made and broken in the span of a single episode. And if you add alcohol, sex and fist fights will follow.

So I have to wonder, do the Swedes go nuts for this stuff like Americans do? Did the producers of the show know what they were in for when they chose Americans? Was it on purpose? By season two, they must have known. Did they intentionally pick people who were capable of crying any time the camera turned on?

I think the answer to some of these questions is 'yes'. I think it was on purpose, and I think they knew exactly what they were getting. Why? Because Norway did it first.

Of course, none of this will stop me from watching. I love this show. I love the footage of the Swedish country side. I love getting little bits of culture I was previously unaware of. I don't love the Americans, though. I can see them any time I turn on my tv.


Now here is your chance to chime in. Are you familiar with Allt för Sverige? Do you want to voice your opinion about it? Do you think I've got it completely wrong? Let me know in the comments, or email me at tillswedish[at]gmail[dot]com.

Where I'm Going

Over the past few days, I've been trying to reacquaint myself with Swedish. To do that, I've been going over the Pimsleur course that I mentioned in the last post. Yes, even the creepy parts. Since this was the second time listening to it, I ignored the recommendation to do only one unit a day. With my rebellious attitude, I was able to breeze through the course in two days. Of course, it helped that I remembered more than I thought I would.

*A quick note: If you plan to take on the entire course at once, you'll need to take breaks. After a couple of hours, I lost my ability to actively listen. Whenever that happened, I would switch over to a Swedish news podcast, and listen passively. After a while, I was able to go back to the course.*

Like I've already mentioned, I don't like Pimsleur's listen and repeat style. There is nothing wrong with it. It's just not what works best for me. I have learned a lot from the Pimsleur course, however, and I feel like I understood some things better than the first time through. At this point, though, I'm only repeating specific phrases in specific situations. I have no idea why one verb ends in 'a' and later ends in 'ar'. I don't know how to convey any of my own thoughts in Swedish. Unless those thoughts have something to do with getting something to eat..... They usually do.

So this brings me to the first phase.


Learn some grammar.


I've chosen to start with verbs. The reason is simply personal preference. I like being able to say things are happening. You need verbs for that.
With verbs, of course, comes conjugation. I hate conjugating (especially if the rules aren't clearly defined), so all the more reason to figure it out and be done with it.

My plan of attack: I'm trying to keep my resources free if I can. Learning Swedish is not something I can sink a lot of money into. And shouldn't learning a language be free anyway?

With that being said, I'm starting on Wikipedia. Specifically, this page. I'll be reading through the section on verbs, probably a few times. Once I feel I've got a decent grasp on the subject, I'll try to put it into practice.

To do that, I'll be using this cool site. It's an interactive site to learn and practice over 600 Swedish verbs. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks promising.

*EDIT* There is a downloadable version to use offline, and a PDF file of grammar rules on the downloads page.

So that's my plan so far. In addition to keeping this blog updated with my progress, I'll also try to offer up explanations for any of the difficult parts I come across. That is, if I feel I understand it well enough.

So until next time.
Tack så mycket.
Dustin.

If you have any tips that I should know, feel free to leave a comment on this post, or email me at tillswedish[at]gmail[dot]com


Also. Here is this thing.

Where I'm At

First, let me tell you a bit about myself.

I'm a starter.

Whew! It feels good to get that off of my chest. What do I mean by starter? It's like the opposite of a quitter. I start things. Lots of things. I started this blog. I might start a youtube channel. Before this, I started a completely different blog. I started playing the ocarina once too.

I started learning Swedish a while back. I've also started learning German, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto, and Russian. I can even hold short conversations in some of them. I never quit any of that stuff, I just started other stuff.

So what does this have to do with learning Swedish by the summer of 2015? Nothing. At least, not directly. This is to document (as is everything I put here) the type of personality I have. It is an explanation of why this blog may go dormant. Of course, my goal is to update weekly as my proficiency increases. That's my goal.

As I mentioned before, this is not the first time I've tried to learn Swedish. I made it through most of the Pimsleur course. I stopped the course right about when it started to get creepy. How can a course begin with an innocent conversation on a train, and hours later the male voice actor is trying to pressure the female actor into a date? And he's always asking where her husband is. What's up with that, Pimsleur people? I don't think I want high pressure dating tactics to be a part of my curriculum.

Aside from the creepy stuff, I feel like I learned some useful phrases. So that should be helpful. I still have very little grasp on grammar. With the other languages, I used Michel Thomas cd's. I really like the foundation I got from those. I felt like I really understood how the language works. Unfortunately, I haven't found anything like that for Swedish.

I do have a small collection of Swedish resources. My next step is to go through those and formulate a plan of attack. I guess, until then, I can dust off the Pimsleur course. Or maybe I'll just listen to Black Ingvars. I have no idea what these guys are saying. But I will. Eventually.

Welcome

Hej and welcome to my new blog One Year Till Swedish. My name is Dustin and I'll be learning Swedish over the next year. The point of this blog is to document my progress.

Why Swedish? Why not? I've been interested in language learning for quite a while. I've also been fascinated with the Swedish language and culture ever since I met some people from that part of the world.

Why one year? That's about how long I have until I get a visit from one of my Swedish friends, and I'd like to able to communicate with him in his own language since he took the time to learn mine. Do I expect to reach fluency in a year? Nope. But I do believe I can become conversational within that time frame.

Why document it? This is not my first time trying to learn the language. The last time, I got discouraged due to lack of resources that worked for me. Also the lack of Swedish resources in general can be disheartening. This time, I hope that making my goals public will help keep me accountable for my goals. I would also like to leave something that might be helpful to other learners.

In the next few posts, I'll give some background about where I'm starting and in which direction I intend to go.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hej då