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.

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).

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?

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.