Jag fick en förfrågan om assistans från Tove Bergqvist som är med och producerar ett familjeprogram om utlandssvenskar för TV. Hon söker familjer som bor i utlandet, och som är intresserade av att deltaga. Uppropet gäller också er som är på väg att flytta utomlands. Jag bad Tove skriva ihop en kortare text, vilken följer nedan:
“Vi söker barnfamiljer som har flyttat/är på väg att flytta utomlands! Det är ett nytt familjeprogram som ska visa hur det är att dra upp sina rötter och flytta med familjen till ett annat ställe och börja om med vardag och det berömda livspusslet. Det får gärna vara något udda, kanske ett ovanligt jobb eller en spännande stad/plats, lite äventyrligt helt enkelt! Ena föräldern och barnen ska prata svenska. Stämmer det in på er eller någon ni känner? Vi tar tacksamt emot alla tips! För mer info maila till tove.bergqvist@art89.se”
Jag hoppas att programmet blir en bra balans till Svenska Hollywoodfruar och bilden många har av utlandssvensken. Som Tove skriver finns det en vardag och ett livspussel utomlands också. Dessa skall dessutom hanteras på ett annat språk och i en främmande kultur med allt vad annorlunda normer och värderingar kan innebära.
If you are learning Swedish a dictionary is a must. Online or as a book. However I suggest that you also try to get used to a thesaurus. The thesaurus will provide “explanations” by listing a few synonyms in – in this case – Swedish. Sometimes you will find antonyms too. No translations; immersion in Swedish language; a great way to expand the vocabulary.
If you know Swedish already you need one too :). We are never fully educated.
You can use Svenska Akademiens Ordlista – the link takes you to its online Swedish thesaurus. It also comes as a book, of course. With the help of this Swedish thesaurus you also conveniently check spelling, whether it is “en” or “ett“, conjugations of verbs, inflection and declension. And here is the good news – it comes as an app. A free one. Gratis! (means “free”) Grattis! (means “congratulations”). Links at bottom of post. It is far more lighter to carry around in your pocket than the real thing. Promise.
I want to wish those of you who celebrate the tradition of Christmas a very Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to you who don’t! May you all have some lovely and peaceful time. Some of you might spend time with family, some don’t. If you are an expat holidays and festivities can be surprisingly tough if you don’t have the opportunity to go “home”, since it is a reminder of what you have (temporarily?) lost. It is perfectly normal.
A special thank you to all of my customers this year!
Christmas time is here. Again! Whether you celebrate the tradition of Christmas or not you might be interested in picking up a word or two in Swedish, related to the season.
This poster is free to print (you would make me happy though if you shared it or left a comment) – put it up somewhere where you make sure you lay your eyes on the words at least daily.
One of the most exciting and charming aspects of different cultures are the different traditions. The best part is that they are usually free to adopt! On Sunday the 1st of December Sweden celebrates 1st Day of Advent (första advent). This marks the beginning of the Christmas – unless you haven’t been able to avoid Christmas Markets already in November.
You probably know that it is common among Swedes to not pay many – or any – visits to church during the year.1st of Advent is however doubtless one of the most popular Sundays to attend the church, if any.
So what is Swedish Advent all about; beyond religion? Well, there is “fika” involved (surprised?). We might invite/be invited to friends and family to enjoy a cup of coffee, lussebullar (saffron bread) and ginger bread cookies. Not to mention a loaf of soft ginger bread and perhaps a few more cakes and cookies. “Glögg” (mulled wine) is also popular. You sip from small cups, often with almonds, hazel nuts and raisins floating on the ruby red, spicy surface. Glögg is made with various contents of alcohol as well as totally without (“saftglögg”). For advent we also bring out and decorate our special candle light holder; holding one candle for each of the Sundays in Advent. On the 1st of Advent we light the first candle and let it burn – not too long since it is supposed to last until 4th of Advent. On the 2nd of Advent we light not only the first but also the second candle. You get it. The candle light holder (“adventsljusstake”) is traditionally decorated with moss, mushrooms and sometimes lingonberry sprigs. I use walnuts in one of mine. I have been toying with the idea of decorating only with candy but have resisted the temptation so far.
adventssljustake
End of November and December are dark times in Sweden, literally speaking. We do what we can to brighten up the surroundings – also literally – by decorating gardens and balconies with garland-style lights; preferably in white; however colorful lights are not uncommon. Our windows are decorated with an Advent star; by tradition a hanging paper star but an Advent star standing on the window sill is increasingly popular. It has to fight over the space on the sill though, since this is normally the place for the electric seven armed candlestick (not to be confused with the menora) that not only decorate the windows of our homes but also the ones of our workplaces, as well as most official and commercial buildings.
adventsstjärna
If 1st of Advent coincides with 1st of December another tradition also commences on this day; the Advent Calendar (“adventskalender” or “julkalender”). The most common calendar is made of thicker paper and holds 24 windows (“luckor”). On each day until Christmas (celebrated on the 24th of December in Sweden) children get to open one window to reveal a picture. The most popular calendar is probably the televised version; a story with a new episode on each day in December. You can buy the calendar in the grocery store. After you have watched the episode you open the window and find something related to what you just saw. Advent calendars also come with chocolate, toys (lego, playmobil etc.) or other surprises, in addition to different shapes, designs and materials. These days there are also calendars trying to break into a market of not only children. For instance there are Advent calendars with beauty products or lottery tickets.
adventskalenderThis Advent Calendar I bought in the States. It is from Germany.
Oh, and windows must be washed for 1st of Advent. It is the busy season for window cleaners as well as for DIYers.
Greg Poehler’s character moves to Sweden to start a new life – because of love. He hasn’t prepared himself for entering a new culture which obviously make room for odd – and seen from an outside point of view; amusing – situations due to culture clashes and not knowing the language.
The show is to be aired on TV4 in 2014 and has also been bought by NBC.
This clip shows an interview with Greg Poehler, an American who himself has moved to Sweden for love, talking about the show. There are also some clips from the comedy show. The first few sentences are in Swedish, but the rest are in English, so stay tuned!
Free printable – Learn Swedish Free Printable Fall
I love the fall and the colors of this vibrant season. It inspired me to make this printable design of Swedish words connected with fall in Sweden. Print and frame or pin it somewhere. Pretty to look at and if you are learning Swedish you are killing two birds with one stone (“att slå två flugor i en smäll”)!
It is free for you to print however it would make me happy if you left a comment and/or paid a visit to Globatris on facebook and liked it! You can also tweet it super duper handy here.
Just click on the picture above, right click and select print, or copy, paste to scale to the size you prefer.
Wordlist:
höst = fall
löv = leaf or leaves
varma jackor = warm jackets
äpplen = apples
handskar = gloves
höstlov = fall break
blåbär = blueberries
november = December – just kidding; November of course 🙂
familj & vänner = family & friends
skördetider = harvest times
promenader = walks
en god bok = a good book
skogen = the forrest
färger = colors
lingon = lingonberries
Allahelgona = All saints
svamp = mushroom
This certainly is a picturesque place! I held a Swedish conversation class in here in October. With most of my office portable; resources and knowledge, I managed to assist one of my customers on a Friday afternoon by the use of brain and a stable internet connection.
Could have done without the bees though; ready to attack anyone who approached the sticky puddle of lemonade on one of the benches. No more bees during Swedish lessons please.
Moving between countries and continents can cause moments of confusion also in the kitchen. Once we have managed to decipher and find the – at least almost – proper ingredients there’s the task of converting volume and weight to something recognizable enough not to make our dish or pastry completely inedible. The conversions causing the deepest sighs in my kitchen are probably the ones where volume needs to be replaced by mass or vice versa.
Long time ago I bought measurement cups that specify both ml, cups and fl. oz. Quite handy. Whenever I need more help I google.
However I came across an app with pretty much all the conversations I can think of; apart from weight and volume a few examples are currency, distance, temperature. You can also convert within the areas of yarn, running, price comparisons and dog years. Ok, so it does not contain clothes and women’s shoe sizes (only mens shoe sizes for some reason). Now that’s a minus!
The app also comes with a tip calculator. And if you are in Sweden/are a Swede; a function for splitting the bill. 😉
The iphone version of the app is free for download here
Speaking of cooking; to be able to quickly convert measurements of different kinds is surely also on the rise the more we search for recipes online; the more we share our food culture online.
We all want to get mail. The right kind of mail. Forget e-mail, bills and surveys. MAIL as in postcards. Lovely handwritten postcards. Wouldn’t you like this? I made a small challenge earlier this fall – I suggested to a few twitter peeps that we all would send five postcards to friends that particular weekend. I guess we all sent store bought ones. Well, actually I sent one DIY card.
I’ve just been presented with another opportunity to craft and send my very own postcards. This time to people I have never met. How exciting isn’t that? Another bonus is that I get DIY cards in return!
Handcrafted mail! Do I have your attention? Yes? Thought so! Move over to iHanna’s web to read more. Hanna is one of these lovely creative ladies that inspire folks to do stuff like this. Twice a year she hosts a Do it Yourself Postcard Swap. All you need to do is sign up, pay 6 bucks for administration and drag out your stash of creative treasures. Or grab a magazine from the paper recycling box and start tearing pics out for collages. It can all be made simple as long as you are having fun with it! Create ten handmade postcards in any style, mail them and start enjoying that walk to your mailbox.
I started on a few postcards the other day, while doing other creative work. This is how it looked. Base is red but I am sure that will change!
DIY postcard swap
I am looking forward to not only creating and receiving DIY postcards but also to discover and follow the progress of participants in the postcard swap!
Are you in?
Postcard in Swedish is vykort. Vy means “view” and kort means “card”.
