Well – test it in this quiz app! Quite advanced level, but you can always learn from it! Try the version without time limit first.
Great quiz for native speaking Swedes too đ – race against time!
I find this app from Norstedts highly user friendly. Avoid competing against time if you feel the infamous stress! I usually recommend this app to my Swedish students, for fun and for learning.
Swedish music – in Swedish. Far more popular today than a couple of decades ago when English was the only thinkable language if you wanted to grow a career as an artist.
Music is very much a part of a country’s culture. It is a way to stay connected to the home culture and language once you move abroad, as well as an excellent way to learn a new language and connect with the culture in a hosting country.
I sometimes get questions about recommendations for Swedish music – where the singing is done in Swedish. I usually share it on twitter or e-mail, or in person. I have also done a few blog posts on the topic earlier. Today it crossed my mind; why not make it a series of blog posts? So here goes; a post in the series Swedish music – in Swedish.
Today I present Lars WinnerbÀck and his song Utkast till ett brev (Draft for a Letter)
Since I am teaching Swedish on-line, I sometimes make glossaries for Swedish music to give my students, together with links to videos and texts. You can find an example here.
If you have Swedish ancestors and are interested in genealogy the language barrier might be a problem unless you speak Swedish. Many words found on old documents cannot be found in regular on-line dictionaries. Here is a link to a website covering many words associated with genealogy; from English to Swedish.
If you need from Swedish to English take a peek at this website.
Good luck!
We encourage and praise our children when they color inside the lines in their coloring books.
But; hey!
Color outside the lines!
Outside the lines you are familiar with, that is. Go find new patterns and boundaries; new lines. Discover other worlds, cultures and views!
“Oro ger ofta smĂ„ ting en stor skugga.”
End of August and summer is still with us, at least in my part of Sweden. Fall is approaching however, and proof of that is to be found at the local food store. As is in the forrest đ
lingon
kantareller
Reading is learning. Reading is traveling. I would say that to read is to rest and activate the brain at the same time – depending on what you are reading and what the purpose of it is.
I have not yet taken to read books on a tablet. I prefer to hold the book, flip through the crispy pages, smell the paper and insert post-its where I find something memorable. I also love a nice cover. I usually read in Swedish or English, but try to read at least a couple of books in German every year too. I think it is a good way to keep up the language and also to learn new words; especially the new, trendier words.
Despite my love for the physical book I don’t mind reading shorter texts on a screen. There’s a webpage I use where you can read extracts from books published in Sweden. This is useful and inspiring when you look for something to read in Swedish. But it is not only valuable to native speakers – I also sometimes use it for my Swedish classes.
The website is www.provlas.se
Here are a few tips on what to read if you are learning Swedish – children or adults, beginners or advanced, first language or second!
Any good reads lately? In Swedish IÂ am currently reading “En man som heter Ove”
If you’ve ever encountered surströmming you will never forget the smell. Surströmming is fermented herring and it smells like … fermented herring (repeat words slowly and think about them). Surströmming has such a bad, intense, long lasting odour that it’s commonly used for pranks. Like an opened can under the bed in the newlyweds’ suite.
Today is the annual premiere for surströmming. Read more about the dish here.
There is nothing like seeing new places, meeting new people and experience new situations to broaden your horizons. You learn not only about the world and its people but also about yourself. Moving abroad might be the ultimate test in this school of life, but traveling is excellent too! We carry memories for life, perhaps friendship or even love. We fill our cameras and smartphones with photos. Pictures are a great medium for remembering, but what about the written word? Do you keep travel notes? There are many travel blogs out there; perhaps a way for people to just keep notes. A simple note book (or a fancy one đ ) will do to! As will of course digital tools.
You might take notes to remember places, to describe sights. It can be for your eyes only or for your children who travel with you, or even for generations to come to discover. Sometimes when you write you see things more in detail. You notice the smells, the colors, the feeling you have at that point. How food tasted. Smell/taste in particular is hard to capture on a photo – yet.
The pen brings out an awareness on another level, at least in me. This does not mean I always take travel notes; not at all. But I am happy about the notes I have taken in the past. It is fun to read, and always surprising. I find things in my note books that I had totally forgotten about! Small situations, conversations or details. It is a sure trip down memory lane.
Taking notes is also a great way to see how you change yourself. I have previously written about taking early notes when you move abroad to savor the first impressions – after a while you won’t even notice the details you first found so striking.
Travel does not always have to be in real life though. You can travel by books and movies. Today we have fantastic means to travel online; videos, information and people. Connect and learn, take part in chats, follow country accounts on Twitter (Rotation Curation); share and ask! You can still take notes!
Tell me, do you take notes? Do you keep them in a note book or online? What do you do with them?
Join the Twitter chat on Sweden Aug 14! The community of #seetheworld will share and learn about Sweden! Whether you have already been to Sweden or not, live here or don’t, know something about it or nothing at all – come join us! This is a nice opportunity to chat about Sweden with fellow curious twitter friends. And, to connect with new friends! We all want to #seetheworld!
To join the conversation log in to Twitter and follow the hashtag #SeeTheWorld.
You can also follow
me, the co-host, @globatris
the founders @theCultureur and @RovingAltruist
and of course @SeeTheWorldChat
https://twitter.com/thecultureur/status/365212764148473856
