Tag Archives: learn Swedish

Learn the Swedish language by listening to music

Learn the Swedish language by listening to music

Learning a language it is beneficial to listen to and sing along to music in that language. You learn new words but more importantly you get a sense of the rhythm and intonation of the language, as well as learning pronunciation.

Below is a link to a popular summer song in Swedish, by Tomas Ledin. It is called “Sommaren är kort” – summer is short.

video with sing-along text.

To learn the Swedish language by listening to music you need to pick up the words in the song. I have made a Sommaren är kort – glosor translating Swedish into English.

Sing along!

Why the word out there really is international

International words

We love to travel and expatriate all over the globe. These days we connect on line with almost every country, and languages spread and sometimes mix. At least single words. There are loanwords, there are words mixed from two languages we often refer to as Swenglish (svengelska) or Frenglish (franglais) and so on, and there are international words. An international word is a great buddy when learning a foreign language. It makes it easier for you to start speaking and understand the language (but watch out for so called false friends!). A brief explanation of the international word follows, from a language perspective.

 

An international word is a word that

  • is spelled or pronounced similar in different languages, that are not related to each other
  • has the same or at least the similar meaning
  • shares etymology (history of the word)

The word following the description above – again referring to linguistics – is also called an internationalism. There are no set rules on how many languages the word needs to be detected in to be called international. Different major cultural areas can have their own set of internationalisms.

 

Here are a few examples in the Swedish language – I’m sure you recognize them:

polis

radio

blogg

fotboll

golf

taxi

stress

tsunami

hotell

maskin

mikrofon

visum

komedi

transport

 

Can you think of more words?

here is a link to English international words

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Some international words in the Swedish language

Online Swedish language-tutoring

Online Swedish language training

Language is part of a culture. When you learn a language you also learn the culture connected to it and vice versa. It’s fun and valuable to know different languages. Now Swedish isn’t exactly one of the most influential languages in the universe but it might still be important to you.

I have studied and learnt several languages in my life. The methods and situations have been different, depending on the teaching institute and the teachers, as well as me and my current situation. Looking back, the most valuable and rewarding classes have been the ones where I constantly practiced speaking. It goes without saying that this was easier when I had private tutoring, or was in a smaller group of students.

As an expat, language studies have often proved to be the first social networking for me, and a routine in making a new life for me and my family. Yes, it involved breaks for diaper-changes and preparing a bottle. Sometimes we took the tutoring outside, to enjoy the weather and to accommodate the needs of a toddler longing for the garden swing.

Talking, talking, talking!

To really learn how to speak a language I think it is important to have enough opportunities. And to seize them, of course. The more you speak the easier it gets.

In order to make it interesting and motivational the learning should also relate to topics of the students interests or learning needs. Perhaps reading poems is not on the immediate priority list.

Learning a new language should be fun and without stress! For many it is hard to fit in language training in a busy schedule. Online tutoring can often solve that problem. The Swedish classes I offer are usually half hour conversations and it works well. I am flexible when it comes to timing and recurrence, and my students can choose if and how much work they want to do in between our sessions.

Taking the first step can sometimes seem hard. But guess what, that first step is just an e-mail or a phone call!

Why not make this year the year of learning or improving your Swedish!? In the comfort of your own home.

contact charlotta@globatris.se

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