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Daily Swedish Lesson #101

To work on my reading comprehesion, I'd figure it would be fun to pick a random Wikipedia article and see how much I would understand. I also added some questions about the article at the bottom of the list! Please let me know what you think the answers are and whether this idea is cringey or not lol

Subject: Wikipedia slumpartikel

Slumpartikel = random article

Skolman = schoolman, educator from the 19th century

Folkhögskola = [similar to] community college

Tjänstgjorde = served, worked at

Modersmål = native language

Tillika = also, at the same time

Ledamot = member

Föreläsningsföreningen = the lecture association

Folkskolestyrelsen = the public school board

Lönenämnden = salary board, pay committee

Some questions about the text:

How long did it take Daniel Toijer to become 'Doctor of Philosophy'?

Which two jobs did Daniel Toijer have in 1932 at Kristinehamn?

What different jobs did Daniel Toijer have? (I counted 5)

Of which committees and communities was Daniel Toijer a member?

Which subjects did Daniel Toijer teach in Visby?

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Daily Swedish Lesson #100

Remember when I said I was back, posted 5 lists and disappeared again for a whole month? Anyway, hope you enjoy this vocab list!

Subject: wikipedia

Huvudsida = main page

Källa = source

Verktyg = tools

Skapa konto = create an account

Utseende = appearance

Dölj = conceal

Bredd = width

Ljus/Mörk = light/dark

Deltagande = participation

Utmärkt = excellent

Den fria encyklopedin som alla kan redigera. = The free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

Med öppet och fritt innehåll = With open and free content

Utvecklas av frivilliga bidragsgivare. = Developed by voluntary contributors.

Så här är Wikipedia uppbyggt. = This is how Wikipedia is structured.

Stöd Wikipedia = Support Wikipedia

Just nu finns det 2.610.938 artiklar på svenska. = There are currently 2.610.938 articles in Swedish.

Nyligen avlidna = recently deceased

Pågående eller kommande händelser = ongoing or upcoming events

Mest visad igår = most viewed yesterday

Visste du att = did you know that

Source

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Thank you so much!

Hello! Someone sent me a request for recommendations regarding Swedish literature/shows/series. So, I thought I would share it with everyone just in case. Now I don't really know what level of beginner you are (imo there's several steps for that!) but I'll try nonetheless ☺️

I always recommend to watch or read things that are well-known for you to begin with, like for example Disney shows or movies you already know, right, but dubbed! That way you know what the story and details are about as is, and it's a great tool to get used to a language. To make it more advanced you can skip the subtitles.

Some Disney examples would be

Aladdin

Kim Possible

Lilo & Stitch

Recess

Tangled

But honestly, there's a lot of different animated and non-animated productions that we have dubbed, whether it's from Disney or Dreamworks or whatnot. Like Shrek have a dub, Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, and so on.

Now material that are actually Swedish from the start!

Old tv shows for kids:

Bamse

About a bear called Bamse, and he grows mighty strong by his grandmother's honey. It's basically a story about him, his family and his friends.

Doktor Mugg

*"Muggen" is slang for toilet, so it's not a show about mugs and kitchenware but toilet villain and silly macho hero!

Eva & Adam

Romantic comedy about school and friends in elementary/primary school.

Fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter (Five ants are more than four elephants)

There are three hosts and they have sketches and songs while also educating the viewer about the alphabet, numbers and other things.

Tillbaka till Vintergatan (Back to the Milky Way)

Basically a space adventure about astronauts and aliens.

Vi på Saltkråkan (Seacrow Island)

Astrid Lindgren made plenty books that turned into tv-shows at the time, this one is about a small island and the people living there and their everyday life.

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Eva & Adam have books as well (never read them myself, but they exist) and Bamse used to serialise comic magazines and I loved them as a kid back in the day.

Tv shows for adults:

*Disclaimer: Some of these I haven't really watched myself but I know a lot of people enjoy them, so therefore they're included in the list!

Farmen (The Farm)

It's about a certain amount of participators that are supposed to live like farmers in the 1800s for a couple of weeks. So they don't have running water or electricity, and so on.

Frostbiten (Frostbitten)

Documentary about life in the North Arctic. The host and viewer meet people that live in the world’s most isolated places and about temperatures dropping as low as -60°C degrees.

Första dejten (The first date)

Reality show about singles that get matched by the tv show itself and they meetup at this bar. It's based on the British series called First Dates.

Robinson

Survival game on an island for participators. I believe every country have one of these, just like Idol and × Got Talent.

Another thing I recommend is children's books, or picture books, and they're great if you're a beginner. For classic children's literature go to my #Swedish-literature posts! I haven't updated them with more authors though, so besides Astrid Lindgren & Elsa Beskow, there are plenty more!

📬Some oldies

Adjö, herr Muffin (Goodbye Mr Muffin) by Ulf Nilsson, Anna-Clara Tidholm

Petter och hans fyra getter (Petter and his four goats) by Einar Norelius

Picture books series✨️

Emma by Gunilla Wilde

Kotten by Lena Anderson (*The title and name of the character would be translated as "the (pine) cone" and it's a wordplay of the Swedish word for hedgehog which is "igelkott")

Mamma Mu och Kråkan (Mamma Moo and Crow) by Jujja Weislander, Sven Nordqvist

Pettson och Findus (Pettson and Findus) by Sven Nordqvist

Let's see, a few recent picture books are:

Jag vill ha min hatt (I want my hat back) by Jon Klassen

Sigrid och natten (Sigrid and the night) by Jöns Möllgren

Siv sover vilse (Siv sleeps herself lost) by Pija Lindenbaum

I think it's probably Pettson and Findus, and Goodbye Mr Muffin that tends to lean towards more text in their books. BUT I'm not entirely sure, so take it with a grain of salt! If you want books that are more heavy in text, I recommend the posts I mentioned earlier since I list some more of them there. They are still children's books but for older ages. There are books for ages 9-12 year old, which should be more challenging, but that one I would need to make a separate post for another day. Do tell me if that's something interesting for you, and I will compile a little list! Anyways, I hope this was helpful in any way for you and others! 💗

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Daily Swedish Lesson #99

Here's some more vocab to help you with reading comprehension! Please note that the 'right' translation of these words are often dependent on the context, so their use might be different from what I wrote in this vocablist.

Subject: Linking words - Time

Förr, tidigare = formerly, previously

Senare, efter = later, after

När = when

Först, främst = first, foremost

Nu = now

Omedelbar, direkt, genast = immediately, directly, right away

Snart, strax = soon, right away

Samtidigt, på samma gang = at the same time

Medan, när = while, when

Då = then

Some example sentences:

Förr stod det en kyrka här. = Before, there was a church here.

Inte ens en minut senare. = Not a minute later.

När(helst) du vill. = Whenever you want.

Jag måste få sova ut först. = I need to get some sleep first.

Nu gäller det. = Now it's time.

Direkt efter min återkomst. = Immediately after my return.

Jag kommer (alldeles) strax till er. = I will come to you (very) soon.

Vi kom fram samtidigt. = We arrived at the same time.

Medan/när jag stod i duschen, ringde det på dörren. = When I was showering, the doorbell rang.

I morgon är vi lediga, då ska vi gå ut. = Tomorrow we are free, then we will go out.

Related vocab lists: 84. Prepositions | 98. Transition/linking words

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Daily Swedish Lesson #98

Here's a little vocab list that might help you with your reading comprehension! Please note that the 'right' translation of these words are often dependent on the context, so their use might be different from what I wrote in this vocablist.

Subject: transition words

Transitional terms give writers the opportunity to prepare readers for a new idea, connecting the previous sentence to the next one. (source: Merriam Webster)

Men, aber = but

För, eftersom = because

(Där)för att, eftersom = because, as

Till exempel = for example, for instance

Så(ledes), alltså = therefore, then

Dessutom, därtill = moreover, in addition

Å ena sidan / å andra sidan = on the one hand / on the other hand

Ju, när allt kommer omkring, på det hela taget = after all

Alltnog, nåväl = in short, anyway, anyhow

Under = during

Some example sentences:

Hon var väldigt bra, men sedan gick det utför. = She was very good, but then things went downhill.

Han kan inte komma för/eftersom han är sjuk. = He can't come because he is sick.

Till exempel ett äpple. = For example, an apple.

Inte för att jag inte skulle vilja. = Not because I don't want to.

Ni vill alltså inte sälja det? = So you don't want to sell it?

Han avskedades och fick dessutom böter. = He was fired and moreover/in addition, fined.

Å ena sidan är han väldigt stilig, å andra sidan är han väldigt oförskämd. = On the one hand he is very handsome, on the other hand he is very rude.

Hon är ju bara ett barn. = She is just a child.

Nåväl, för att göra en lång historia kort. = Anyhow, to make a long story short.

Under min frånvaro. = During my absence.

Related vocab lists: 25. Pronouns | 84. Prepositions

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Daily Swedish Lesson #97

By popular demand, another ABBA song in Swedish!

Learning Swedish with ABBA, part. 2

Honey, Honey

[Vers 1: Agnetha & Frida] Honey, honey, underbara, aha, honey honey Honey, honey, söta rara, aha, honey honey De viskar så söta ord Du är deras allt på jord Det där ska du inte tro, bara ta det med ro Sånt är bara smicker

Honey, honey, how you thrill me, aha, honey honey Honey, honey, nearly kill me, aha, honey honey I'd heard about you before I wanted to know some more And now I know what they mean, you're a love machine Oh, you make me dizzy

[Vers 2: Agnetha & Frida] Honey, honey, inte illa, aha, honey honey Honey, honey, flicka lilla, aha, honey honey Den kvarnen som mal är tom Och det är en ynkedom Nej, killar som snackar så litar ingen på

Honey, honey, let me feel it, aha, honey honey Honey, honey, don't conceal it, aha, honey honey The way that you kiss goodnight (The way that you kiss me goodnight) The way that you hold me tight (The way that you're holding me tight) I feel like I wanna sing when you do your thing

[Refräng: Björn and Agnetha & Frida] Det brukar va' de som sviker, som ivrigast hållit me' Men vet man det bara så kan man nog klara det Tro inte på önskesmicker, och passa dig vad du gör Och håll dig med benen på jorden, ja, vad du än hör

I don't wanna hurt you, baby, I don't wanna see you cry So stay on the ground, girl, you better not get too high But I'm gonna stick to you, boy, you'll never get rid of me There's no other place in this world where I rather would be

[Vers 3: Agnetha & Frida] Honey, honey, viskar alla, aha, honey honey Honey, honey, lätt att falla, aha, honey honey Men tro bara det du vill Och lägg inte märke till Det söta du alltid hör, som så många gör

Honey, honey, touch me, baby, aha, honey honey Honey, honey, hold me, baby, aha, honey honey You look like a movie star (You look like a movie star) But I know just who you are (I know just who you are) And, honey, to say the least, you're a dog-gone beast

[Refräng: Björn and Agnetha & Frida] Tro inte på smicker, nej, passa dej vad du gör Ja, håll dig med benen på jorden, ja, vad du än hör

So stay on the ground, girl, you better not get too high There's no other place in this world where I rather would be

[Vers 4: Agnetha & Frida] Honey, honey, underbara, aha, honey honey Honey, honey, söta rara, aha, honey honey Men socker är inte allt Så ta't me' en nypa salt Och är du förståndig sen, tar du inte en Nej, de' tar du med..

Honey, honey, how you thrill me, aha, honey honey Honey, honey, nearly kill me, aha, honey honey I heard about you before (I heard about you before) I wanted to know some more (I wanted to know you some more) And now I know what they mean You're a love machine Oh, you make me dizzy

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Daily Swedish Lesson #96

Author's note: not gonna lie, it's a bit difficult to keep track of which subjects I have posted about before. I thought I had posted about jobs before, but I guess not then? Anyway, here's a new vocab list, hope you like it!

Subject: Jobbar

En lärare = a teacher

En brandman = a firefighter

En polis = a cop

En revisor = an accountant

En politiker = a politician

En sjuksköterska = a nurse

En bagare = a baker

En frisör = a barber

En brevbärare = a postman

En kock = a cook

En pilot = a pilot

En veterinär = a vet

En soldat = a soldier

En vetenskapsman = a scientist

En bonde = a farmer

Some example sentences:

Han tjänar mycket men så jobbar han också hårt. = He earns a lot but he also works hard.

en omstridd politiker = a controversial politician

Vill du kila in hos bagaren (efter vägen)? = Would you like to stop by the bakery?

Jag har tid hos frisören klockan fyra. = I have an appointment at the hairdresser's at four o'clock.

Han är brevbärare, liksom sin bror. = He is a postman, like his brother.

Komplimanger till kocken. = Compliments to the cook/chef.

Piloten kunde landa säkert. = The pilot was able to land safely.

Den okände soldatens grav = The tomb of the unknown soldier

En bondlurk/tölp = a rude farmer

Related vocab lists: 67. Politics

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Daily Swedish Lesson #95

Look at me, posting again. Let's see how long I can keep this up lol.

Subject: Country - Language - Inhabitant, pt. I

Sverige - Svenska - Svensk

Finland - Finska - Finsk

Norge - Norska - Norsk

England - Engelska - Engelsk

Frankrike - Franska - Fransk

Tyskland - Tysk - Tyska

Nederländerna - Nederländerska - Nederländsk

Spanien - Spanska - Spansk

Danmark - Danska - Dansk

Italien - Italienska - Italiensk

Some example sentences:

På bruten engelska = in broken English

Ge någon en dansk skalle = to headbutt someone

För att vara svensk talar an utmärkt holländska = for a Swede, he speaks excellent Dutch

Sverige möter Norge i finalen = Sweden meets Norway in the finals

Hon har bott i Norge i två år. = She has been living in Norway for 2 years.

Inte kunna ett ord franska = can't speak a word of French

Min franska äre lite röstig = my French is a little rusty

Lukta på spanska = make a small study of

Vad heter det på nederländerska? = What is it called in Dutch?

Som det heter på svenska = as it is called in Swedish

Related vocablists: 1. Världskarta | 29. Languages

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Daily Swedish Lesson #94

Authors note It's been awhile since I posted anything. I can't promise I'm back for good, but with uni (finally) slowing down, I want to get back into some language learning.

Learning Swedish with ABBA

What's a better way to learn Swedish than with ABBA? Below, you will find the official Swedish version of the song 'Waterloo' by ABBA, with its English version directly under it.

Waterloo

[Vers 1] Jo, jo - vid Waterloo Napoleon fick ge sig Men, men - sitt öde kan man möta på så många skilda sätt

My, my - At Waterloo Napoleon did surrender Oh, yeah - And I have met my destiny in quite a similar way

[Brygga] Själv känner jag, sen jag mött dig Historien upprepar sig

The history book on the shelf Is always repeating itself

[Refräng] Waterloo, jag är besegrad, nu ger jag mig Waterloo, lovar med nöje att älska dig Waterloo, allting känns rätt, och det är min tro Waterloo, du är mitt öde, mitt Waterloo Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Waterloo Du är mitt öde, mitt Waterloo

Waterloo, I was defeated, you won the war Waterloo, promise to love you forevermore Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to Waterloo, knowing my fate is to be with you Woah, woah, woah, woah, Waterloo Finally facing my Waterloo

[Vers 2] Jo, jo - man värjer sig och fäktas i det längsta Men, men - mot känslor kämpar gudarna förgäves har man sagt

My, my - I tried to hold you back, but you were stronger Oh, yeah - And now it seems my only chance is giving up the fight

[Brygga] Det är som jag hörde en sång Jag tror det är kärlek på gång

And how could I ever refuse? I feel like I win when I lose

[Refräng] Waterloo, så har man funnit sin överman Waterloo, mäktig och väldig och stark är han Waterloo, allting känns rätt, och det är min tro Waterloo, du är mitt öde, mitt Waterloo Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Waterloo Du är mitt öde, mitt Waterloo

Waterloo, I was defeated, you won the war Waterloo, promise to love you forevermore Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to Waterloo, knowing my fate is to be with you Woah, woah, woah, woah, Waterloo Finally facing my Waterloo

[Brygga] Det är som jag hörde en sång Jag tror det är kärlek på gång

So how could I ever refuse? I feel like I win when I lose

[Outro] Waterloo, allting känns rätt, och det är min tro Waterloo, du är mitt öde, mitt Waterloo Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Waterloo Du är mitt öde, mitt Waterloo Waterloo, du är mitt öde, mitt Waterloo Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Waterloo Waterloo, du är mitt öde, mitt Waterloo Waterloo, du är mitt öde, mitt Waterloo

Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to Waterloo, knowing my fate is to be with you Woah, woah, woah, woah, Waterloo Finally facing my Waterloo Woo-ooh-ooh-ooh Waterloo, knowing my fate is to be with you Woah, woah, woah, woah, Waterloo Finally facing my Waterloo Woo-ooh-ooh-ooh Waterloo, knowing my fate is to be with you

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Serious question: how do we read books in our target languages?

Like, does anyone have a strategy?

Do you guys only consume stories you're already familiar with or does it matter to you?

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I'm a big fan of extensive reading apps for language learning, and even collaborated on such an app some 10 years ago. It eventually had to be shut down, sadly enough.

Right now, the biggest one in the market is the paywalled LingQ, which is pretty good, but well, requires money.

There's also the OG programs, LWT (Learning With Texts) and FLTR (Foreign Language Text Reader), which are so cumbersome to set up and use that I'm not going to bother with them.

I presently use Vocab Tracker as my daily driver, but I took a spin around GitHub to see what fresh new stuff is being developed. Here's an overview of what I found, as well as VT itself.

(There were a few more, like Aprelendo and TextLingo, which did not have end-user-friendly installations, so I'm not counting them).

Vocab Tracker

++ Available on web ++ 1-5 word-marking hotkeys and instant meanings makes using it a breeze ++ Supports websites

-- Default meaning/translation is not always reliable -- No custom languages -- Ugliest interface by far -- Does not always recognise user-selected phrases -- Virtually unusable on mobile -- Most likely no longer maintained/developed

Lute

++ Supports virtually all languages (custom language support), including Hindi and Sanskrit ++ Per-language, customisable dictionary settings ++ Excellent, customisable hotkey support

-- No instant meaning look-up makes it cumbersome to use, as you have to load an external dictionary for each word -- Docker installation

LinguaCafe

++ Instant meanings thanks to pre-loaded dictionaries ++ Supports ebooks, YouTube, subtitles, and websites ++ Customisable fonts ++ Best interface of the bunch

== Has 7 word learning levels, which may be too many for some

-- Hotkeys are not customisable (yet) and existing ones are a bit cumbersome (0 for known, for eg.) -- No online dictionary look-up other than DeepL, which requires an API key (not an intuitive process) -- No custom languages -- Supports a maximum of 15,000 characters per "chapter", making organising longer texts cumbersome -- Docker installation

Dzelda

++ Supports pdf and epub ++ Available on web

-- Requires confirming meaning for each word to mark that word, making it less efficient to read through -- No custom languages, supports only some Latin-script languages -- No user-customisable dictionaries (has a Google Form to suggest more dictionaries)

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if you get this, answer with three random facts about yourself and send it to the last seven blogs in your notifs! anon or not, doesn’t matter, let’s get to know the person behind the blog <3

First of all; thank you to both anons who send me this even though I'm barely active anymore!

My reasoning for learning a new language is always completely random. Originally I started learning Swedish in high school because I was bored. Right now, I'm studying Chinese because my friends speak it and I felt left out.

Idk if anyone has seen the tiktok about Swedish people in winter, where you continuously see people slip on the icy streets? But I'm proud to say that during the winter I was there, I managed to fall flat on my ass only once. I call that a win.

Since I've experienced -20 degrees (once), I've been a changed woman. Here in the Netherlands, it barely gets past -2 degrees. Which is quite warmer than -20 degrees. So since getting back to the Netherlands, I've honestly barely touched my winter coat.

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Just to show you guys just *how many* birds there are actually eating the goat

Holy shit there are so many birds

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Just thought I'd let you all know that in lieu of being burned, nature itself has this year turned upon Gävlebocken and it is currently being devoured by a flock of birds

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December 13 - St. Lucia’s Day

Hi guys! Could you even imagine my initial plan was to post something everyday of December? I’m literally drowning in studying. I have to hand in a paper before tomorrow night and I still have to write about 3000 words. Anyway, Happy St. Lucia’s Day!

Today is Saint Lucy’s day in Scandinavia! The fest is also known as ‘Lucia Day’ or ‘the feast of Saint Lucy’ and in Swedish simply as ‘Lucia’. This day, the Swedes celebrate the light in the dark days of winter. Lucia was an ancient mythical figure with an abiding role as bearer of light in the dark Swedish winters.

The video and song are by youtuber Jonna Jinton, a swedish photographer and artist living in Grundtjärn. She makes videos about living in a remote part of Sweden, old Swedish songs and travel vlogs. Most of her videos are Swedish with English subtitles available. All credit goes to her.

Website; https://jonnajinton.se/

Youtube channel; https://www.youtube.com/user/JonnaJinton

Instagram-account; https://www.instagram.com/jonnajinton/

Natten går tunga fjät runt gård och stuva.

Kring jord som sol'n förlät, skuggorna ruva.

Drömmar med vingesus under oss sia,

tänd dina vita ljus, Sankta Lucia.

Trollsejd och mörkermakt ljust du betvingar,

signade lågors vakt skydd åt oss bringar.

Drömmar med vingesus, under oss sia,

tänd dina vita ljus, Sankta Lucia.

Stjärnor som leda oss, vägen att finna,

bli dina klara bloss, fagra prästinna.

//Drömmar med vingesus, under oss sia,

tänd dina vita ljus, Sankta Lucia.//

Night walks with a heavy step

Round yard and house,

As the sun departs from earth,

Shadows are brooding.

Dreams of wings rustling over us in prophesy,

Light your white candles, Saint Lucia.

 Spells and dark powers, with light you subject.

Guard of the blessed flames, protection for us brings.

Dreams of wings rustling over us in prophesy,

Light your white candles, Saint Lucia.

 Stars that lead us, the way to find,

become your clear flares, fair priestess.

Dreams of wings rustling over us in prophesy,

Light your white candles, Saint Lucia.

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Glad Lucia!🌟

Glad Lucia!

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