Well it's looking like I'm going to be moving to Sweden at some point this year or next. I promised my wife when we got together, that if she moved to England I'd pay her back, so I've been planning this for nearly 10 years (just waiting for kids to become independent) and I've been shockingly poor at picking up the language. F in French at school after 5 years tuition says it all.
Just wondering if there are any Lifer's out there that have picked up a completely new language (to a good level of both reading and writing) and what would be their tip for doing so?
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Someone on here recommended that app to me a few years ago and it paid off. I haven't used it for a while now but it will be interesting to see how much I remember the Spanish when I return to it. Might do it in a year or so.
I had memory problems, and strongly believe language learning at an older age is a great way to train the mind.
Women love it
Будь ласка, залиште
I think that all the apps, textbooks etc are fine ... and they will help enormously if you are someone who is comfortable with grammar, vocabulary, speech etiquette etc in English.
But people in most (all?) countries do not speak in a textbook manner. They use the language of the street. Different regions have different dialects. Just think 'London' and 'Yorkshire' and it becomes obvious.
So, my advice is to pick up as many of the commonly-used words and phrases for everyday occurrences. Don't worry too much about 'the boy sits on the horse'.
Watch subtitled TV. Listen to the football commentators. More importantly, live in the country and the region and listen.
Learn the language of the street ... and don't be afraid to try when you think you've worked something out.
1. As a beginner, get a private teacher for one or two lessons a week for 1.5h a lesson. You can probably find someone online. Get a self employed person with a qualification and experience. In Sweden lots of people speak English to a good level and some of these will offer their services. Just because someone knows the language, it doesn't mean that they can teach it.
If in the first few lessons they don't address all of the following then think about changing your teacher:
Vocabulary
Grammar
Listening exercises
Functional Language (standard repeated phrases for each given lesson context)
Revision and evaluation for every 10 hours of learning.
2. Get someone who wants to do a language exchange. Insist that you practice and repeat what you have learnt with your teacher. Do one hour. Then do one hour of what they want to do in English.
3. Make 10 vocabulary cards a week from what you've been learning. Write the English on one side and the Swedish on the other. Every spare moment you get take them out and learn them. Try to use them in conversation.
Speak a word 7 times, hear it 7 times and write it 7 times in that week and it will sink in.
4. Keep a notebook handy for any frequently used new words you hear. Write them down as you hear them - the spelling is for your teacher to correct. Ask your teacher to help with that week's top ten new words.
5. Avoid English bars, English people etc. It will be difficult to persuade Swedish people not to practise their English with you. Stick to your guns and say politely that you are happy to do no 2
(above) with them, but otherwise you must immerse yourself in Swedish. They will respect you if you say that you really want to integrate and so your immersion method is imperative.
6. Listen to Swedish radio and TV. It will be frustrating like hell but for every hour you do reward yourself with half an hour of English media
7. Listen to Kent as they are the dog's bollocks of Swedish rock
But by the end of the course, I'd passed the exam and felt confident enough to try speaking it in real-life scenarios. If I had kept it up for another two months, I know I would've been pretty fluent (it's not quite as hard a language as some will have you believe....I found it sort of halfway between English & German). It's faded quite a bit now but there is still something there lurking in the back of my brain!
Basically, I just wanted to test myself and see if I could do it at 40 because I'd been good at German at school.
So, just be brave with whatever you're trying to learn and 100% don't worry about making mistakes or feeling foolish. The Dutch/Belgians I've conversed with have corrected me when I've got it wrong but in a nice way and are just so pleased/surprised that an Englishman has tried to speak their language. Probably the most satisfying thing was being occasionally mistaken by Amsterdammers as an Afrikaaner or having my Belgian mates taking the piss out of my horrible Amsterdam accent! The Amsterdam accent is really harsh & gutteral, maybe the equivalent of Scouse and my Dutch teacher was suitably appalled by it!
Bottom line....go for it!
As Dave said above the real language isn't text book, but when you get out and about, as you can't string English words together and swap them for German, sadly it doesn't work like that.
Phrases are often made up with words that individually make no sense but do when strung together.
Good luck.
As an example, 'borg' (which is a common ending to some placenames) is pronounced more like 'boy' or 'borry'. It's probably our equivalent of 'bury' or 'borough'.
So 'Gothenburg' (in Swedish it's 'Göteborg') will sound like 'Yerterborry'. Once you pick off elements like that, you can use them as appropriate and you'll sound a bit more authentic too.
I've also found that the 'hurdy gurdy' Muppets Swedish chef stereotype is (naturally) a bit misleading. Swedish speakers have different ideas about pitch, so it can mean that, to English ears, the words in a sentence seem to have more tonal variation. Some words even mean different things depending on the pitch. You just have to learn that by listening but, in general, I'd say don't be in too much of a hurry to tail off when speaking Swedish. Give the first part and the final part of the word similar emphasis (so a more 'robotic' flat pronunciation compared to English) and you'll generally sound OK. It's hard to describe in words, but you get the idea, I'm sure.
My wife is so proficient in English that she now 'thinks' in English whilst going about her day.
Thanks all for your very useful tips
If you are determined you will pick it up. Don't forget there is also like here colloquial language as you go out and about the country.
Eller, vilket stad i Sverige ska bor du?
You never know, after all those years together, your Missus might still want to say something similar.
Seriously, your best familiar source of Swedish living language is already living right with you.
You'll have to do the studying and spade work in learning yourself, of course - but in everyday life she can informally explain a few things and correct your pronunciation. She'll certainly teach you a few expressions and swear words when you annoy her or haven't done the washing up!
You just have to make a start, in the ways others have suggested - and just plunge in.
You'll make mistakes all the time, but water off a duck's back and all that, people will laugh with you. Just have that courage to speak Swedish with Swedish people, knowing you'll make huge mistakes - but that's how you really learn. There's no other way really.
BTW I do the same with my French when I'm in France. It's the actual experience of doing it that helps language to stick.
How do you say ‘Thank You’ in Danish? she asked.
Watch the news and documentaries about things you know helps. It's not just learning the words but also developing an ear for language.
After you've got some conversation basics I'd definitely advise you get some lessons
lycka tillYour advice surprises me somewhat because,
although I don't speak Swedish, I know that it is, like English, a stress timed language. I would suspect that this is your perception of the sound of the language rather than based on actual linguistics.
If your advice were in reference to French then I would understand because French is a syllable timed language. English speakers often perceive French to place the stress on the last syllable but that is just perception. There is no stress in French but there is in English and Swedish.
So smörgåsbord ... in English, we pronounce the word as if we are explaining what type of board it is. It's a 'sandwich' board (as opposed to a chess board etc).
In Swedish, the pronunciation doesn't tail off ... so it's a 'sandwich board' (ie not only a board, but a board for sandwiches).
It's difficult to capture all this within written words ... and you are right. My experience stems from the sounds, not from the books.
- don’t expect yourself to be fluent in 6 months, unless you’ve got fuck all else in your life that’s not going to happen
- don’t be soft on yourself. The most irritating excuse I heard from ex pats in France was ‘it’s easier for kids’ so about 75% of them ended up not bothering and not speaking French to even a basically acceptable standard.
- Don’t be concerned about making a tit of yourself practicing ‘on the street’. You will make a tit of yourself from time to time but nowhere near as much as you think you do. Failure is part of the learning process.
- Immerse yourself in an activity you enjoy that also forces you to speak the language - an activity where no one else in the group speaks English. This can make your brain hurt but it does take away the safety net.
In short it is hard work, there aren’t many short cuts but, as you progress, learning a foreign language can be one of the most mentally rewarding experiences in life.