Sweden and The Swedish Language|
Sweden and The Swedish Language |
Phillip A. Covington |
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| Personal Web Site |
| That's Swedish for: "Welcome." In English I'd put an exclamation point after it, but the Swedes tend to be more reserved in its use than we Americans. Here in Michigan (USA) where I live a funny thing often happens when people get together to play word and trivia games. Someone will ask: "what is the nearest foreign country?" Sooner or later someone is bound to lose their turn when they forget that the closest foreign country is right next to Michigan: it's Canada! From my house it is only just over an hour's drive to Canada. Canadians and Americans travel back and forth so much for business and recreation that it is indeed quite easy to not think of the two in terms of being foreign countries. I've been fortunate to have traveled to various other "real" foreign countries and of those Sweden is the one that most fascinated me. That's why I'm learning Swedish, or "svenska" as they call it. (Swedes don't capitalize nouns as much as we do, either.) |
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This page last updated 23-Nov-1998 |
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The Outdoors and Sports If you've read elsewhere on this Web site about my hobbies you know I like the outdoors. Sweden is a very picturesque country with many beautiful scenes and no shortage of breathtaking outdoors vistas. Equally impressive is the Swedes' strong interest in health and fitness and the outdoors. A very high percentage of the population participates in skiing and other winter and summer sports. Not surprisingly, Swedes often enjoy long, healthy, lives. Literacy It's no secret that I love to read, and I also enjoy learning and the study of language. So its no surprise either than one of the things I find most impressive about Sweden is it's distinction of consistently being ranked as having the highest literacy rate in the world! It was just reported at the end of 1997 by the Associated Press that Sweden had once again claimed that honor. Sadly, that same article made mention of what is also no surprise, that the US has one of the lowest literacy rates, with the number being placed at around *50%. A major factor behind Sweden's high literacy rate is the entire country's emphasis on education, even beyond the childhood years. Most Swedish children learn at least one foreign language starting with the early school years. So it is rare that you would find yourself in Stockholm, for instance, and be unable to speak English and not be understood.
Even so, I think it is a show of interest and courtesy to be able to address someone in their own language when in their country. Also, as the Swedes know all so well, learning the language of another culture broadens one's knowledge and horizons tremendously. In America we often seem to have the attitude that others should learn our language and that we needn't learn theirs. This is unfortunate, though, because not only can we learn a great deal about other cultures by learning other languages, but we can learn a great deal about our own. Those who never at least try to learn another language will never experience that richness. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner!
*(The 50% figure was derived at by including not just those unable to read or write, but anyone unable to read AND comprehend "at the level required by routine, daily, activities." Examples referenced included newspapers and magazines, maps, books, job applications, and job-related training and instructional materials.) The Language Proper Some consider Swedish a difficult language to learn. Naturally, much of this rests with personal opinion and preference. My own feeling is that, as mentioned above, those who are only accustomed to thinking in terms of their own language may at first find any language, including Swedish, a challenge to learn.
Using English as reference, one reason some languages can be difficult to learn is because they contain sounds that simply don't exist in the English alphabet or vocabulary. Again, though, I think this is almost entirely due to only having a single language as a reference. This directly relates to the very true observation that once you have learned one additional foreign language, it is much easier to learn others. That's because while many of those unique sounds may not exist in English, they ARE commonly found in numerous other languages. For instance, in addition to the Scandinavian flavor of the Swedish language it consists largely of Germanic and French words, with some English and other loan words sprinkled in. So anyone who knows Swedish wouldn't find it that difficult to learn German, French, etc.
The Swedish alphabet isn't much different than that of English in appearance, although many of the sounds are considerably different. Swedish has the same letters A-Z, with three additional letters that come afterward: Å, Ä, Ö. So, if you are looking in a Swedish dictionary or phonebook for a word that starts with "Å," you would look after the letter "Z," and so on. Swedish has nine vowels (A, O, U, Å - E, I, Y, Ä, Ö) compared to the five standard vowels in English. The first four are hard vowels which basically don't vary in pronunciation, while the other five are soft vowels that can change sounds depending upon where they appear in a word. Like most languages outside of English, Swedish is a far more descriptive and formal language. France is probably the most famous when it comes to which country most zealously guards the integrity of its language, while English is one of the most loosely structured of any major languages. Swedish falls somewhere in between, but definitely leans toward being more structured. For instance, in English it is common to use the word "go" by itself, whereas in Swedish one would usually be more specific by also including the mode of travel and specific destination. So, in just my humble opinion, I don't think Swedish is that difficult. In fact, in some ways it is easier than English because its more formalized and rigid structure makes it harder to misunderstand the meaning of the words. As I become more fluent one of my goals is to offer visitors to my Web site the choice of viewing the entire content in either English or Swedish. It will be a few months before I'm quite up to the challenge, but I'm looking forward to it! One neat thing about Swedish is that two of the most common phrases, "hello," and "goodbye," are very easy to learn and don't require sounds that aren't already found in English. Ready for a sixty-second Swedish lesson? Keep in mind that just as in English there is more than one way to say hello and goodbye, and some ways are more formal than others. Fortunately, though, the easiest phrase to learn is also the most commonly used and would be appropriate in most any situation. The Swedish word for "Hello" is "Hej!" (one of the few places you see the exclamation point) and is pronounced almost exactly like the American word: "Hey." You can, of course, also use "Hej" without the exclamation point, such as in: "Hej, Phil." Here is the really neat part. To say goodbye all you have to do is tack another easy word on the end. So the Swedish goodbye becomes: "Hej då." Which is pronounced the same as if saying "hey doe," with "doe" being as in referring to a female deer. Stockholm Sweden's capital city, Stockholm, is to Sweden what New York is to the US. However, compared to most major cities in other parts of the world, Stockholm is remarkably clean and enjoys a low crime rate. Stockholm has one of the most impressive public transportation systems of any city. Personally, I wouldn't feel comfortable riding the subway in most major cities. The various public modes of transportation in Stockholm, however, are an efficient way to travel comfortably and safely. In fact, because there are so few areas that aren't serviced by public transportation that's how most Swedes themselves get around. Also downtown is an extensive underground, offering what seems a whole other world of shops, restaurants, and places to see.
The Queen of England, the Royal Family, and the Royal Palace are often a focus of attention for visitors to Britain. However, Sweden also has a royal heritage, and anyone so inclined will be in for a pleasant surprise when visiting the Royal Palace! A different kind of "royal" attention that causes the world to cast its gaze upon Sweden and Stockholm is that both are home of The Nobel Foundation, and the Nobel Peace Prize. About the only downside to visiting is that all of the niceties the government provides have to be paid for somehow. That "somehow" is in the form of higher taxes, which Swedes and visitors alike wish were lower.
I could say much more about Sweden, but in typically organized and efficient fashion many Swedish institutions have made sure there is no shortage of information available for those planning to visit, or those just interested in learning more. Literature is available (almost all of it free of charge) on almost every aspect of Sweden and Swedish life and can be found through the Internet Links I've provided below. Thanks also to the Internet, you can easily tune in to Sweden's flagship radio broadcasting network, Radio Sweden. Other stations are available as well. All of the resources provided below are either in English, or offer the option of either English or Swedish. If you are interested in learning more about the Swedish language, links are provided to various language resources as well, including an online English/Swedish dictionary and an online Swedish language course, available to anyone. By the way, if you are Swedish and happen to be reading this I would love to receive email written in svenska. So feel free to drop me a note if you feel so kind as to write. Well, I hope you've enjoyed my brief tour of Sweden and the Swedish language. Ha det så bra! (Direct English translation of the above: "Have it so good!" American equivalent: "Have a good one!") |
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