Learning (and teaching) Swedish

As we work on offering you more opportunities to practice your Swedish, we had the opportunity to hear from a teacher of Swedish in Sweden.  

  • Urban Östberg photographed by Anna Hallström.

  • Urban Östberg introduces us to a variety of things he encounters in his classes, and prepares us for more lessons we'll bring you this fall. Here you can practice your Swedish on the subject of practicing Swedish.

  • I have taught Swedish as a foreign or second language for many years, mainly at universities in Sweden and abroad, and only for adult students. The main difference between older and younger learners is that adults learn a new language in a more conscious and structured way, while children are more intuitive and subconscious in their learning process.
    At Stockholm University where I now work, we teach students from a variety of countries and with various backgrounds: guest students, foreign guest researchers, immigrants, foreigners, etc. The common first languages are English, French, Spanish, German, Polish, Russian and Finnish - but many other languages are also represented.

  • The difficulties for English-speaking students to learn Swedish are largely similar to other language groups while some language difficulties may be specific. Similarities in vocabulary and structure between related languages such as Swedish and English are of course an advantage, but can also lead to unnecessary errors when translating similarities and not realizing that many words mean something completely (or partially) different in Swedish. One usually calls these 인터넷바카라false friends.인터넷바카라 The examples are countless, but some I인터넷바카라ve recently encountered are:
    English: public Swedish: allmänhet (not: publik, which means 인터넷바카라audience인터넷바카라)
    English: not even Swedish: inte ens (not: inte även, which means 인터넷바카라not also인터넷바카라)
    English: number Swedish: nummer and antal (the latter in e.g., the context of 인터넷바카라a large number of people인터넷바카라)
    English: copy Swedish: kopia and exemplar (kopia made in the copy machine while the latter refers to e.g., 인터넷바카라borrowing your copy인터넷바카라 of the text book)

  • Difficulties in grammar for English speakers (and actually all students) are exemplified here:
    인터넷바카라 The Swedish reverse word sequence - the verb comes before the noun as opposed to English (English: Then he came = Swedish: Sedan kom han - 인터넷바카라Then came he인터넷바카라)
    인터넷바카라 The double identifier - Swedish has a definite standalone article before and a specific ending after a definite noun (English: the little house = Swedish: det lilla huset - House=Hus)
    인터넷바카라 Prepositions (English: in a year = Swedish: om ett år) and particles (the small words which resemble prepositions but belong to a verb) are also a general difficulty (English: hold = Swedish: hålla i ) (English: love, be fond of = Swedish: hålla av) (English: be busy with =Swedish: hålla på)

  • In pronunciation, some sounds are particularly difficult like the vowels 인터넷바카라u' (hus, hund = house, dog in English), 인터넷바카라y인터넷바카라 (by = village in English) and 인터넷바카라a인터넷바카라 (hat = hate in English) as well as our sje- och tje-ljud (skina/Kina = shine/China in English).
    In English the unstressed end vowels are often pronounced about the same - which is perceived like the ö-sound for a Swede (e.g., barber, scholar, collar) - while one in Swedish must distinguish between the pronunciation of, for example, the 인터넷바카라e인터넷바카라 and 인터넷바카라a인터넷바카라 in pojkar (boys), vänner (friends), pratar (talking) sjunger (singing).
    Concerns in so-called international words (usually from Latin), which we have in common in several European languages, usually differ between Swedish and English. Compare interview / intervju, telephone / telefon, climate / klimat, where English's main emphasis lies on the first syllable, while in Swedish it인터넷바카라s on the last.

  • A recurring difficulty for English speakers, as witnessed by several of my students, is that Swedes generally are so fond of practicing their English that a student from the U.S. doesn인터넷바카라t get the opportunity to practice their new language: Swedish. At the slightest hesitation, the Swede fills in what he expects the English-speaking second language student wants to say. On the other hand, some with English as a mother tongue become a bit "lazy" because they know they can likely be understood despite language mistakes, and they sometimes mix Swedish and English in a fascinating way. Many Swedes may think that this language mix is quite functional, maybe even charming - and also reasonably understandable. (Compare with Swedish immigrants인터넷바카라 인터넷바카라Swenglish인터넷바카라 in the U.S.)
    The ability to acquire a new language such as Swedish varies greatly between different students, and their mother tongue / first language is just one factor of many. Age, motivation, language skills (whatever that means) and knowledge of other foreign languages are at least as important as well as the learning situation and the teacher.

  • Urban Östberg

  • Urban Östberg teaches Swedish at the Institutionen för Svenska och Flerspråkighet at in Stockholm, Sweden.