The Swedish SK/SJ-sound

Let's learn a little bit about the sj/sk/stj/skj sound in Swedish and what it is good for :)
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[@SamieLorraine]

I love how you suggest if you don't know how to pronounce the skg noise then yiu should just move north hahah

[@Nackagubben]

Samie Lorraine Exactly! There is no way you would survive. You'd be doomed for eternity

[@xolang]

That's quite interesting, in Pashto/Pakhto it's the other way around. The letter ښ, as in the name of the language itself, پښتو , is pronounced as "sh" up south and as "kh" down north. Thus the language is called "Pashto" up south and "Pakhto" down north.

[@lolaschmiggins3411]

Oh thank you....my angry cat and I can now talk to each other.

[@cabaneronicolel.4799]

Swedish is quite weird but I really love to learn ittt It sounds really pleasing to me Jag älskar svenska

[@SamieLorraine]

I definitely learned how to hiss like an old angry cat :)

[@muiggmuigg]

Oh.....I have another tough word: sjuksköterska - aaaaargh

[@Nackagubben]

+Diti G oh yeah of course!

[@Nackagubben]

Take it where exactly?

[@Nackagubben]

+Ida Scott oh... my... god! We're all doomed :O

[@tobaccoworm2511]

My favorite one 👌

[@abielticas1693]

I've watched a Swedish-speaking Finn who pronounces the "sj/sk" as "shoo".

[@mechanetik]

I know this channel may not have been about teaching Swedish, but that is how I found this channel. I have a best friend in Sweden and I thought I would take the time to learn about his culture and language.... especially since I would like to visit Sweden next summer. Your videos are entertaining, quirky, and informative. I really like these. Keep up the good work :D I have a suggestion for a future video: How to roll your Rs. In English, we don't use that sound (unless they are also Spanish), so a lot of us can not make that sound. Help? :p

[@Nackagubben]

+mechanetik Good idea! Might be a hard lesson though! There are Swedes who can't roll their R's. Those who go to a speech therapist at a young age have a higher chance of learning, as it gets harder once you get used to the other way of pronouncing it :)

[@mechanetik]

Hmm, then how about the R sound Swedes would say if they couldn't roll their Rs? lol :p

[@Nackagubben]

+mechanetik It is more like the English R-sound. Some kids pronouce it like Y :)

[@diegoruizp2000]

First of all, I love your content, you're really funny and seem like a really nice person. If I ever get the chance to Sweden, I would love to see you. Second, the sound of the word Östgöte actually sounds like a word for anus in Spanish, so I I laughed really hard for 20 minutes. And at last, for the next video can you paint yourself some eyebrows for me❤❤❤❤

[@Nackagubben]

Diego Ruiz Perez Hahahaha the last part

[@gilberttiborjakub9890]

I have started learing Swedish after a solid b2-c1 level Norwegian: it goes well, but I am still utilizing the Norwegian kind of pronunciation for kj, sj, tj.. etc. So it it's sound like a dialect near from the border...

[@aviolentwhisper]

Thank you! I've heard the city of Skellefteå pronounced differently also.

[@FelixEarth]

Greetings from an Italian guy! I came here because after I listened to "Let it go" from Frozen in Swedish, I really couldn't follow when the singer said " låt ske det som sker ". It sounded so weird! And now I finally understand after this video haha. You know, I'm learning Norwegian and I know the song in that language, where the letters sound pretty clear to me. To compare, I wanted to listen to the Swedish and the Danish versions, which are quite understandable by reading the words only. It's just the pronounciation which drives me off, but that's why I'm watching this video, because I'm so curious of these differences and I love the Scandinavian languages! So thank you so much for the explanation!

[@ihavenolife8269]

i'm always struggling with how you actually do say like "sju" and stuff :D This helped me quite a lot!

[@Nackagubben]

+Miina Molander Yes it can take a while to get into. But I'm glad it helped! :)

[@Booly_987]

This was funny and really helpful. I didn't realize how much it was like the German Ich.

[@alicecocciolo9090]

I am obsessed with your channel 😍 you are actually one of the reasons I started learning Swedish aside Danish 🎉 and it's actually easier then I thought

[@xolang]

I also started with Danish but realized that Swedish is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay easier to learn

[@Maliilse75]

@@xolang Same here!

[@veganmocha]

tack!!! i always run into problems with the “sj-“ sounds in swedish. it makes me struggle. a lot. very helpful! good thing the friend i’m learning swedish for lives in northern sweden so i can use the easier way to say “sju” haha.

[@gavenmx]

I need moooore stuff like this

[@Nackagubben]

+ehcszteinhcirdeirf very well then!

[@henryauburn]

Awesome video! That cleared up for all this stuff about sj-ljudet. Tack så mycket!!

[@Nackagubben]

+Henry Hotspur That's great friend :) Happy to help!

[@idapeltola3602]

Nackagubben turn and Word haista paska

[@raeelv7550]

Thank you! I am so new to Swedish that some pronunciations seem odd. This helped. I find myself using my French r pronunciation for some of the Swedish.

[@romainetomatoes2416]

Rae Elv then maybe you should learn Danish.

[@herrbonk3635]

@@romainetomatoes2416 French r's are fine in Swedish.

[@psyryyx924]

Om du pratar om tätorten i Småland så stavas det Växjö, men jag googlade lite och såg att det finns en by i Bollnäs kommun som stavas Växsjö. Så ja, beror ju på vilken du pratar om. Också lite roligt hur du uttalar det ”Vä-sjö” medans där jag kommer ifrån uttalar vi det som ”Väck-sjö”.

[@aastr3n839]

This helped clear things a ton! But somehow, I seriously cannot trill my r. I know it isn't the same as the Spanish sounding r but probably this could be a topic :D

[@Nackagubben]

+AAstr3N Oh great idea :D It'd be hard to teach though

[@aastr3n839]

Nackagubben Indeed. Just need to keep working on it :)

[@MiciFee97]

AAstr3N i. german we have the letters "ch" what can be in some cases exactly like the sj sound

[@johntate6537]

Don't know if this will help at all. I speak a typical South-East English dialect, and we pronounce our rs very little. I found that if you practice a 'dr' sound you can get the trilling going OK, and then you just have to reduce the d part of the pronunciation. It's a bit like starting an outboard motor, once you've got it going it's much easier.

[@abielticas1693]

Yo soy un hablante nativo del español, y debido a que tengo "frenillo" (ni idea de cómo explicar eso de una manera técnica), no puedo pronunciar la "erre" ("r") correctamente. I am a native Spanish speaker, and due to my "frenillo" (I have not idea on how to explain that word technically), I cannot pronounce the "erre" ("r") correctly, but ultimately, it is not a big deal, unless you cannot differ on whether to pronounce "pera" (pear) and "perra" (female dog/bitch in a vulgar sense).

[@retrogaming7654]

Some good laughs there, tack!

[@xolang]

That's quite interesting, in Pashto/Pakhto it's the other way around. The letter ښ, as in the name of the language itself, پښتو , is pronounced as "sh" up south and as "kh" down north. Thus the language is called "Pashto" up south and "Pakhto" down north.

[@alcyonae]

Funny entertaining content that is helping me sort out the peculiar sounds and writing of this beautiful but difficult language, thank you :)

[@skjllissue]

oh wow, now i know that my name isnt just a useless typo that i've used everywhere for the past 5-6 years

[@roaringviking5693]

There's a village close to where I live in Dalarna called Spraxkya, but it is pronounced "sprascha. :p

[@22bdunlevy]

I like svenska sounds, I like languages, I like xhosa which makes click dental sounds!

[@bratatouille]

Har inte ens tänkt på att vi i Finland uttalar skön likadant som kön uttalas i Sverige :D

[@azh.a.2618]

This was so funny😂😂

[@Pittlc1184]

Thanks for giving several examples.

[@oidualclaudi0]

This sounds a lot like the Mexican Spanish J, like the J as in Juan.

[@Thehuntedfree]

So for turtle "sköldpadda" am I hearing an "f" like in fish and then a "wha" like in whale?

[@imvineprexde]

When I was learning on Duo i failed every single time on the word "skjorta" thats why I'm here now

[@san_-ii6xs]

We have to learn Swedish in schools here in Finland, and god damnit when you start they ease you into this lie that goes: "It will be easy! It's very similar and you pronounce it like it's written! Just like Finnish!" Then you get to the fifth or the sixth course.... LIES IT'S ALL LIES! ...Damn it :D

[@uranus2970]

The grammar is very easy and the vocabulary too if you know some English, German or Norwegian and Danish obviously.The pronounciation is the hardest part in my opinion.

[@bramblebop1904]

Quite right. This is my impression too.

[@bebe8842]

Good to know especially for those who are struggling with learning Swedish, like me. 😀 but as it says, if u like it, then u got enough motivation to succeed 🎉🎊🎈😀😀😆😃👌👍

[@zynius]

In the north, around Piteå, Luleå, we pronouce Växsjö with the X (väx-sjö), Östgöte jsut like it's spelled, and Skön just like in stockholm, definately not "Kön" :D

[@herrbonk3635]

Jag tror faktiskt ni använder det främre sje-ljudet. De flesta runt Svealand använder det mellersta sje-ljudet (utom en del fina tanter på Östermalm eller Lidingö, som låter norrländska i det avseendet). Skåningar och utlänningar kör i sin tur ofta det bakre sje-ljudet.

[@himfromscandinavian5354]

@@herrbonk3635 Glömt inloggningen till Friberger?

[@herrbonk3635]

@@himfromscandinavian5354 Minns ej, kanske, eller om jag blev utslängd pga felaktiga åsikter. Kan ha varit fejsbuck dock (som dock är klart mer tolerant än Dutube numera, åtminstone på svenska).

[@himfromscandinavian5354]

@@herrbonk3635 OKEJ men vadå felaktiga åsikter

[@himfromscandinavian5354]

@@herrbonk3635 blev du bannad

[@linajurgensen4698]

I really want to learn swedish!😊 It might be easier when you have german as your first language? :)

[@linusdanielsson5448]

how did your swedish-learning process go? :)

[@bradenmoore2187]

@@linusdanielsson5448 I'm also interested!

[@ryandward]

Best video on this topic!

[@lauragarnham77]

to me it sounds like a combination of h and w, so sju =hwu (but maybe said a little higher in the mouth)

[@randallisms]

That was very helpful, thanks!

[@reallivebluescat]

I always pronounced Växsjö as väck-schö and not väschö . I´m from Uppsala north of Stockholm

[@KK-ze7xu]

I think Sweden is very far from continental Europe or the British Isles so no matter how loud they shouted over the seas, the consonants all disappeared into thousands of variants of the H sound. Swedish is all vowels and H sounds. There are hardly any consonants that are spoken or pronounced. The written language is just another different ballgame altogether. It's like fixing latin roots to Norse endings. Or like colour blonde hair black.

[@herrbonk3635]

Nice romantic description! But in my ears, our consonants are clearer than the English ones. Not to mention their totally random vowel sounds, or spellings, with bird = fur = learn ... the same sound! I mean, what is unclear, "vowels" or "H" about _dag, fan, går, han, in, jag, karl, låt, mat, natt, puss, rad, sitt, tå, väg,_ ...? (Yes, I simply followed the alphabet :)

[@MiciFee97]

jag elska svenska. Jag lär mig svenska just nu, men inte i skolan. jag lär mig privat i hemma. jag är från tyskland. sj sk... är inte så svårt för mig. jag vill prata mer på svenska. Är det någon som vill prata med mig på twitter? Min namn är ItsMeMici då. kanske du, nackagubben? skicka mig ett meddelande eller en kommentar! Tack!

[@eyreah8759]

MicisWelt Jag kan om du fortfarande vill haha, efter 7 månader.

[@palaster]

Har alltid anat att det var nåt konstigt med "Kristianstad", men nu vet jag exakt vad det är, tack :-)

[@Ouranorable]

Take all the consonants and replace them with "ch", GOT IT :D! Thank you for this guide, I'll go kick the owl's butt now.

[@blacksparkles562]

this really helped me thank u

[@hayat_liv_life9697]

Jag kan svenska så bra

[@cs31498]

Would Karlstad be up north?

[@blueberrybop]

As a northern Swede I'd like to point out that we DON'T pronounce "skön" like "kön". We pronounce it pretty much the same but just less gargle-y.

[@bramblebop1904]

Well, how about writing "colonel" and pronouncing it "kernal"? Can you beat _that_ ? Hahaha...

[@kyrxon277]

I agree with this xD Island is pronounced more like i-lend haha One is pronounced more like Wun 😂 And many more...... Thanks english

[@SprunkCovers]

lmaooo the way Östgöte is pronunced in Chilean spanish means ass (ojete), Svenska är rolig :)

[@Starkardur]

Yeah this is one thing in Sweden I never understood LOL.

[@brunaguerra3021]

this is so hard!!!! imma cry

[@bramblebop1904]

Krihansta is best.

[@annemburada6265]

Could it be that 60 years ago the sound sounded like sh like in station stashooon.????

[@YngviFreyr]

I have a question, what dialect is it where you would pronounce stj almost as an f sound? I'm asking cause I love Helen Sjöholm and whenever she says for example stjärna, it almost sounds like she's pronouncing it 'färna'. Tack :)

[@Nackagubben]

+Seppo Ilmarinen She's from Sundsvall. But I can't really hear that she says it with a f-sound (at least not when she sings) :) The way she pronounces it is almost like I do (Stockholm), which is back from of the mouth.

[@Nackagubben]

Ah, I see what you mean :) To me though it's still a pretty clear stj-sound - however she pronounces it a bit formal (as you would do when singing musicals), almost a bit "upperclass"-ish. But I do see why it can be confused with an f-sound! It's also evident that they have used a de-esser effect on her vocals to tone down the s-sounds that often cut through, and this can distort the wording a bit if you are not careful :D

[@YngviFreyr]

Cool, so it's still an stj sound. Thanks a lot! :))

[@devonoknabo2582]

Me seeing Sjuk Am like so QooK

[@mq46312]

Once you master the "SJ sound or even just the number seven "sju", you should have no trouble pronouncing any Swedish sounds.

[@herrbonk3635]

At least if you also master the prosody, especially the distinction between acute accent (like English) and grave accent that is typical for Swedish. Almost half the words with two syllables or more use the latter.

[@bramblebop1904]

Skit!!

[@cameronreekie6519]

On wallander a suspect surname was Stjarne ( I have no umlauts for the a, sorry) and he pronounced it like she sound, like sharna, don't these rules apply in front of soft vowels only, or have I got that wrong?x

[@Nackagubben]

+Cameron Reekie The way we pronounce stj is different between dialects. I'd pronounce the stj further back while some dialects say it like sh :)

[@cameronreekie6519]

Nackagubben okay, thanks. It was Krister henriksson the actor. I don't know what his accent is, I know it's set in Skane but his accent seems different to me than the skane farmer accent or maybe I'm just imagining I hear a difference lol!

[@chribbatt]

Surnames are sometimes pronounced in a more archaic way compared to how you normally pronounce the same sounds in normal words.

[@mandycheeks9437]

I’m clearly a year late for all of this but in the word sköldpadda, it sounds like it is said with the English “f” sound. Am I incorrect? I was quite thrown off when I heard the Duolingo woman pronounce it after I saw how it was spelled, haha!

[@Nackagubben]

+Mandy Cheeks Not exactly! :) The Sk-sound is something completely different from the 'f'-sound. I did a video trying to explain this called 'The Swedish Sk/Sj sound' :)

[@mandycheeks9437]

Nackagubben, I did see the video. I’m glad I watched it or I would have sounded pretty funny saying turtle haha:) I think I must’ve heard it wrong before. Thank you so much!

[@saintcelab3451]

Is it basically a stressed or more aspired h sound?

[@Nackagubben]

+Einstein's grandma's wet kiss yes almost. I'd say it's somewhere between h and k sound. It's really hard to explain :D

[@saintcelab3451]

Nackagubben Tack:)

[@joettecrosier1712]

Living in Finland and just made the decision to learn Swedish. 5 lessons in on Duolingo. This was a bad video to watch so early in the mission 😅 just makes me scared

[@herrbonk3635]

If you move to say Växjö or Kristianstad, you will learn how to say it, otherwise just ignore such names. Swedish is much simpler than Finnish. Simpler than its sister language English too, in many respects.

[@Wallis184]

Jag är från Norrland och vi säger "sju" likadant som det första och sista du säger, inte som det andra du säger 🤔

[@IRedfordI]

Vänta va, är det så man uttalar Växjö? Jag uttalar det som "Väcksjö", det kanske uttalas olika beroende på vart man bor antar jag :P

[@Nackagubben]

+Aoksi Ja :) Jag uttalar det ibland Vacksjö också !

[@madmasseur6422]

Is it just me or does Sj sound like Hw?

[@knowledgeiskey1319]

OOOO!! skilpadde :P

[@KettuKakku]

...Or move to Norway?

[@ciklopentanoperhidrofenant9865]

2:58 😂😂😂

[@aunaun7320]

Very hard to say sju😅

[@giacomanrocker]

my fiancee is from soderhamn and she saids nuser its easy to say buuut how the creeppy hell you say that tongue twister word

[@katjushakatja]

[@wasen_aeon]

Det stavas Växjö, inte Växsjö ^^

[@Nackagubben]

Åh, vilken miss :D Tack!

[@Hinderlengjes]

Using place names as examples is cheating! They're notoriously inconsistent in a lot of languages. What about 'Worcestershire' in England, that's pronounced 'Woostershr.' Or 'Aithsetter' in Shetland, that's pronounced 'Aester.' BTW - I seem to get on not bad with the 'sj' sound in Swedish - at least, Swedes don't fall about laughing when I say it. It's a bit like 'wh' in Scots or Scottish English, with bits of 'sh' and 'ch' here and there ....

[@vitaminxbg]

and I thought English spelling is weird...

[@haydarr7903]

skjorta is "khota" ?! wtf i learned it "fota" is it also diversity in accents?! btw i can pronounce that letter "x" or "kh" cause i speak arabic :/

[@aple8307]

No in south it is the same sju the only difference is the u, you may think of the immigrants they say sju like that.

[@aple8307]

From the beginning I thought I talked Stockholmish but I don't say schack Like that , I pronounce shirt with the r (not the skånish one).

[@aple8307]

And I pronounce it chocklad (with the D)

[@aple8307]

Isn't it Växjö

[@Nackagubben]

It depends on which part of Skåne you are referring to :) In Österlen I've spent half of my life they pronounce it like I did (although better), but I know in Lund and Malmö for example, it is a bit softer

[@xolang]

That's quite interesting, in Pashto/Pakhto it's the other way around. The letter ښ, as in the name of the language itself, پښتو , is pronounced as "sh" up south and as "kh" down north. Thus the language is called "Pashto" up south and "Pakhto" down north.

[@MilkyHorrn]

Sjuksköterska 😏

[@ana-mariastiolica4246]

You're sweet. 👍

[@nninjastrike2127]

I give up, I'll just go to IKEA less

[@end0skeleton404]

LMAO The next few words make no sense...like french....bunch of weird letters...and it's pronounced unh. That's French 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@SirGingrich]

Jag blev tvungen att ha språkpedagog i ett år för att fatta skillnaden mellan sk och sj som utlandssvensk när jag flyttade hem 🤦‍♂️