What I wish I knew BEFORE learning Swedish...

[@daysandwords]

I am pinning this comment to iron out some errors and my part and some misunderstandings on many viewers' parts: 1. Ä vs E - yes I know, I said Ä wrong. I was actually speaking English, and was immediately aware that I'd said the wrong thing but this video didn't have a script and I was in a flow that was worth continuting just to see if the take ended up OK, and it did. Curiously, no one seems to have noticed (probably because they were too busy making their very important corrections in the comments) that I actually said "O" in straight-up Australian English. I didn't even try to say "O" in Swedish because I was like "I've already screwed up Ä..." - So yes, it was wrong, yes, I know the difference. You guys are going to keep commenting anyway but I can at least point you to this comment. 2. Min broder - see Sundqvist's comment with 290+ likes and my replies about this. 3. Kommer att vs kommer döda... THAT WAS THE JOKE. The joke is that character 1 is a beginner and finds grammar difficult, but character 2 just decides to be a pedant on them. In my natural speech I would say "Den här grammatiken kommerådöda mig..." so that "att" would be there in spirit, but the people saying that both are acceptable are not understanding that this was a joke. I would have thought the very "påpekande" tone and the laughing afterwards got the idea across but anyway... 4. The use of English. I didn't say that this is the ONLY reason it's ever used, or even that the tone being implied is always humourous. I know that there are many other reasons it's used. But my Swedish is good enough to separate when it's being used because Astrid or Anders can't think of the word in Swedish, or when the English word has basically replaced the Swedish word... and when they are saying something like a line from a movie to be funny, or to convey some kind of different connotation. Also to the people who say that my friend wasn't joking about his other friend... Um, in Australia we say "I guess you had to be there." You only know what he said. I know how he said it, his facial expression, and how he generally speaks. (He almost never uses English, for one thing.) People are taking what I say too exactly, especially considering you can tell there was no script and I shrugged and used mitigating words a lot. 5. Finnish. I didn't say Finnish was a Norse language. I wrote that it was a Nordic language, as in, spoken in a Nordic country. Do I think it's similar to the other three? No. I have numerous videos on more than one KZbin channel in which I mention that it has nothing to do with the Norse languages and it was in fact a Finnish woman (not Finno-Swedish, just Finnish) who got me into language learning in the first place. I am well aware of the differences. So why did I say that these tips could help? Well, I mention a few resources that carry across Swedish and Finnish, such as Nextory and Storytel. If I were to start learning Finnish, I would take a similar approach to what I've been doing for the last two years in Swedish. Note that this is exactly the same reason that I DIDN'T include Icelandic. The resources are not the same (despite the languages sharing common roots). kzbin.info/www/bejne/gF6phIFqipefbrc kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4eXgp6ngsqgqqs 6. More oftare and more bättre. Again, THAT'S THE JOKE. In Australia (and to a lesser extent, other English speaking countries), when you say "That's how that's done" or "That's how you say that", it is a sign that it is definitely NOT how you do something or say something. e.g. "Go and get the car from the... you know, the car holding place in the house." "You mean the garage?" "Yes. The car holding place in the house is how you say that." It wasn't a redundancy error - it was a deliberate error because I started saying "more often" but then said "often" in Swedish so then I thought I'd just round that out by also doing it on "better". Note how "more better" would also be wrong in English.

[@JordyHistorian]

I love that you sound like my English teacher :)

[@squidcaps4308]

I live in swedish speaking town in Finland. Pronunciation is the biggest reason i don't speak swedish. I understand it fairly well, i have lots of swedish speaking friends but speaking it? NO way... And the dialect here is way closer to finnish and it still is fairly hard. There is one dialect here that is very peculiar. It is like a time machine to old swedish, although of course it has changed over the centuries to have quite a lot of unique words. Närpes Swedish, there are few youtube videos about it.

[@Vahlsten]

1st Congratulations on EXCELLENT choise of headphones at the back, got the same ones as my daily drivers at the PC. 2nd Ä and Ö for english speakers are actually well rehersed sounds phonetically, they just don't know it. I dare you to say girl without perfectly pronouncing "ö" or man without an "ä" there ya go, you now know how to pronounce "ä" and "ö" perfectly.

[@gabrielarrhenius6252]

I liked your joke about keyboard to keybård(or something similar, don't remember how you spelled it) because keyboard is tangetbord

[@johns70]

I read a great article a bunch of years ago (by an immigrant) that pointed out that the reason Swedish is hard to perfect is that it is a song. Any native Swedish speaker will instantly hear if you are singing off-key, and brand you as a non-native speaker. The flip side of that is that IF you manage to perfect it, you are now a Swede. Truly. Walk in anywhere in Sweden with perfect Swedish, regardless how you look, you are a Swede. (Yes, there will always be racists to beg to differ, ignore them).

[@Lewisiaisoutofcontext]

Me, a native swede reading the video title: Hm, yes, what SHOULD I know before learning Swedish? I better find out.

[@lokani]

lmao kan relatera

[@mumunist2580]

@@lokani hahahahha aaaa

[@spycrab2099]

haha ja exakt

[@fooxie4978]

Samma här

[@kiddokatten]

Samma här hahah

[@swedmiroswedmiro1352]

A friend of mine, not a Swede, is sort of a globe trotter and had a funny comment about Swedes. "No matter where you go in the world, in the most remote places in the world, you will always find a Swede there having a coffe."

[@C0ncreteL0tus]

True true.. (I´m Swedish). One summer when I travelled around Europe, I stumbled into one classmate in a café in Niece, a friend in a ruin in Pompeii and an aunt in a train in Paris. None was expected...

[@chileanguyfleegman]

That's something Chileans have in common with swedes, we have video compilations in KZbin with Chileans screaming words in our dialect and another responding. Really fun.

[@C0ncreteL0tus]

@@chileanguyfleegman and we have a lot of your guys in Sweden! 😄

[@chileanguyfleegman]

@@C0ncreteL0tus jag tvivlar inte på det, jag är en av dem.

[@scottysscandinavia5793]

I find that there'll always be a Swede in the queue in front of you wherever you are in the world. My theory is that Sweden actually has a population of 20 million, but half of them are always on holiday.

[@vickyxx197]

It's something quite beautiful and fascinating to watch your mother tongue be analyzed by a non-native speaker.

[@johnfransson4241]

I agree.

[@supergogurt2607]

Ja det är det.

[@somesvede]

💯

[@l0ading4ever39]

As a swede we love hearing people talk about our country, language, culture or anything swedish related. If you speak about sweden there will always be a swede that heard the conversation and immediately run towards you and join the conversation

[@jacekplacek1934]

It’s common human being thing

[@krystinmorland]

Same with Canada but that’s cuz we are always in America’s big dumb shadow ):

[@TomAnderson7]

⁠@@krystinmorland As a Swede, my interpretation of Canada is that you are more normal than Americans 😊

[@zachd7354]

BET YOUR CANADIAN ASS YOU ARE! AMERICA!!! WOOOO HOOO!!!!

[@IsleWin]

I do agree lol my boyfriend is Swedish and I’m learning the language for him

[@quercingtime]

Uttalet är utan tvekan det svåraste med svenskan. Även om man blir flytande och med nästintill perfekt uttal så kan svenskar ändå höra att en person är utländsk. Jag tror att folk blir imponerade inte på grund av hur bra ens svenska är, utan att man har velat lära sig språket från första början :)

[@milasudril]

Prova dessa: Sex laxar i en laxask Västkustskt

[@UrbanNilssonOssian]

@@milasudril Ett västkustskt kvastskaft. It seems to lack sufficient vowelsm, but yes, it is six consonants in a row, where all are should be heard.

[@toshineon]

@@milasudril Jag är född i Sverige, och kan fan knappt säga Västkustskt ändå.

[@chileanguyfleegman]

Är man uppväxt i Sverige och inte bara hänger med folk med brytning så kan man uttala allt lika korrekt. Men börjar man lära sig svenska runt 20 så blir uttalet svårare att få till rätt.

[@sjingelling]

Inte hos mig. Kanske när jag skriver. Men mitt språk o accent är pang på

[@ViffeNify]

On svt play there is "Swedish news in easy Swedish" or "Nyheter på lätt Svenska" might help ppl trying to learn

[@knutask7493]

True. Those programs are however not aimed towards people that know English or geography or... anything about anything above kindergarden knowlege. It might be benefitial the first week in Sweden but beaing told several times daily that 'Stockholm is the capitol of Sweden' is not benefitial for most people (they knew it before they came go Sweden). To learn a language you have to use it while wanting corrections (did you mean xyz). Talk about the wether or (not recommended in the begining) politics if you have above basic knowlege (most Swedes are ignorant).

[@eken1725]

@@knutask7493 but after a while, I think switching to the regular news, when you understand Swedish enough.

[@yeetdeets]

I think it requires a Swedish VPN. Just a heads up.

[@Narnendil]

@@yeetdeets No, only for some shows and programs. Others you can watch from all over the world.

[@knutask7493]

Propaganda is free for everyone wherever you are. Chinese media is just as easy to follow as the Swedish counterpart is. Information is everywhere if it's funded by the state (taxpayers).

[@johano-go]

How to spot a native Swede: "Why the hell are you learning Swedish?"

[@daysandwords]

I've found they all ask (but they do with French as well so it doesn't really make a difference which language it is or how common it is) - but they generally do so politely, typ som "Oj, men hur kom det sig att du började lära dig just svenska?"

[@kungsverige1886]

Why not

[@labangrankvist2993]

@@daysandwords "Varför i helvete bestämde du dig för att lära dig vårt jävla skitspråk?" xD

[@Swingmesideways]

@@kungsverige1886 För att svenska är ett litet skit språk.

[@kungsverige1886]

@@Swingmesideways jaså....är det...

[@mikaelfrosthage4375]

Born and raised Swede, it never crossed my mind that women speak with more "melody" than men. I'll definitely look for this pattern in the future to see if it's true. :)

[@thomaskolb8785]

Yes, never thought of it either... interesting!

[@RankkaApina]

I'm Finnish, but Swedish is my first foreign language. I speak finlandssvensk though, so I don't "sing" as we refer to the Swedish way. Wonder if I sound manly then... Although people mostly think I'm a dumb Finn (not sure if that's better...)

[@almanystromlarsson8021]

@@RankkaApina Many swedes actually like the finlandsvensk dialect. I think it spunds very friendly. You do have a specific melody, and though not the same as regular swedish, it's definately there.

[@daysandwords]

@@almanystromlarsson8021 Yeah I've always understood that most Swedes like Finlandssvenska because it reminds them of their childhood with Moomintrolls.

[@themank99]

@@RankkaApina I think the finlanssvenska dialekten is how swedish sounded in the 1600s - 1700s. It has not been influenced as much as swedish in Sweden

[@herreguda6199]

As a Norwegian, I guess it's "easier"(?) to find Scandinavian-speaking people, because Scandinavians travel a looot, especially to countries like Australia :)

[@ericmyrs]

This right here. Like half of my co-workers studied at least a year in Australia.

[@itsSamtic]

@@ericmyrs go to Thailand and you will find so many swedes its not even funny

[@Nejliika]

We're everywhere, if there is an ikea there is a swede. We are slowly taking over the world, and soon all the furniture in your house will atttack you as the Swedes take over the world

[@itsSamtic]

@@Nejliika easy clap

[@LGDNS16]

Haha we even have our own aic hotels

[@Aiethz]

The reason a Swede would describe someone as "acquired taste" (e.g. go to English) is because to many Swedes it is deeply uncomfortable to describe someone or something someone cares about in any negative terms at all. By switching to English it turns it into kind of a joke but also distances you from it, allowing a Swede to communicate to another Swede what the Swede actually wants to say without triggering the "oh no I can't say that" filter

[@EmilReiko]

This is interesting, because its somewhat the opposite in Danish often. It comes very natural to many Danes to talk about those they care about in negatives, but Danes are rather skilled at deciphering it.

[@Aiethz]

@@EmilReiko Personally I much prefer being direct and surprisingly many Swedes do too. I've got a split Swedish/American personality so when I see a Swede wanting to express something, twisting around a bit looking slightly frizzled going "hrmmmm..." I often say straight out what they're thinking: "You mean to say you hate that guy and he's a dick?". Most people find it relieving but some are horrified haha

[@EmilReiko]

@@Aiethz which is again funny because americans are known to sugar coat everything, circle around the soup, be hyper sensitive and work with a tremendeous amount of taboo words

[@Aiethz]

​@@EmilReiko New York, no sugarcoating :D Gotta find some Danes to befriend at some point, never had the opportunity

[@indraallian6371]

Jag håller med dig. Ett annat knep som används till leda är att kasta in ordet "liksom" eller "typ" i var och varannan mening. Liksom är Svenskans mest onödiga ord :)

[@torbjornkallstrom2316]

About the woke thing, I think it's true that Sweden is very "woke" in some sense, but I think people expect Sweden to be "America-woke" as in, extremely confrontational. But in fact Swedes are mostly pretty chill and don't usually loudly proclaim their political views. I do however think Swedes are pretty conformist in many ways. There's a strong sense that there's a "right" way to think about certain topics. Many will grumble about not being "allowed" to express their opinions, even though no one's actively trying to stop them.

[@daysandwords]

Good input. Honestly the sort of jokes found in Dips and even from guys like David Batra (who is surely reasonably mainstream acceptable) would not be found in Australian TV. Also a comedian could never be married to a politician here. People can't separate professional behaviour from humour - and if a politician's husband was heard saying stuff like "Sug min kuk!" (even though that's not in context), it would be used against the politician until they had to step down. The New South Wales shadow premier (so, the head of the main party opposing the current government) did an interview with a KZbin political commentator, who is also a comedian, and she gets hassled about it all the time. Nothing is decided on policy or common sense - everything is, "Oh but he said the word Chinese, that makes him racist." (this actually happened too).

[@torbjornkallstrom2316]

@@daysandwords That's interesting... I think Swedes are pretty rationally minded overall. So things like sexuality or profanity doesn't bother us so much. I think the biggest taboos in Sweden are related to immigration policies and feminist ideas. Up until the recent refugee crisis it seemed unthinkable to even suggest there could be an upper limit to how many immigrants the country could handle taking in.

[@GNRGNRGNR100]

@@torbjornkallstrom2316 there's a difference between talking about immigration logistically and far right scare mongering about immigrants. There are whole channels outside of sweden dedicated to portraying the idea that swedish women are being raped and burned by brown men. That's why the idea that sweden is "woke" (kind of a retarded term used by reactionary dipshits in my opinion)

[@doncarlodivargas5497]

@Marcus Olofzon - in the eyes of normal people it is the Swedes that are embarrassing themselves, making ball bearings and billy shelf's are not healthy for your mind

[@almanystromlarsson8021]

@@daysandwords I think that may also have something to do with the fact that we in Sweden want everyone to be the same - in the sence that polititians are seen as just regular people with a more unusual job.

[@RealDarlanio]

As a swede, I am very happy that (1) you are able to talk Swedish (2) that you let other people know how to learn Swedish (3) that you make videos that are enjoyable.

[@phoenix-xu9xj]

He’s put me off saying it’s difficult though. 😢

[@boxcardboard5594]

The REAL killer is intonation. "Stegen" means both "the ladder" or "the steps (walking)" Or "banan" is either "banana" or "a track". "Anden" is "the duck" or "the spirit". Intonation means everything and is seriously extremely hard to nail down. Accent and pronounciation can be spot on, but if intonation is off... Boy, it's really funny..😃😀😀

[@hockaj4845]

no one says 'Anden' when talking about a duck, it is more commonly called "Ankan"

[@TheFbiFilesRepeat]

@@hockaj4845 wrong lol

[@hockaj4845]

@@TheFbiFilesRepeat No lol, I am a swede and literally pretty much everyone says anka for duck

[@1august12]

@@hockaj4845 Just because you don't do it doesn't mean everyone else is the same. I hear 'and' and 'änder' more often than i hear 'anka' and 'ankor'.

[@hockaj4845]

@@1august12 I literally just said that almost everyone says anka, i actually have no idea how you managed to think that i said that only i say so.

[@squeezy99]

As a fluent Swedish speaker myself, I agree that the level of Swedish required is all that higher before Swedes will switch entirely to Swedish from English. In the beginning I had to often ask them to be patient while I spoke Swedish since it was a language I was determined to master. And I agree pitch accent is different between men and women - and even greater in areas of Stockholm. Pronunciation is very difficult, and has to be learnt with pitch accent. I'm now teaching my son Swedish. Now I'm learning Italian using Yabla and resources from RAI.

[@Adjuni]

I've been helping my Thai coworkers with pronunciation. A customer called me a racist and it was funny seeing three Thai women gang up on this old lady demanding to know why they weren't allowed to learn how to speak Swedish properly. XD

[@Ryosuke1208]

@@Adjuni Too much woke culture? hahah

[@raine1988]

The thing about Swedes being everywhere, I agree. As a swede I'd like to ADD that it goes further than that. I come from a medium sized town and no matter where I go in sweden, I'll find someone from my town. Not even looking for it, someone will just appear.

[@縣]

var bor du?

[@TheFlyfly]

bruh when you said ADD i thought you were talking about Attention Deficit Disorder lol

[@Matheus_Braz]

Dont think id find swedish speakets as frequently as the dude in the video did, im from brazil

[@縣]

@@Matheus_Braz well thats cause you are not from sweden hence you wouldnt really recognise swedish people

[@Matheus_Braz]

@@縣 Nah its cuz its super uncommon to find foreigners in general where i live

[@abuhassanabo]

13:25 "min broder" is actually correct. The plural is "mina bröder"

[@nebelung1]

Yeah, broder is like the original and "proper" bror. I wouldn't say it's very common in modern Swedish though, unless you're writing a formal essay or something :shrug: fader - far and moder - mor are two other words that underwent a similar transformation.

[@daysandwords]

Haha, whoops - I chose the wrong bit then. There was a thread so full of missing diacritics that I got used to them all being wrong and with the combination of using "broder" instead of "bror"and all the other mistakes (not seen in this video), I just assumed he meant "mina bröder". Ideally Duolingo would have something where if someone put "min broder" it would accept it but say "Quick note: This is archaic, you'd be more likely to find "min bror / min brorsa" or something. But Duo would never do that.

[@nebelung1]

@@daysandwords Yeah very true, your points about duo are still valid! It's a dangerous word to pick up if you don't know how stilted it sounds. It's okay to use but you need that extra bit of info and make it a conscious choice over 'bror', whatever your reason might be. Thanks for another excellent vid!

[@daysandwords]

I've pinned this so I can point the next 50 people who say the same thing to this comment.

[@markusklyver6277]

May I get some.. bröttther? 👉👈🥺

[@Mshejhej97]

4:40 "Är de nån svensk här?" This is so correct we are literally everywhere even in the small places most turist don't go too. A friend of mine was in India through school and was on the beach in this small unknown city talking with her friend in swedish about a guy further down the beach. This guy were walking towards them and when he came up to them he also started speaking swedish with them. They were not prepared for that

[@smievil]

think i wouldn't notice if someone was speaking swedish if i wasn't prepared for it.

[@SadisticalTendencies]

Not only swedes. I was queuing for the elevetar outside a bar in Shibuya, when someone asked me where I was from. When I said Sweden, he started speaking to me in almost perfect swedish. He was from Pakistan and had studied at KTH.

[@hanscarlsson6583]

Swedish has a certain rythm or tone or something. It has been pretty easy for me to hear Swedish in a crowd any time I have been abroad and other swedes were nearby.

[@AnniCarlsson]

I was in Amsterdam (not small city without Swedish tourists) but was in a store and had a few Swedish people behind me. They speaking Swedish and saying how good it's to be where people don't understand you so you can say how crappy stores are and not insult anyone in the store. 😂😂😂

[@karl-erikmumler9820]

This has happened to me so many times as well. Is the government lying? Are there more of us than we're lead to believe?

[@therealbosnianestonianball7363]

That bookshelf is more organized than my whole life

[@daysandwords]

Mine too. 🤭

[@markusklyver6277]

Samma här to be honest

[@NPC-30]

I don't get it. A bookshelf is much easier to organize.

[@lokani]

@@markusklyver6277 please dont blanda ihop different språk det kan bli lite weird sometimes

[@orcasquall]

I’m learning Russian. From the get go, I knew I wanted male tutors instead of female tutors. Because Russian has a gender feature, and I needed to hear and imitate the intonation of a male speaker.

[@ПитерАнгличанин]

I play Overwatch with a couple of Russian female friends while we chat in Discord, and I constantly have to fight the urge to say "ya gotova" instead of "ya gotov" for "I'm ready" because that's how they say it.

[@NT-ot3nz]

The swedish females I had were far better than the male ones... For some reason, the females seemed to be more engaged with the students and a lot more helpful... Even the pronunciation of the words was more accurate

[@daysandwords]

@@NT-ot3nz That's just female teachers in general. Males can be good teachers but it's much less common.

[@beorlingo]

@@ПитерАнгличанин Hey Piter Anglichanin! I have learnt how to read cyrillic but speak none of the languages that use it. Just proud and showing off here! I do understand that you're from England though, and that proves how useful it is to learn the script even though not being all that familiar with any of the languages!

[@lindaedvardsson4218]

People often forget about this one... this is so much bigger and needed than we think.. Thank You for bring that up❣️👋🏼😌🇸🇪

[@tcntad87]

As a Swede, this is interesting

[@chillingchroniclesnow]

My brain gets extremely confused when you switch to Swedish because it's so good.

[@daysandwords]

Tackar tackar! 😀

[@randreas69]

I could bluff my way and pretend to be Swedish for half an hour until someone rats me out. I'm totally Norwegian and there used to be a 2.5h boat ride across. Obviously I miss it a lot.

[@randreas69]

Obviously you'll need a 2-3 years to ease into a life with Swedes.

[@kallmannkallmann]

@@randreas69 Man hör ju att du aldrig blir ledsen så sjklart att man noterar att du e norrman. Ingen dissrespekt men en av de roligaste sakerna är att höra en norrman säga är "jeg er deprimert".

[@randreas69]

@@kallmannkallmann Kollat på Fläksnes igjen hör jag..

[@veryaveragegamingstud274]

As a northern Swede, to nail a Swedish accent, this applies to the northern ones, speak without emotion, you’re welcome.

[@theemperor1379]

How about skånska? Oh wait....that's a whole different language, sorry lol.

[@shyfoxer3644]

@@theemperor1379.. It really is not 😅

[@theemperor1379]

@@shyfoxer3644 Jag vet lol. Skojar bara. 😂

[@Adjuni]

Regarding Swedes switching to English: A lot of us have a pretty crap Swedish vocabulary. '>_>

[@WhoTouchedMyReindeer]

Tala för dig själv, din obelevade kanalje. Själv talar jag ypperligt god rikssvenska.

[@Allgoodnames]

Yeah, and sometimes it's just a shortcut, when expressing something in Swedish is possible, but significantly more cumbersome than using an existing English expression.

[@Adjuni]

@@WhoTouchedMyReindeer Då är du inte inkluderad i gruppen "Många av oss". :P

[@LINEHED]

@@WhoTouchedMyReindeer de flesta jag känner pratar ju typ bättre engelska än svenska, och då är vi allihop etniskt svenskar och är födda här.

[@tamlin420]

There are so many simple expressions in English that are simply more efficient to say in English than Swedish, since they would need an entire sentence or two to say in Swedish. I honestly don't even know off the top of my head what I would say instead of "acquired taste" in Swedish. "Man behöver vänja sig", maybe? Already double the number of words.

[@frogskocinq]

Making your Swedish aura known and the Swedes will come out. Crying.

[@attesmatte]

Holy crap, your Swedish is amazing, especially since you haven't even been here! 💪👍 I read somewhere that "Swedish is easy to learn, but impossible to master" for a non native speaker, and I really think there's a truth to that... Very, very few people that learn Swedish as a second language will pass the scrutiny of us Swedes... 😜

[@daysandwords]

Thank you! If you're interested, go back like um, 3 videos from this one, there's a 50 minute interview with a Polish woman - her Swedish makes mine look BEGINNER. It's insane. Some people claim they can hear that she's native but I think that's hard to be sure of given they knew she wasn't native from the start.

[@attesmatte]

@@daysandwords I just finished that video actually! 😁😁

[@sjingelling]

5te språk. O jag älskar den. Lättare när jag lärde mig franska o flamländska Ooooh flamländska är helt omöjligt. O jag är belgare. Gör fortfarande massor fel. Men svenska var grymmt lära mig. Älskar landet, älskar språket. Har bot här sen 2016

[@Adjuni]

@@sjingelling Great spelling. Some minor errors but higher quality than most school teens. Keep it up. :D

[@Fiinia]

Child of SFI teacher here. Actually, a surprisingly lot of people master it quickly. People who want to learn swedish tends to learn it and master it extremely fast, but there is a load of people who doesn't want to learn it so they tend to not "master" it, and it takes an extremely long time. There is a lot of people who easily master swedish between 4 months to a year. Swedish is easy to learn to speak, but difficult to learn to write. That is why so many swedes have a difficulty spelling in swedish. The reason why we don't see many immigrants speaking swedish is because of how little people talk to them (Also immigrant myself). A lot of people dislike talking with strangers and especially immigrants, so that is the reason of the common miss conception. But this also goes into the factor of those who don't master it. You need to speak Swedish with people at home and other places, so when people conventiently switch to your language or english instead of helping you by speaking swedish back... It also gets really difficult to master. The more you know.

[@ukboss9506]

Often when Swedes say something in English it's just because they can't immediately think of the phrase or word in Swedish, not always a tone thing.

[@daysandwords]

No but I mean when it's clear that that isn't the case.

[@C0ncreteL0tus]

We are so Americanized that I often find words come much easier in English then in Swedish, I often find the English language is much richer in words and there are things that does not sound as well in Swedish.

[@indraallian6371]

I guess thats true in some cases, but mostly its because they think it sounds cool and makes them seem interesting. When ever I run into a person that uses english in that way I say to them: Oh you mean "switching to the swedish word with the same meaning"

[@Domokon]

@@indraallian6371 from my experience, Swedes will also briefly switch to English to add emphasis.

[@indraallian6371]

@@Domokon Yes I know and I dont like it. It´s unessesary and sounds stupid. :P Most serious, it makes the Swedish language poorer in the long run.

[@bjornnorenjobb]

I'm kind of happy to finally hear someone saying that Sweden is somewhat edgy

[@SweWince]

FINALLY

[@bjornnorenjobb]

@@Nekotaku_TV Landsförräderi!

[@MrZnarffy]

Spot on mate.... I'm Swedish, and I lived for a few years in Australia... If you just go to backpackers you will find a number of nationalities, typically Swedes would be common. So no wonder you met them. And humour, I found myself occasionally go to "far" with my Australian friends.. And with pronounciation, you are right, work on the phonemes.. I had to do that when in Australia to get rid of my "kinda US" accent. As for your Swedish accent, I would have thought you had lived in Sweden for a number of years, just because you got the pitch accent and phonemes so well.. Good job!

[@soopcup3565]

Your videos are so helpful as a Swedish learner myself. A perfect mix of informative and entertaining. Thanks for sharing these resources and keep being awesome Lamont!

[@ZebiShredz]

Saying "Sorry, jag blev lite upprörd över det där..." is probably the most swedish thing you can say lmao

[@daysandwords]

I genuinely couldn't think of the English for upprörd in just that moment haha.

[@skyfallprime7977]

@@daysandwords Upset?

[@daysandwords]

@@skyfallprime7977 Nah, upset is more like sad. I was more like, a bit "hot under the collar", and in particular over something that doesn't really matter... Upprörd seemed best at the time but if I had to stay in English I would say "Sorry I let myself get a bit heated about that..."

[@Adjuni]

@@daysandwords Literal translation of Upprörd is Stirred Up.

[@Espersontheone]

I guess swedish people have forgotten the word "upprörd", everyone is "kränkt" nowadays...

[@TheLapierre]

Grym kanal! Riktigt roligt att spana in din utveckling att lära dig svenska. Hoppas att du får chansen att komma hit till Sverige och praktisera dina språkliga kunskaper på plats :) Ha det fint! Bästa hälsningar från Sverige

[@cafekkos13]

I thought this video was going to consist of complaints about learning the Swedish language, but instead it got me really motivated to keep learning languages I've studied and given up on, thanks! Great video :)

[@stefansander5071]

What can i say, i´m impressed... Verkligen imponerad !! Fortsätt att sprida möjligheten att lära sig nya språk. Keep up the good work

[@michaelkobylko2969]

I wish it was as easy finding Norwegians in Belfast as it is finding Swedes in Sydney! Thank god for iTalki!

[@beorlingo]

Just take a sunday swim over to Scotland and I'm sure you'll find plenty of them: Scotland being the Norway of the Brittish isles and nations.

[@peterc.1618]

That surprises me; a well-travelled colleague of mine told me that wherever he went, he always came across Norwegians and Irish people. Bearing in mind the relatively small populations of those countries I didn't expect that.

[@elleryprescott]

Totally get that about meeting native speakers in random place. I said to my parents when we traveled to Bhutan maybe when we’re there I’ll find some Germans to practice with. My parents laughed and were like yeah right like you’ll meet Germans in Bhutan. .... And then we did and I had a great conversation with a German lady we met lol

[@FlowUrbanFlow]

A lot of these have applied to my Japanese journey. Cheers to everyone learning!

[@katten7]

Where could you find Japanese audio books? Do you know that?

[@ThePro399]

I’m a native Swede and sound quite masculine while speaking Swedish. I’ve learned polish from my mom and I have always thought that I sound like a little girl, the feminine/masculine intonation thing really explained it for me, seems that I’ll have to pay more attention to how men speak in foreign languages. 😁

[@nelsing1978]

Being a swedish person, i often throw in english when i can't think of a good word for it in swedish, like the "acquired taste" thing you mentioned.

[@krank23]

I like to think of it as having an expanded vocabulary. I mean, my swedish vocabulary is pretty decent, but why limit yourself to only one language? Each language has its own special words and their associations, and sometimes I just get better precision using an english word.

[@joelloven6153]

English speakers do the same thing with Germanic expression (often German, but sometimes Swedish or Norwegian). Several of expression have also been absorbed into English over time and are included in the dictionary. Of course you could express the same sentiment using English words, but using more words and in a more cumbersome way. Some examples are schadenfreude, zeitgeist, blitz, gesundheit, doppelganger, fjord, smörgåsbord, ombudsman. Off course English has a lot of words from Norse, Normand and French, but those have been integrated over several hundred years. The use of Germanic expressions is newer and similar to us using English phrase when they are more descriptive. The part about using English or more accurately Swinglish to indicate that you don't mean it a seriously as if you said it in Swedish or English seems about right, but only when it comes to saying something with a negative connotation, like "acquired taste"

[@heathersaxton8118]

Man, my students NEVER installing a Swedish keyboard drives me crazy

[@daysandwords]

Haha tell them that every time they use the wrong character where it should be a diacritic, it's 5kr.

[@RankkaApina]

I know/study many languages and the swedish one is the same as the Finnish one. But I prefer The US international: it has easy keys for the scandics but also accents and stuff in French. It started to be too much to have a keyboard for each language (now I get by with 4).

[@malcolmthorne9779]

We swedes are pretty well-travelled usually though so, yeah. You're fairly likely to catch our notice if you "fly the flag" so to speak.

[@Fyrverk]

When I was at the great wall of China, there was a shop with its sign "Äkta kaffe och butik"

[@Dodkod99]

På riktigt? 😂

[@Fyrverk]

Jag var så sjukt förvirrad innan jag insåg att det stod på svenska

[@smiskarn1025]

Daym

[@TheFlyfly]

hur mycket för butiken?

[@Fyrverk]

@@TheFlyfly Vi var aldrig in i den och det här var året 2013. Tog ett foto av den dock. Jag kommer ihåg hur vi var matt och jag tyckte det var något bekant och underligt med skylten. Tog en stund innan det klickade

[@vrenak]

In the nordics, we love to travel, so we'll be everywhere. Doesn't even have to be touristy.

[@Adjuni]

Holdover from the Viking Age. Now we just go sightseeing instead of pillaging. Still drink beer and bringing souvenirs.

[@belstar1128]

I have never even seen a Nordic person in real life and i have seen people from almost everywhere else.

[@joedwyer3297]

That one time the nordic types invaded scotland explains how im 6ft2😂

[@Matheus_Braz]

Yall are just rich, theres a reason people talk abt swedes, germans, americans, french, japanese, etc travelling a lot instead of brazilians, filipinos, pakistani, colombians, etc

[@AnnaKaunitz]

Comedy reflects society and we know the difference between jokes and when it’s time to get serious. The serious stuff is constantly discussed but elsewhere. Freedom of speech is protected by law (first country in the world to amend it in 1766) its unthinkable to beep swear words or censor in Sweden. A couple of exceptions like hate speech is not allowed but that’s basic. SVT caters to the entire population and with their resources they can afford to pay for hilarious comedy. In fact, they set the tone with sponsoring some very odd weird shows in the 90s like Nile City and those became instant cult classics and the rest is history. We can thank the brave people at SVT for having the guts to broadcast stuff that no other broadcaster would pay for. Swedes love clever dark humour.

[@daysandwords]

In Australia you can't say stuff like "You'll know the Chinese people by... them looking like Chinese people." even in a comedy, at least on maintstream TV. What people don't get is that the joke is that the characters are being culturally unaware. It's not that the show is encouraging the behaviour, it's just a funny exchange to have someone say "Nej, jag kan inte hämta dem, jag vet inte ens hur de ser ut." och sen, "Jo, de ser ut som kineser..." HAHA.

[@borjesuvinen8526]

Your grammar and the tricky prononciations, in Swedish, are actually VERY good! You are obviously a very talented linguist!

[@drunkenmuse]

Your Swedish is really great, very impressive! I find it very interesting how your Swedish language "persona" is more like a rural dialect than an accent - especially compared to your general youtube "persona"! It would be interesting to hear you "dub" yourself / copy your "normal" English delivery energy and melody with Swedish, just to see how it translates to that radiant confidence. (When I envision it swapped in my mind it sounds perfectly normal)

[@run2fire]

I am not studying Swedish but I did meet a Swedish dude in my hometown. Not meeting anyone speaking the language I am learning though-Polish

[@existingthing3888]

Hi! I have actually thought of the “woke” thing, and, with a risk of sounding biased, I feel like we are generally more progressive in our ideas but we care less about stuff that would be considered offensive for an English speaking audience if that makes sense, at least that’s what I’m generally picking up. Like we don’t just say offensive stuff, but when we do stuff that isn’t meant to be offensive people don’t generally see it as that here

[@WhoTouchedMyReindeer]

I agree. I kinda feel like we already have a much higher degree of equality and social harmony than America (we're not perfect, but I don't think 'better than America' implies perfection...), so people don't feel the same need to push as hard or get as upset about social issues. Not that we don't have plenty of crazies on either side...

[@henrikwannheden7114]

Very interessting observation in that women and men talk differently in a very specific way. You are probably correct, and it's certainly an aspect I'll try to be mindful of. As a native Swedish speaker that is.. Is that woke enough for you? ;)

[@jangelbrich7056]

Here am I (German) being into Swedish since 30+ years, and THIS is the first time ever I hear someone pointing out that Swedish pitch sound is different between genders. I noticed some other things in pronunciations, but not this one. I also depends in which part of Sweden You live.

[@daysandwords]

Well I don't live in any part of Sweden so...

[@jmolofsson]

@@daysandwords But you sound as if you live in Norrland. It sounds great (and totally manly, by the way).

[@morbidsearch]

Thank you for that first point about switching to English. They do the same thing in Norwegian TV shows and I had no idea why.

[@althermella8633]

I'm not gonna lie, as soon as I heard the weapon exporter joke I just remembered how good SVT play is and browsed it for hours for comedy

[@ricebeansrockroll882]

Same.

[@al3ksp863]

SvT is translated into Swedish television and it’s our government owned tv channel which means that it doesn’t have ads cause the government pays for it. I wonder if there are ads on the play site?

[@hedlund]

@@al3ksp863 Sweden's (Sveriges) Television, not Swedish (Svensk).

[@TheSweBro]

Vet du namnet på avsnittet? Vill gärna hitta det

[@wilhelmtheconquerer6214]

Swedes are basically everywhere in the world due to one singe thing: economics. A large majority of the Swedish population are of the upper middle class, which means basically everyone is connected to the Internet 24/7 and are frequent users of one or several social media platforms (for better or worse) and a lot of Swedes travel to foreign countries almost yearly. We also don't dub very many foreign films and shows so most swedes are pretty decent at English, including our senior citizens

[@joakim2k10]

They're perhaps upper middle class in a global context, but the majority of Swedes are clearly middle class people. The working class segment of Swedish society is also larger than many seem to think.

[@wilhelmtheconquerer6214]

@@joakim2k10 the Swedish working class is fairly small in a global context, though. It's just that many in the upper middle class still identify as working class. Take my parents for example; my father is chief of staff on one of Sweden's largest saw mills and my mother is some kind of software developer at the regional public transport office (it's the best way I can explain it). They own one of the biggest apartments in our home town, they have built a summer house about 20 minutes from town and they own two cars; a 2019 Volvo V60 which they bought brand new and a 2014 VW Polo which they bought in 2016. Oh yeah, and the have a boat as well. People like this still consider themselves working class in Sweden, purely because their parents were working class.

[@finalbox4416]

@@wilhelmtheconquerer6214 Nice

[@joakim2k10]

@@wilhelmtheconquerer6214 I wasn't referring to what people choose to identify as, but rather their level of income and wealth compared to the medians and averages in Sweden. With one having a managerial position in a blue collar field of work and the other being a software developer in the public sector, your household sounds very middle class to me. Having a summer place, a Volvo station wagon and a "boat" is hardly impressive, if that's what you were going for. You should frame that comment and give it to your parents, I'm sure they'll be very proud of you.

[@wilhelmtheconquerer6214]

@@joakim2k10 dude I’m not bragging, heck I haven’t lived with my parents for years, so I’m broke AF. I’m just saying that people with quite a decent income still seem to consider themselves working class, which is something that MIGHT sway the results. And I AM calling my parents middle class, even though THEY se themselves as working class.

[@KawaiiLisok]

Älskar att du hade med klipp från DIPS, så sjukt rolig show!

[@abcdefg216]

There are apparently two types of audiobooks in Sweden. And it can be good to check out both types. One type is the "regular" audiobooks, and the other type are books especially made for the blind. The reading is a little different between them. It may be that books for the blind (if you put them on low speed) can be even better for language learning. Blind people are faster at listening than "ordinary" people, so they want the text cleaner if I understood it right, so they can listen faster than others ... This also means that it may be easier to slow down these books to a slower speed. The "fancy" stuff "takes time" (like sound effects) so I think audiobooks for the blind has less "extra/fancy" stuff added to them... Because the blind are too quick and get bored by listening so slow (ofcourse everyone is different, and OFCOURSE blind ppl can enjoy bouth kinds of audio books!!!) Im not an expert at all... But its worth to google a bit about it if you really want to use audio books to learn Swedish I think. (And my explanation can be wrong, but its worth to check out.)

[@daysandwords]

In my experience it's only ever been the ones without sound effects and stuff. I wish more of them did have that. I don't think it is specifically to do with being for the blind though. Like, an audiobook for blind people is... an audiobook.

[@accordionnewbie9872]

@@daysandwords Hej! Bra video. Ljudböcker för blinda skiljer sig från vanliga ljudböcker. I de vanliga ljudböckerna behöver inte allt från den skrivna boken vara med. I ljudböckerna speciellt inlästa för blinda så måste all text vara med. De vanliga ljudböckerna är klippta (they are edited) för att exempelvis vara kortare eller mer dramatiska etc.

[@aripinkberry1810]

Don’t worry about saying the wrong thing I’m totally blind and you are completely right

[@galmendoza9109]

Swedes really like to travel and therefore you can find the everywhere in the world, as you mentioned! Found some other swedes in a jungle i Hawaii and by that time I wasn't even surprised anymore :')

[@haicautrang5304]

>a loli store "wtf" >what americans call a candy store "oh... oh... lol" * nods in american*

[@daysandwords]

Ha, I actually stuffed it up - it should have been lolly shop. We use "shop" a lot more often than "store" but particularly with "lolly shop" it would always be that.

[@haicautrang5304]

@@daysandwords in america there aren't actually that many candy stores because candy is sold everywhere

[@daysandwords]

@@haicautrang5304 That's also true here so what most speciality lolly shops have become is just that: speciality. They get stuff from Europe and the USA that isn't found in shops or hasn't been seen for a long time, e.g. Cherry Coke which had a season here but isn't generally available, or like some weird Belgian chocolate bar or something. The range probably isn't much greater than a decent US convenience store but our supermarkets only have like half an aisle of that stuff.

[@haicautrang5304]

@@daysandwords do you have vanilla or orange coke in Australia? And yes, Walmart and other common grocery stores have one aisle for candy, maybe 20 feet long and 7-9 feet tall. Then they have another for snacks and another for cookies I love my country

[@daysandwords]

Um, Orange Coke we might have had for a while but I don't think we do anymore. Vanilla Coke is a bit harder to find like in convenience stores but it's in supermarkets. You can tell people who never go to supermarkets because they go "HEY THIS PLACE HAS VANILLA COKE!" and I say "All supermarkets have Vanilla Coke at half that price..." In cans it's rare, but in 600ml and 1.25L bottles it's common. Are you sure tha aisles are only 20ft long? That's short. Our aisles are like 30 METRES (100 feet).

[@DNA350ppm]

This is very helpful for beginners! Many would think it is ridiculous for an adult to learn the SWEDISH alphabet, but it is very helpful, especially for those who tend to think of letters as in English. People might have lived in Sweden for a long time but still say things like bårja (no meaning), instead of börja (start). Speaking fast and making lots of mistakes in pronunciation actually makes it hard to understand a foreign speaker, even if you would like to understand every word. So one shouldn't aim for fluency before one gets most of the pronunciation right - it hasn't to be perfect (but yours is very accurate, Lamont), but try to distinguishing between i-y-u and å-o-u and e-ä-ö-o-a are sounds that can make a huge difference in meaning, as also long and short vowels can be signs of different meanings. English makes similar differences with using simple sounds and diphthongues, and that is also a possibility in Swedish dialects. If somebody feels stockholmska is hopeless, opt for skånska or finlandssvenska/norrländsska... Grammar-mistakes don't make it hard to understand the intended meaning most of the time, as our children make the same kind of grammar mistakes as foreigners. Here's to training your mouth-muscles and ears if you are a beginner: rita-ryta-ruta-rota, mår-mor-mur, sele-säl-söl-sol-sal, syr-sur-sår, håv-hav-hov (häst), mus-mos-mås-mas, nära-neråt-åter, bita-byta, bära-bara, lysa-lisa...

[@johannagodefroid1120]

Tack för den här fina videon! Jag är svensklärare för SVA och det var superbra info!!! Dina bok-/ studietips var grymma. Om du vill ha min input om din ton/melodi när du pratar svenska så låter du mest av allt som en kille som kommer från den norra halvan av Sverige någonstans. Jag är riktigt imponerad av både din grammatiska korrekthet och ditt uttal. 🙌

[@ReidGarwin]

I started learning Norwegian, but once i chose to start learning Swedish to compare to Norwegian, i havent been back to learning Norwegian in a while haha. At least i get some Finnish terms in Swedish which is awesome :)

[@yoonglebellz]

the candy store bit was funny but not that surprising honestly. swedes love candy, if you need to find a swedish person set up a trap and lay a trail of jungelvrål to lure them in. preferably in a sunny but not overpopulated area, as the swede is a shy creature in need of vitamin d (and sugar) 😂

[@yuanyuanintaiwan]

"if you were to hear a very formal tone, in Stockholm or something" made me laugh :D that was a great video, really fun too!

[@daysandwords]

But I said if you go to a talk... I was picturing like some kind of seminar or something, I dunno. I didn't meant that Stockholm was formal in general.

[@zandrajohansson942]

@@daysandwords Not sure if you know this or not.. but one reason the above is funny is that to those of us (Swedes) who aren't from and don't live in the Stockholm area, the Stockholm dialekt can sound very affected/mannered. I'm going to send a link to this video to my Aussie (NSW) partner and I bet that he reacts in a similar way to someone speaking "the Queen's English" as I do to hearing Stockholm Swedish (although it does differ somewhat from person to person). This doesn't mean there's anything wrong with coming from Stockholm, of course.

[@NotASummoner]

@@zandrajohansson942 I find it cringeworthy, I think the closest thing I can compare it to in English would be the valley girl accent.

[@TheOnlyToblin]

@@NotASummoner THIS. South Stockholm dialect is the cringiest shit that exists in Sweden. Only my local dialect (Jönköpingsmål) is worse. Mostly because Jönköping sounds like a dumb farmer TRYING to speak big-city dialect :P

[@WhoTouchedMyReindeer]

@@zandrajohansson942 As a Swedish hillbilly from the frozen north, I do not agree, nor have I ever heard anyone ever say they think Stockholmska sounds mannered or refined. I've heard it called many less polite terms, but certainly not refined. Maybe the Stockholm dialect from 70 years ago, that you can hear in black and white films and what not, but certainly not the modern variant.

[@DefaultFlame]

I must say, your Swedish is absolutely excellent. You've got the tone and rhythm down pat.

[@jerkerjansson]

The melody thing. Different dialects do it a bit different, so even if women and men have different tonal reach, sometimes it's about dialect. You know about the anden-anden thing. When words get a different meaning depending on stress and tonality. Where I come from, Bergslagen, we do it differently than in Stockholm or Göteborg. And Finnish Swedes doesn't bother about that at all. And one tip I think is good in the beginning is to go all in on the vowels. You can mess upp the consonants quite bad, some of them are pronounced quite differently in the dialects, but get the vowels wrong, you will have problems getting understood.

[@danielgolding51]

On learning the sounds and pronunciation properly early on.... Have you tried starting a new language since and doing this? I thought I had this same epiphany when learning German. Eight or nine months in I found out I had a lot of the sounds of the language wrong in my head. So I went and spent weeks working on correcting and relearning. I kept telling people who were starting out, "learn the phonetics, learn the phonetics". Six months ago I started with a new language, Polish, and thought "time to try my own medicine". Dull as hell. In my new epiphany I am deciding that it's much easier to motivate oneself to fix a language one has invested many months in than to be very disciplined and learn it "correctly" from the start. If you know what the words mean you have more context for how important it is to pronounce them correctly. (The advice I did manage to follow was to binge native content instead of drilling duolingo - that advice is good)

[@daysandwords]

My "issue" with my own approach was more about the AMOUNT of speaking I did. Like 400 hours in two years. 150 hours would have been just as effective because when I started to get a looooot better was when I started consuming native content and not talking as much.

[@choreomaniac]

Yes. If you MUST learn something, it can be great to learn the fundamentals thoroughly first. But I’d it is more of a hobby, it is more motivating to learn at a pace that you can see progress. It is a legend that Koreans learn archery theory for months before they are allowed to pick up a bow. One method of ballroom dancing is to perfect the first step before moving onto the second. This is good in theory but in practice it can get boring fast. Another method is to kinda do the fundamentals but get to the fun stuff. Then go back later and refine the basics.

[@verihawt441]

Im swedish myself and i love that people try to learn this hard language

[@conradmarch804]

Thank you. My father was half Swedish and half something Slavic. I just two weeks ago started learning Swedish from an app with a little bird mascot. (To bad it isn't a raven!) I'm writing down the translations now i realize that I need a English-Swedish- English dictionary my note pad is full. Swedish was never spoken it my childhood home but the garmer seems familiar.

[@neoncreeps1901]

tack så mycket! i have started learning Swedish about a month ago and i'm super happy I found this video. thank you for all of the tips and suggestions!

[@Stephanie-gv8rh]

I always find these videos interesting, I’m not learning Swedish but I find it interesting to see other people’s perceptions. Also your bookcase is so soothing, it looks perfect 🤩

[@daysandwords]

You'll know I've gone full KZbinr when I do a "WHAT'S ON MY BOOKSHELF!?" video. 😆

[@Stephanie-gv8rh]

@@daysandwords is it bad that I’d totally watch that? lol 😂

[@daysandwords]

Haha no - it's just you have to be a big youtuber before anyone cares. Like, Chris Stuckmann can do "My entire DVD collection" and people will watch it but I think it'd be like you and 40 other people who might watch my video about the shelves haha.

[@triledink]

One funny fact in sweden is that you can actually hear people swear on tv, like on news and shows and stuff without censoring.

[@sebastianarnljung3565]

Because it is Christian and we are agnostic so we don’t feel anything.

[@simontollin2004]

Swear words are just such a natural part of the language, that you can't even verbally annoy anyone by using obscene words, this is a bit boring and liberating on the same time tbf

[@kalielik]

Jäkla skit bajs :D

[@kalielik]

@@simontollin2004 Finns dock svordomar som man inte ska använda som en daglig sak i språket.

[@kalielik]

@Ser ena Finns svordomar som inte är barnsliga.

[@caseykilmore]

Lamont, as another australian language youtuber yes it always looks like we just stand in front of the camera and 'piss about' hahahha love watching your videos and even though I'm not learning swedish love watching your process and I feel like we have similar approaches! So love the KZbin community and coming across other aussies that also have an absolute passion for random languages. Dutch was the last language I thought I would learn but here we are.

[@jari2018]

maybe i now should add swedish audiobooks to my playlist , I actually never consider that -thank you

[@bulletnutz6382]

Du pratar ju superbra😃intressant det du sa om skillnad mellan hur tjejer och killar pratar! Tror det beror på att tjejer uttrycker känslor mer när de pratar. Det är ingenting som lärs ut i skolor i alla fall, det är nog något som utvecklas i umgänget...👍

[@Dystopikachu]

In my experience there's a distinct cultural difference between generations in how and why we use English words or phrases to fill out Swedish sentences in everyday speech. Someone born in the 1960's, 70's or earlier I could easily imagine using English for comedic relief, but I don't really see that in my own generation born in the 80s, 90's or later. Growing up with the Internet many of us have simply adopted useful phrases and perhaps especially technical/acadaemic jargon from English for lack of better options in Swedish. The example: han är en "acquired taste" i would actually say is a rather practical use of an adopted phrase. Personally I would not know how to express a sentiment like that in Swedish without having to add at least another short sentence. "Med tiden börjar man uppskatta honom" is the closest and shortest phrase I could think of to convey basically the same thing, but it just doesn't roll of the tongue and it doesn't sound as "posh" (another expression we have all learned from British cable television). My youngest brother is 18 so naturally he gets his language skills from TikTok, in Swedish as well as English. What comes out of his mouth is an unintelligible mishmash of words from both languages, when I ask him to clarify what he just said he simply says "Ok boomer" and I do not believe he's saying it in jest.

[@ParaditeRs]

I appreciate the way he pronounces appreciate.

[@edward9674]

For being outside of Sweden you have managed to nail the swedish pronunciation perfectly i'd say!

[@TheOnlyToblin]

I'm not gonna be "that guy", but it's obvious he's not a native speaker. That said, however, it seems like he's managed to pick up on a lot of nuances that most other people learning Swedish haven't managed to pick up. It's obvious he's learning from people who actually speak Swedish, rather than text-book teachers. His Swedish is natural and the pitch accent is really good, even if the pronounciation is somewhat off. All in all, I'd say it's one of the better non-native Swedish speakers I've seen on KZbin so far. So, not perfect, but goddamn fucking good!

[@Ryosuke1208]

​@@TheOnlyToblinIt's nice to hear because he inspires me to master language even when I didn't know how good he was on his swedish.

[@IEatFloor]

@@TheOnlyToblin Yeah, you can hear he’s not native just like he probably can hear I’m not a native English speaker

[@sicut-lux-aurorae]

Very useful, thanks! I plan to attack Swedish in about five years, so my future self appreciates the heads up. Current self got a good chuckle out of it too.

[@quint666]

After learning Swedish on and off for about two months, I've finally started taking it seriously, I fully understand when you say "Swedish isn't easy". I've been learning German for almost five months and I know so much more. (I can understand probably 50-80% of what I'm reading in German depending on the situation already). I haven't needed any help with it and I keep having to watch several videos about Swedish to get things.

[@rickpostdp]

As a Dutch guy learning Swedish, this video was really helpful and fun to watch!

[@vargsnubben-8237]

The comedy is because here in Sweden we don’t cry about jokes or comedy and most of us don’t care if you’re gay black or anything else’s as long as you mind you’re own business

[@snook.1]

(Except if you enjoy weed)

[@vargsnubben-8237]

@@snook.1 there is nothing wrong with weed

[@snook.1]

@@vargsnubben-8237 I 100% agree.

[@endigopink]

As a Swedish guy currently learning Japanese on a similar journey, I find these videos extremely interesting! Keep it up :D

[@OHOE1]

Guy with that pfp, kinda sus

[@mrthelwulf4566]

Omg Endigo I know you from Memeulous 😁 Get Rekt

[@leffe8872]

Endigo e du svenne?

[@stibba4286]

@@OHOE1 is more sus to question it with that tone honestly

[@اغسليديكياهذا]

Why your people are very dumb , just asking !!!

[@thisisbgm]

I just went and got a subscription to Danish Nextory because of this video! I’ve been watching Gurli Gris (Danish Peppa Pig) on KZbin and that’s been pretty helpful but there’s no captions so it’s hard to figure out many of the words I don’t quite understand. This is going to be a goldmine! Thank you!

[@daysandwords]

Yes! And Bookmate has a lot of Danish ebooks too. Obviously paying for both isn't ideal but yeah Nextory's e-reading function isn't great (usable but not great) - or you could just purchase ebooks or whatever.

[@thisisbgm]

@@daysandwords oh thanks for the tip! I'll take a look. Nextory has a 30-day trial so I've got plenty of time to evaluate. Having the audiobook and the ebook versions of the same book is clutch.

[@thomasjonsson2766]

Finnish belongs to a completely different language family than the rest of us (they are not part of Scandinavia - but they count as Nordic language).

[@daysandwords]

Exactly. That is why I said it was a Nordic language and not a Norse language. It's also why I pinned a comment explaining that.

[@rightonthetop3503]

Dude, you made me think about really interesting aspects of Swedish society! I will surely show my friends this video because some of the things you say are spot on when I really think about them!

[@sarnia7559]

Great video. My Wife (who is fluent in 3 languages) keeps telling me that watching Swedish TV is the key, starting with children's programmes. In my wisdom I've not really done so. Oops. I'm starting SFI next week, and they've put me straight into the C stream after they tested me. A nice vote of confidence, but I'm two months behind the rest so it's going to be tough at first. I bought myself a Swedish keyboard for my PC. Makes life much easier.

[@threelittlepixiiies2491]

Netflix will fill that quota now.

[@catsarkioja7423]

As a native swede who's also learned English, Spanish, Italian, Latin and is now trying to reach a good Japanese level, I would still say that Swedish is the most complicated to get really good at. Many native swedes use really simple Swedish and lots of mistakes. It's a language where there are so many ways to say the same thing based on nuances, a simple change in pronunciation can change the meaning of a word, there are more exceptions than rules and sometimes the same word can have several meanings. For example the word "gift" can both mean married and poison. Är verkligen imponerad av ditt uttal och dina kunskaper! Jättekul att du valde svenska, och jag hoppas verkligen att du får möjlighet att åka hit och träffa massor av oss! Starkt jobbat!

[@miesvaillanykyisyytta3252]

I think you could say the same thing about every language you listed especially since Swedish is a tiny language region while Spanish is absolutely massive and it can take a Mexican a couple days to start understanding Argentine Spanish for example. I think Japanese is in a league of its own though with all its subtle social rules and nuances affecting how to use the language not to mention the extremely elaborate writing system. If you are native at any one language you tend to know it the best (obviously) and this can distort your perception because you know so many details and many of those are completely useless details and fluff that is not really required to speak or write that language on a high level. Other languages have the fluff too; we simply won't ever learn it unless we move to a region where the language is spoken and live our lives using that language.

[@yaxizhang9455]

Lady You hit da point.. Actually three meanings with Gift Mat,,,marry Mat, poison Mat,, poison food.. I Learn swedish 8 years but only lätt svenska. Take me 1 year to learn english but 10 years to learn swedish

[@andreasalov7618]

Grymt intressant kanal! Den har fått mig att fundera på att ge mig på ett nytt språk. Vet inte vilket, bara...

[@AriodanteITA]

Yes. you can get actually surprised from how many people speak even weird languages. that happens with languages. Happens to me with Esperanto.... I thought nobody spoke it. But when I have made this thing known, weartng a little flag or something, I've always found esperantists (or people who speak it a bit) everywhere. A couple of Polish waiters, some random Facebook friends...work colleagues; in every company i have worked there were at least two or three Esperanto speakers (to my knowledge). But that's not the weirdest situation: I was once accompanying a friend of mine - director of the local bank - to some sort of "knight" ceremony (one of those funny events certain people do, to give themselves importance, involving weird funny cloths and very long cerimonies). Everyone had a formal jacket and lots of pins on it (rotary, lions etc ...) I decided to wear the pin with the Esperanto star. I felt like totally out of place because I was not used to those "chic" environments, i was there manily for the free food :-D . While I was at this majestic ceremony, a man, never seen before, in his funny "knight" uniform approaches, greets me amicably and starts chit chatting to me in good fluent Esperanto... I was like: LOL Bottom line: The problem with languages is that you don't make people know what you speak. As soon as you do you will be surprised to find how many other people speak it (at a different level)

[@CGplay186]

Thank you for being interesting in learning our language. Have a nice day.

[@MarcelGomesPan]

I have never even thought of the pitch thing between genders ( and i’m Swedish). Also, thank you for showing Clara Henry. 😊 There are probably differences in pitch between accents too, so you could aim for a more pitchy accent.

[@autentyk5735]

Well, Swedish vs. Norwegian: I though the same the first year I moved to Spain! "Oh, my Spanish is really dåligt" (while hearing Catalan).

[@heathersaxton8118]

Idk, as a teacher of Swedish as a foreign language I would say my students usually tend to have way better accents than grammar, at least in terms of what needs to be corrected bc it’s so wrong it’s jarring. But then I again, I suspect that I as a teacher may just be doing an overall better job with teaching pronunciation than grammar because I view it as more important.

[@levipatrickdiaz]

Just curious, are these like high school aged students or adults? If they are younger, it could be that their ears are still young and haven’t suffered too much noise-induced hearing loss, which could make accent acquisition easier. Similarly, if they are younger they might have a lower level of native-language fluency (including grammar), which might slow them down a little as they work to make sense of a new grammar system. Just my thoughts 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@heathersaxton8118]

@@levipatrickdiaz nope, they’re adults. It’s a little different for teenagers, yes, but in my personal (very limited as I don’t teach teenagers that often) experience they tend to do better with both grammar and pronunciation

[@levipatrickdiaz]

Oh okay. Well, either way, good work making sure that your students develop solid accents!

[@daysandwords]

@@heathersaxton8118 Hmm, I think it's like trying to decide whether a dune of sand is "more" than three kilometres of rope. Like, what are we comparing it to? I think specifically about this American guy who has quite a big KZbin channel and lives in Sweden - his grammar and fluency are totally fine but his accent just sounds like an American reading Ikea product names in their own accent. I'm saying that in the end there MIGHT be 1000 grammar structures to learn (almost certainly not that many), whereas pronunciation is like a sport - you can just keep getting better.

[@heathersaxton8118]

@@daysandwords yeah no, its definitely not something you can effectively measure. Just saying that based on my teaching experience as well as growing up in Sweden with plenty of immigrants around me, I wouldn’t say that there’s anything inherently easier about the grammar compared to accent. Seems to me it’s just another one of those things that’s just really individual

[@aubs965]

It's nice to have found someone to watch who has been learning Swedish! I'm currently studying Italian and Swedish (planning on picking up German when my levels in the other languages are higher). I have found the grammar of Swedish to be moderately simple, but the pronunciation is what kills me! Not so much the actual accent, but the letter combinations that make so many different sounds. That is definitely the hardest part for me... I need to just really sit down and spend hours focusing JUST on the pronunciation. But you are absolutely right about putting yourself out there and making it known you speak/are learning a certain language because it attracts natives of that language to you. Just a simple example of this is when I originally had followed several Italian speaking pages on Instagram, whether they were just native speakers, professional Italian pages, etc. After I had done that, I noticed that over time, i had several native Italian speakers start following me and even starting conversations with me in Italian. And that wasn't even me trying very hard, just following Italian speaking pages. Loved this video 💛💙

[@daysandwords]

Yeah pronunciation is definitely the big hurdle for Swedish. Natives tell me that I sound more Swedish than a lot of people who have been living there for 10 years. Glad you like it - great job on the Italian!

[@aubs965]

@@daysandwordsThat's an accomplishment!! I've seen some of your videos in Swedish and, although I'm obviously not native, your pronunciation sounds spot on.

[@aripinkberry1810]

Thank you! I only speak Spanish other than English and i’ve started to learn Swedish. Like you said the grammar is easy, but pronunciation kills me! lol I’m getting through it though. I’m also learning Korean but I’m going easy on myself with that one.

[@aubs965]

@@aripinkberry1810 Swedish is such a beautiful language! I bet you're like me and find it easier reading Swedish than speaking or even listening to Swedish to a degree!

[@PandaNamedRaizu]

I am a swed and you made some point that I havent notice. That's just shows how good this video is. Making points that is a fact but isn't really commen to know about it.

[@DanTheCaptain]

"Just install the Swedish (In my case, French) keyboard" Me: *sweats profusely in AZERTY*

[@hmt894]

I was nervous about the Russian keyboard. Just keep going and you will get used to AZERTY 🙂

[@hydrocharis1]

As a Belgian, I grew up with azerty but I learned myself qwerty to be able to type languages I learn like Norwegian and Icelandic. I use US international now after having used first the Norwegian and then the Icelandic keyboard (Icelandic keyboard doesn't let you type an ø, ç, ß etc. which I occasionally need). All this keyboard switching was pretty confusing (especially for all the non-letter keys) and gave me loads of frustration. Still I have to type azerty sometimes on public computers in which I have to use my backspace constantly and I hate it.

[@LabGecko]

I use the US international as well. The key combos are very simple once you find what they are, and I find them quite fast as well.

[@chaoticorder7481]

You can try the Canadian Multilingual keyboard. It has the US international layout with all the French diacritics!

[@chocolat_chaud25]

If you happen to have an Apple keyboard, long press on vowels gets you all possible accents for the vowel å is a+8. Other vowels are easy with a French keyboard. If you don't have a Apple keyboard, check online for your keyboard shortcuts. :)

[@MikaelMurstam]

I've never thought about the differences between male and female intonations/tonal variations. Very interesting. For us, the tonal variations are not part of the language but actual emotional expressions. Keep that in mind. Try not to just imitate the tonal variations. Try to understand what they mean.

[@jte5783]

I used to work with refugees and immigrants that where beginning to learn Swedish and the tip we always gave was “go on SVTplay”. Some say tv rots your brain…that might be, but it can also teach you language, apparently. Btw, about the woke/humour thing. Swedish humour is often _very_ ironic. Which means that a lot of comedians attack a sensitive subject from the other side, so to speak.

[@franciscoamaral4383]

I’m currently learning Swedish and the intonation point between genders is spot on! Great channel btw 👍

[@mep6302]

I'm not very good at imitating accents so knowing that men speak Swedish with a less pitch intonation is a relief. About the pronunciation, this reminds me of (guess what) English. I'm not a native English speaker and the hardest part of English was pronunciation. Many sounds that don't exist in my language. Grammar was easy and mostly straightforward.

[@levipatrickdiaz]

I appreciate listening to the Australian pronunciation of ‘appreciate’ 😄 I thought your note about men and women speaking differently was very interesting - I’ll have to start paying attention to that with Russian! In line with your last video, I think you made a great point about pronunciation. Having to unlearn and retrain the brain and mouth is one of the reasons I think people should focus on pronunciation from day 1.

[@thisisbgm]

I also appreciated “appreciate”

[@daysandwords]

Just a quick note: that's actually my idiolect (language specific to me) not an Australian thing. Most Australians say "appreesh-iate".

[@levipatrickdiaz]

Oh okay gotcha! I’d never heard that term before. I learned something new, thanks!