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Swedish Language Lessons #1 & #2 ( Introduction and short lesson) Vasa Star September-October 1998
Click here to continue on to Birka's Swedish Language Lessons
Swedish
language lessons
An Introduction
by
Lillemor and Richard Horngren
The fall and
winter seasons are fast approaching and we may be looking for things to do.
How about starting classes in Swedish or any other Scandinavian language? To
help you get started perhaps the following will help you in your endeavor. It
is from a speech Lillemor gave at the most recent Grand Lodge Convention.
WHAT IS LANGUAGE?
According to the dictionary. a few
of the definitions are as follows: Any method of communicating ideas as by a
system of signs, symbols, gestures or the like. A characteristic style of
speech or writing. Any particular manner of utterance. Language as a subject of
study. To have the same background, experience or understanding as another
person.
In other words, we use language to
communicate with each other. How do we learn to speak a language? In the
beginning we are all equal. We have to learn from scratch. Is our first accomplishment
a vowel or a consonant? Do we say “DA DA DA” or “MA MA MA” as our first real
words? Of course any proud parent will surely interpret these to be directed to
them personally.
We have to learn to crawl before we
can walk or even run. How many years did it take for us to really know our
respective languages? Are we still learning? Of course we are. Hopefully we
will never quit being curious about our language. Just knowing the background
will surely lead to discovering and learning another language.
For instance, did you know that the
Indo-European Family of Languages, of which English and Swedish are members, is
descended from a pre-historic language, Proto-Indo-European, spoken in a
region that has not yet been identified, possibly in the fifth millennium B.C.
In the European group we find the Germanic languages divided into three parts,
North Germanic, West Germanic and East Germanic. Here we learn that Gothic, now
a dead language belonged to the East Germanic group. English, Frisian, Dutch,
Flemish, Afrikaans and
Gemran are part of the West Germanic
group. The North Germanic group includes Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian, Swedish
and Danish. Our friends, the Finns, have a language that is pan of the
Finno-Ugric group, a sub-family of the (iralic group which includes Estonian
and Hungarian. Swedish has been taught in Finland for niany years.
The Icelandic language has been mostly
unchanged since the 16th century, and is therefore considered the purest
Scandinavian language in existence today. On the Faeroe Islands, a language
very similar to Danish is spoken with a definite Faroese dialect. The other
three countries, Sweden, Norway and
Denmark, are quite similar. There,
too, we notice different dialects, depending on where you are in the country.
For example, a person from Norrland in Sweden’s northern part, may not
understand somebody living in Skâne, a province in southern Sweden, although
they both speak Swedish and learn from the same schoolbooks. I was horn in Stockholm and
when visiting friends in the Brbviken area east of Norrköping in Ostergotland
some years ago, I spoke with a farmer. Unfortunately I could not understand his
dialect. This is something that can happen to all of us when visiting any country.
Knowing this, we will appreciate the difference and learn from it.
It is much easier to understand
another language when it is written. Why? Could it he because we can take our
time deciphering the words? Checking the dictionary for every word and writing
it down in English will certainly help make sense of what is being read. What a
time con-sliming chore hut it may be the only way to find out what great-grandpa
wrote about in his letters to Sweden.
How then, do we learn to speak and
understand another language? Some of us live close to
a city with a university or a technical
college and they may offer language classes. If we live where such
opportunities are not available, do not despair.
What you need to do first, is to
check around in your lodge if there is an interest in having classes. Or check
with your friends and neighbors. The ideal way is to have a teacher who was
born in the country whose language you want to learn. We know this is not
always possible. Don’t give up, ask around. If you are lucky you will find a
person who is willing but may not feel qualified. Consider yourself lucky.
What if you do not find someone who
is a “native”? Or anyone who will take on the job to lead the class? You have a
group of interested students. A place is available for a weekly class. What can
be done?
A bookstore is your next step. Visit
your local small bookstore or one of the giant superstore chains. They will
help you with language material. If they do not have beginner’s books and
dictionaries in stock, they can search what is available with the help of
their computer network. There is plenty of very good material out there.
Especially when a cassette tape is included. This will enable you to learn who
you listen to the tape at the same time as you are reading the text.
As a group you can listen and learn
together. Start by learning very few words. Repeat them over and over again.
Don’t be tempted to continue because you think you know the words. Stop the
lessons and have a cup of coffee and then go back to it and you may find that
you did not remember all the words. This is okay. Do you remember teaching a
baby to say that first word? How many times was it repeated? Many, many times.
We have to consider ourselves babies when tackling this foreign language. The
second lesson should be started with what had been learned during the first
lesson. Always go over the previous lessons. The secret is repeat,
repeat, repeat.
A Short Lesson
Perhaps
you could use Post- It notes as reminders. Place them on the bathroom mirror,
by the kitchen sink, your desk or any other place where you may want to be reminded of certain words connected to that particular area.
The opportunity to learn is all around us. We just have to seize the moment.
Greet people with: HEJ OR HEJSAN.
Ask them how they are by asking them:
If you do not know them, introduce yourself with either: JAG HETER ... or MITT NAMN AR.
You