Is Swedish Hard To Learn? (So many people get this wrong)

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  • čas pƙidĂĄn 12. 05. 2024
  • In this video I address a common misconception about the difficulty of learning Swedish as well as discuss the easiest and hardest languages to learn for English speakers. I also discuss some of the key things that I find to be difficult and easy about the Swedish language.
    🇾đŸ‡Ș Learn Swedish With Simple Phrases Daily: / languagelockin
    My Instagram: / stefanthyron

Komentáƙe • 988

  • @svantenelander7131
    @svantenelander7131 Pƙed 3 lety +761

    I think Swedish is "easy to learn, hard to master" it's pretty easy to have a Swede understand you but to completely blend in is hard.

    • @cargobob7817
      @cargobob7817 Pƙed 3 lety +67

      I would say it's impossible to fully blend in.

    • @Dovndyr13
      @Dovndyr13 Pƙed 3 lety +10

      Well I think it has to do with dialects and even their influence og high swedish. Sometimes the abbreviations can be different from city to city. This can be the truth in the UK as well, but I'm not sure if the difference in the US is that large except on a regional level

    • @superxorn
      @superxorn Pƙed 3 lety +4

      @@cargobob7817 More or less impossible if you come here as an adult. It might be possible, but I have not seen an example of it yet.

    • @charlies.5777
      @charlies.5777 Pƙed 3 lety +8

      I'd say it's the same for Amurican English. At least where I'm from, there's so much slang and so many idioms that I think it's very difficult for a non-native speaker to fully comprehend.

    • @svantenelander7131
      @svantenelander7131 Pƙed 3 lety +24

      @@charlies.5777 It's the pitch accent and specific sounds that are difficult with Swedish. There are of course idioms and some words but that is the same with every language.

  • @sos83
    @sos83 Pƙed 3 lety +146

    As a Finn I've always struggled to learn Swedish until I realized that I have to study it in English and not in Finnish.

    • @tobbe447
      @tobbe447 Pƙed 3 lety

      pakkoruotsi funkar int..hÀlsningar: rannikkohurrista =)

    • @Her01panda
      @Her01panda Pƙed 3 lety

      Ja

    • @SamsungGalaxy-vz6kh
      @SamsungGalaxy-vz6kh Pƙed 3 lety +8

      Yeah English and Swedish have a lot in common

    • @Lakigigar
      @Lakigigar Pƙed rokem +1

      Yes this is indeed true, because Swedish has more similarities with English and the amount of resources for learning swedish in english i assume is going to be larger than in finnish. Knowledge of english would help you a lot in learning swedish as a Finn.
      I noticed too that sometimes i need to change my mindset if i want to learn a language, like for learning german it's easier to start from "dutch" i feel, while for romance languages, due to the amount of resources, it might be easier in english. English also has a lot of shared vocabulary but having knowledge of two languages also helps me a lot. It's easier to learn a third language if you know two languages, than outright learning a second one and so on, because you're more familiar with the process of language learning and might have knowledge of more cognates.

    • @Electrostatic_Fusion
      @Electrostatic_Fusion Pƙed 18 dny

      ​@@Lakigigar what other language do you speak?

  • @nagontingingenhar
    @nagontingingenhar Pƙed 3 lety +351

    The thing with swedish is that it's easy to learn but hard to master, thanks to the pitch accent that the swedish language have it's really easy as a swede to spot a foreigner. If you don't know what the pitch accent is, there are some great videos explaining it. And I do recommend watching some videos about it if you are learning swedish, because it's a big difference.

    • @annsidbrant7616
      @annsidbrant7616 Pƙed 3 lety +41

      The pitch accent is the different accents required for Swedish words like "anden" (the duck) and "anden" (the spirit). The difference is subtle, but extremely obvious to a native Swedish speaker. And hard to master for anyone who didn't grow up with Swedish, I'm sure.

    • @haalloondricka
      @haalloondricka Pƙed 3 lety +9

      That's true, I have a friend who I thought was born and raised in Sweden until I noticed the way he pronounced/pitched* some words. I asked him about it and he came to Sweden five years ago.
      *pitched = "betonade" in swedish

    • @Narnendil
      @Narnendil Pƙed 3 lety +15

      @@haalloondricka Yes, I found it a bit surprising that Stefan didn't mention pitch accent since I'm sure that can be quite difficult to master.
      Translating it simply as "betona" though might create some confusion for some readers thinking it has to do with emphasis. So to clear that up I just wanted to write that differently to emphasis (which both English and Swedish has), pitch accent also has to do with tones that vary in pitch and length in different patterns. Emphasis happens mostly on a sentence structure level, whilst pitch accent happens in a single word.

    • @brigidspencer5123
      @brigidspencer5123 Pƙed 3 lety +2

      @@annsidbrant7616 Isn't 'ankan' duck? 'En anka' is a duck & 'ankan' is the duck?

    • @annsidbrant7616
      @annsidbrant7616 Pƙed 3 lety +1

      @@brigidspencer5123 Exactly. And "anka" is a two-syllable word with pitch accent 2. But "and" is another word for "anka". And "and" is a one-syllable word with pitch accent 1.

  • @FunSwedish
    @FunSwedish Pƙed 3 lety +51

    Totally agree! Swedish is not hard. But the circumstances make it hard to learn. Because your rarely need it.
    I would also add that, because the country is so small, there is not that much media (videos / songs / etc) that is in Swedish. Unlike Spanish or German.
    We love to create tips and trick that make it fun and easy to learn Swedish. So maybe we could do some form of collab in the future :)

    • @thebigskyguy
      @thebigskyguy Pƙed rokem +2

      I'm learning Norwegian now. Pronunciation is way more complex and difficult to learn. I have a hard time understanding each word spoken in a sentence.

    • @Nipunhai800
      @Nipunhai800 Pƙed 2 měsĂ­ci +1

      I spent an year learning Swedish, getting the basics down is easy except finding content to become perfect is impossible

  • @andreasosterberg8833
    @andreasosterberg8833 Pƙed 3 lety +585

    Just saying, if someone has a hard time saying "Ö" as an english person, think about how you say "Girl", you could basically replace the "i" with a "ö" and it would be exacly the same thing. Unless it's a hard Ö.
    Or how you say Earl, it could be Örl instead.
    I hope I helped someone :)
    Now challenge to YOU! Say my last name and see if you can get it right (;

    • @maxysurvivorsucks
      @maxysurvivorsucks Pƙed 3 lety +54

      english speakers say Ö all the time, for example O in Customer, it's really Custömer.

    • @andreasosterberg8833
      @andreasosterberg8833 Pƙed 3 lety +17

      @@maxysurvivorsucks That's true :)

    • @mytube001
      @mytube001 Pƙed 3 lety +9

      That only gives you one of the two pronunciations of "ö", although, if you're from one of the larger cities and under 30, chances are that's your only "ö".
      In modern Swedish, one variant of "ö" is used before "r" and another is used in all other instances (but again, if you're a younger speaker from a major city, the first kind is likely your only "ö"). The first is formed more towards the back of your mouth with the lips more relaxed and open, while the other is more fronted, with lips more tense. To speakers whose speech has both variants (most people outside larger cities and almost everyone over 40), they sound quite distinct, but younger speakers might not even be able to tell them apart unless they make an effort.
      There is no equivalent sound in English to the second variant of "ö".

    • @SparkyFolf
      @SparkyFolf Pƙed 3 lety +5

      Österberg, ett berg Ă„t öst. Btw my name is another example of that, Sjöström

    • @Robman92
      @Robman92 Pƙed 3 lety +11

      And in "can" you say Ä. so "cĂ€n" (if youÂŽre using American english)

  • @mylifeinsweden5801
    @mylifeinsweden5801 Pƙed 3 lety +291

    I think it so interesting to watch people learning Swedish and see their journey, like you!

  • @MrHenrikAndersson
    @MrHenrikAndersson Pƙed 3 lety +106

    Stefan on road trip trying to blend in in rural SkÄne. That would be a fun video.

    • @annakchf7084
      @annakchf7084 Pƙed 3 lety +5

      Yes, Stefan could interview the English TV gardener John Taylor who speaks a funny sort of Scanian dialect.

    • @bqualitysnake6549
      @bqualitysnake6549 Pƙed 3 lety

      Go far enough down and you stand out with the skÄne accent, far up enough and you stand out from the local north swedish/bondska accents, you'd stand out like a sore thumb

  • @mirandanichols893
    @mirandanichols893 Pƙed 3 lety +119

    Hej Stefan, I just moved to Sweden (three days ago) and I instantly wanted to learn Swedish. This video it gave me some peace of mind. Tack!

    • @mockupguy3577
      @mockupguy3577 Pƙed 3 lety +14

      Miranda, there are a lot of words that are “the same” in Swedish and English.
      Cat - Katt
      Foot - Fot
      Hand - Hand
      Hungry - Hungrig
      If you observe this it should be a great help I believe. Does not help you with grammar of course but it should enable a kickstart.

    • @TheGlobalNetworkOfficial
      @TheGlobalNetworkOfficial Pƙed 3 lety +6

      Welcome to Sweden :)

    • @catwoman891005
      @catwoman891005 Pƙed 3 lety +3

      Welcome here :) hope u will enjoy the country

    • @RobertHeslop
      @RobertHeslop Pƙed 3 lety +2

      Check out TheSwedishLad - he's done videos of Swedish vocabulary for years :3

    • @albinbytyci2343
      @albinbytyci2343 Pƙed 3 lety +1

      I hope you like out country!!!

  • @schnelltv1956
    @schnelltv1956 Pƙed 3 lety +80

    I'm Danish so Swedish is really really easily. For me it's just feels like a different dialect of Danish. Norwegian can be even easier, dependent on the dialect of the speaker.

    • @charliekoohler4774
      @charliekoohler4774 Pƙed 3 lety +16

      I am Swedish. Have lived in SkÄne close to Denmark for 8 years now. I cannot for the life of me understand a single word of Danish...

    • @schnelltv1956
      @schnelltv1956 Pƙed 3 lety +2

      @@charliekoohler4774 Du forstÄr ikke et af hvad jeg skriver nu?

    • @charliekoohler4774
      @charliekoohler4774 Pƙed 3 lety +8

      @@schnelltv1956 Skrift jo. Jag menade talsprÄk.

    • @schnelltv1956
      @schnelltv1956 Pƙed 3 lety +8

      @@charliekoohler4774 Det krÊver Þvelse for begge parter. Efter at have hÞrt svensk hver dag i nogle mÄneder kan jeg forstÄ 80-100% FÞr kunne jeg forstÄ omkring 40-60%

    • @gustavschnitzel
      @gustavschnitzel Pƙed 3 lety +7

      In fact, all three Scandinavian languages can be seen as dialects of the same language.

  • @charlielouise2428
    @charlielouise2428 Pƙed 3 lety +22

    My aunt has lived in sweden for over 20 years and still struggles with speech, because everyone speaks to her in english. She had to put a sign on her office door that says 'Swedish only, please' in order to get a decent chance to practice her speech.

  • @trixycat
    @trixycat Pƙed 3 lety +237

    “ÄÅÖ” .... 😂 native swedes will probably understand. Great video Stefan, as usual! ♄♄♄

    • @amandabjork2255
      @amandabjork2255 Pƙed 3 lety +13

      Hahah, satt och tÀnkte pÄ det!

    • @trixycat
      @trixycat Pƙed 3 lety +23

      Feel Good : inte sĂ„ lĂ€tt Ă€ndĂ„ fan đŸ˜â™„ïž Man mĂ„ste vĂ€l nĂ€stan ha sjungit bokstavslĂ„tar pĂ„ dagis för att veta ordningen 😃

    • @legan8140
      @legan8140 Pƙed 3 lety +18

      ÅÄÖ. in Norway they say ÆØÅ

    • @ChristofferOrrmalmUtsi
      @ChristofferOrrmalmUtsi Pƙed 3 lety +3

      Yes I can tell this letter is in Swedish mr president, lots of ös and Àss in it.

    • @haalloondricka
      @haalloondricka Pƙed 3 lety +9

      ÄÅÖ hurt my eyes 😂🙈

  • @ProfLavesson
    @ProfLavesson Pƙed rokem +7

    What a kind, respectful, and instructive video. You are helping in lowering the bar for foreigners to learn Swedish. Many foreigners are told that Swedish is very hard to master. You break the language learning down in a smart way and demonstrate by example why Swedish does not have to be very hard to learn. Thank you.

  • @waterblonk
    @waterblonk Pƙed 3 lety +25

    As a native Dutch speaker, my journey in learning Swedish entailed a super easy time learning grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary but an absolute dumpster fire when it comes to listening comprehension.
    To this day, Swedish’s fluid, often legato orthography, mixed with the frequently unclear annunciations just sounds like complete gibberish to me if it’s not accompanied by subtitles.
    I can generally talk to a Swede decently, but when they talk back,.. oof!
    On the bright side, at least it’s not Danish

    • @bjorn3137
      @bjorn3137 Pƙed 5 měsĂ­ci

      Ja man!!! Ik ga verhuizen naar srockholm Ă©Ă©n januari. Had een zweedse meid ontmoet maar ze wil me niet meer, heb nu in 3 maanden Zweeds geleerd, en de uitspraak is echt makkelijk als je het eenmaal onder de knie hebt. Ga nu zweedse video's maken op CZcams en muziek zoals Antoon en Lil Kleine maken daar in zweden, hoop dat ik doorbreek en dat ze me terug wil. Ha det bra ;)

  • @jaserjsk
    @jaserjsk Pƙed 3 lety +30

    How I learned English while living my whole life in Sweden.
    Watching un-dubbed American movies and playing video games.

    • @teresamontgomery1235
      @teresamontgomery1235 Pƙed 3 lety +11

      I worked in an American Food store for a while. I had one 10 year old guy wander in and his English was the best I'd ever heard for someone his age. As good as my husband's. I complimented him and asked if he had an American parent or something. He gave me the biggest grin and said, "No. CZcams game streams!"

    • @lmatt88
      @lmatt88 Pƙed 3 lety +3

      English is everywhere though, hard to miss it.

    • @ImAgentK
      @ImAgentK Pƙed 2 lety

      How do you learn a language undubbed I just don't understand that so you're saying I could learn Swedish by watching stuff undubbed?

    • @jaserjsk
      @jaserjsk Pƙed 2 lety +1

      @@ImAgentK What I'm saying is that I grew up watching American movies. The Scandinavian countries are among the few countries in Europe that do not dub every foreign movie or Tv- show.
      This is why 98% of all Swedes are able to speak English without any issue as compared to Germany or Italy

    • @jaserjsk
      @jaserjsk Pƙed 2 lety +1

      @@ImAgentK Also - Watching undubbed swedish movies now when you are in the age that you are in now will probably not help you much.
      I was 5 years old when I started watching american movies that my brother used to rent on VHS.

  • @Suxanes
    @Suxanes Pƙed 3 lety +64

    I'm learning German now and it's pretty discouraging to learn German because of the grammar. I've always thought Swedish is a sexy language, sounds like they are singing when they speak.💙

    • @Liasnow
      @Liasnow Pƙed 3 lety +13

      Cutelittle Trips Hahahah never heard anyone say that before😂

    • @SparkyFolf
      @SparkyFolf Pƙed 3 lety +9

      Haha I am Swedish and I never thought about it/that way

    • @Robman92
      @Robman92 Pƙed 3 lety +18

      Meanwhile us Swedes think that Norweigans sound like they are singing

    • @tekno90
      @tekno90 Pƙed 3 lety +6

      I have studied German for 6 months and living in sweden for eight years and I can tell german grammar is way harder than swedish. Altought, swedish pronunciation is harder than german.

    • @heartoflinnea2131
      @heartoflinnea2131 Pƙed 3 lety +6

      I'm a native Swede and yes, I've heard that foreign people thinks it sounds like we sing when we speak, but I guess we don't realise it ourselfs XD
      As for German... I studied it in school from 6th grade until I finished gymnasiet... I'm still trying to learn it, since I have both friends and distant family in Germany... and to be honest, I still can't get Der Die Das right...

  • @chikitabowow
    @chikitabowow Pƙed 3 lety +25

    When foreign internet-friends ask me if Swedish is hard to learn i usually say that rule of thumb is that the grammar is easy, but speaking it without a heavy accent is very hard.

    • @mikaelpeterson6567
      @mikaelpeterson6567 Pƙed 3 lety +1

      Almost impossible even.

    • @zlattesboy
      @zlattesboy Pƙed 3 lety +20

      No one cares though. We have so many immigrants that we're used to all sorts of accents. We're not language snobs like the French..!

    • @stpatrickcentre7694
      @stpatrickcentre7694 Pƙed 3 lety +1

      Hello there teach me swedish

    • @ZakhadWOW
      @ZakhadWOW Pƙed 3 lety

      @@zlattesboy the ethnic variety represented in Mello over the years is perfect example: big ones for me being Loreen Talahoui(?) and Eric Saade. And that was 2 years in row. But then you have Mendez, Samir, Mohombi, Mr Fjallgren, etc.

    • @sharonoddlyenough
      @sharonoddlyenough Pƙed 3 lety

      @@stpatrickcentre7694 I can point you towards some resources if you're serious.

  • @ajaivirk6736
    @ajaivirk6736 Pƙed 3 lety +5

    Your videos are super helpful man!
    Will be moving to Stockholm for work very soon from Canada. Cant wait!

  • @Narnendil
    @Narnendil Pƙed 3 lety +74

    When talking about difficulties of learning Swedish and pronounciation, I'm surprised pitch accent isn't mentioned since it's quite uncommon in the world with languages with pitch accent. (Think: tomten vs. tomten and similar words differentiated only by their pitch accents.)

    • @lorenzocabrini
      @lorenzocabrini Pƙed 3 lety +1

      I'm curious about this, pitch accent is frequently mentioned in connection with Swedish in particular. In Italian we have the words ancora (accent on second syllable, meaning still or yet) and ancora (accent on first syllable, meaning anchor). Is this an example of pitch accent? Even after reading about it I'm a bit confused about the difference between pitch accent and "stress".
      Clearly, Swedish is not a tonal language, in the sense that for example Thai (5 tones IIRC) or Ga (officially 2 tones) are. I'll limit myself to Ga, since I am more familiar with it. In Ga tone is a part of the syllable, so 'la' can mean blood, fire, dream, to sing, depending on the context and whether you say it with a low or high tone. Then there is the La part of Accra, so you can throw in one other meaning as well.
      I wrote that Ga officially has two tones. I'm not expert on such matters, but if Iisten to a language like Yoruba, which I don't know very well, to my ears it seems to be a very "pure" tonal language. It has three tones, low, mid and high, you can think of these as do, re and mi. In Thai, Mandarin, etc., "tones" are actually tone shifts: rising, falling, etc., in addition to flat tones, i.e. low, medium and high. In Ga, the word for dog is 'gbee' (you produce the 'gb' sound by saying a 'b' sound but with the tongue in position for a hard g sound, it is not two sounds). Gbee is said to be a high tone sound, but it is actually more of a mid-to-high rising tone.
      In a language like Swedish (which I understand really well, but don't really speak), tone is clearly not significant at syllable level. It does matter in some cases, like stegen (the ladder) as opposed to stegen (the steps). Then again, it seems to do so in (at least some) other languages as well. Could somebody help clear this out: why is Swedish a 'pitch accent' language, but other languages are not?

    • @paecmaker
      @paecmaker Pƙed 3 lety +5

      ​@@lorenzocabrini I wouldn't call sweden a pitch accent language. There are some words that have a pitch accent, like already mentioned- "tomten" and "stegen". But even without pitch accent you would in 99% still be able to figure out what word was meant based on the situation. Sentences like "Tomten Ă€r pĂ„ tomten", (Santa is on the plot) is literally never used apart from examples. And even looking at the words with pitch accent, they are relatively few and it's not like there's entire sentences with different pitch accents.
      However one thing swedish definitly is, is a tonal language in the way that the swedish speech is very colourful and often compared to singing. I think that is one of the reasons why swedish is often seen as a pitch accent language, despite that apart from a few words, it really isnt.

    • @lorenzocabrini
      @lorenzocabrini Pƙed 3 lety

      @@paecmaker Thanks, your answer makes a lot of sense. I guess the term tonal language is quite broad and covers both languages in which tone carries meaning and languages which, as you point out, have a "singy" aspect to them.
      I still wonder if my own language has an aspect of tonality in it. We also have distinction between some words base on some spoken characteristic, as in the example I gave between ancora (still, yet) and ancora (anchor). I just don't know if that characteristic is tone or something else. When I went to school (i.e., a very long time ago) we were never taught that ours was a tonal language. And as it turns out, I know far less about the formalities of my own language than I do about many other languages. :p I guess I'll just have to STFW one of these days.
      TIP: if anybody is interested it tonal languages and wants to do things like pitch analysis, I can recommend praat (www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat). It's in the Debian repos, but I use Arch so I just build it myself. It helped me quite a bit when I was struggling to get my Ga tones to a point that I could be at least somewhat understood. It may be interesting to see the pitch diagrams of the above mentioned Swedish words.

    • @qweek
      @qweek Pƙed 3 lety +2

      @@lorenzocabrini You might find this video interesting if you want to learn more about the Swedish pitch accent: czcams.com/video/lXp7_Sjgm34/video.html

    • @TheSlyngel
      @TheSlyngel Pƙed 3 lety +5

      People dont bother and most Swedes dont even know that they use a pitch accent. Finnish swedish dialect dont use it at all. You can almost always guess the word from the context in the sentence.

  • @rjhilton56
    @rjhilton56 Pƙed 3 lety +1

    Loved this! Always wondered as I’d heard both sides so happy to get your perspective 👍

  • @alexkind16
    @alexkind16 Pƙed 3 lety +18

    Even as a swede, I learned a thing in this video. Never knew of the 80% thing.

  • @martennyman6624
    @martennyman6624 Pƙed 3 lety +5

    Bra förklarat stefan 👍

  • @MrSilvgold
    @MrSilvgold Pƙed 3 lety +3

    Det Àr sÄ spÀnnande att följa dina videor. Och du Àr en positiv och framÄt ung man.

  • @elisesilverfire8587
    @elisesilverfire8587 Pƙed 3 lety

    Tack för videon. Var vÀldigt rolig att se pÄ Àven som Svensk! Lycka till med att lÀra dig sprÄket!

  • @NightOwlUpNorth
    @NightOwlUpNorth Pƙed 3 lety +4

    Thanks for explaining Swedish! I just started taking a course in Swedish through Babbel. Some of my pronunciations need a bit of practice but according to Babble I get many of them correct. It could be that my learning to sing along with some songs in Swedish helped a lot there! Love the songs, love the language! Sweden fascinates me, as does their culture! Would be nice to visit someday! Love your videos! 💖

  • @leosjogren5244
    @leosjogren5244 Pƙed 3 lety +3

    Hej, stefan! I am going to move to Sweden at the end of this year, and I watch your videos, and I learn a lot about the swedish culture while watching them! i Just wanted to say thank you for being so helpful in my life right now :)

    • @napzfnx
      @napzfnx Pƙed 2 lety

      Hej, Dig flytta till Sverige?

    • @leosjogren5244
      @leosjogren5244 Pƙed 2 lety

      @@napzfnxja, jag bo hÀr nu

  • @Darkfatheroftheuniverse
    @Darkfatheroftheuniverse Pƙed 3 lety +5

    Som en tysk lÀrde jag mig sprÄket över mÄnga Är. Tack och lov hade jag fÄtt hjÀlp frÄn mina svenska vÀnner och det gick mycket bra efter en viss tid. Jag patar svenska, lyssnar pÄ svensk radio och svensk musik och fick dÀremot lÀra mig om sprÄktempot. Det Àr inte ens perfekt. Men en dag ska jag vara riktig bra pÄ svenska. Jag Àlsker Sverige sÄ mycket. BÀsta landet, bÀsta mataffÀrar och snÀllaste mÀnniskor med sÀrdeles stora hjÀrta

    • @widar69
      @widar69 Pƙed rokem

      bra.👍

    • @moi1310
      @moi1310 Pƙed měsĂ­cem

      Recommend changing "hade jag fÄtt hjÀlp frÄn" to "fick jag hjÀlp frÄn", it's subtle but the way you say it now can imply the opposite.

  • @DNA350ppm
    @DNA350ppm Pƙed 3 lety

    Stefan, kudos! You do a great, and entertaining, job! Du imponerar - tack sÄ mycke' för alla videon du ha' lagt upp!

  • @SHfailM
    @SHfailM Pƙed 3 lety +2

    jag kan ha svÄrt att förstÄ personer med brytning ibland, jÀmförde dina Àldre videor med dina nyare och det hörs verkligen vilket framsteg du har gjort. bra jobbat!! :)

  • @najsbajsmedmajs
    @najsbajsmedmajs Pƙed 3 lety +63

    I think it's a little odd that americans like yourself would have difficulty pronouncing Å Ä and Ö as the English language contains sounds that are pretty much identical to all those three sounds.
    Å = OH-vowel like in or, boar, four, core etc.
    Ä = Air-vowel like in air, fair, pair, care etc.
    Ö = Uh-vowel like in burn, urn, learn (try pronouncing fur in an RP UK accent and it will be pretty much a perfect ö)
    Ö is slightly odd because traditionally, there are two different pronunciations of this vowel depending on whether it proceeds an R or not. However, in most of Sweden, except north of about Sundsvall and some inland places, they've started to only use one Ö-variant (the one traditionally preceding an R) making it easier for you guys.
    The vowels that actually do have different pronunciations from anything in the English language are O (groda), U (gul) and Y (lysa), as our O is different from the "fool"-vowel and you have no U sound that isn't a difthong, and our Y is different from I as opposed to your Y and I that are pronounced the same (like in Garry and Garrison)

    • @henrikl.w.4058
      @henrikl.w.4058 Pƙed 3 lety +9

      I was just about to wrte about the ÅÄÖ as well. I find it weird too that they find it so difficult. I believe it's because the think of its written form: A+š. They read the letter, instead of listenning to its sound. "Är" is pronounced as "Air". "FĂ„r" is pronounced as "For", and "För" is pronounced as "Fur". Don't look at its written form, but learn how it's pronounced.

    • @pierreo33
      @pierreo33 Pƙed 3 lety +2

      Ö does not sound like "u" in "burn"

    • @najsbajsmedmajs
      @najsbajsmedmajs Pƙed 3 lety +2

      @@pierreo33 Well you're right about that, at least when you're talking about American English, since there's barely even a vowel in their pronunciation of burn. Works in British (rp) English though, or if an American tried to sing burn on a long note.

    • @magnusdustler1490
      @magnusdustler1490 Pƙed 3 lety

      That's not as close as you think. English vowels are odd compared to most other germanic (and indo-european) languages and very distinct. Especially the A, and the shift of E to sound like I in most other languages. Then you have the disinct R. Most native English speakers I known who speak Swedish pronounce Àr exactly like air, or örn as earn. The different R changes the sound of the vowel quite dramatically. It's approximate, but not really close. The Swedish O is also distinct, while the English O is close to the Swedish U. English good would be spelled gudd in Swedish, for example, with almost exactly the same pronounciation.

    • @magnusdustler1490
      @magnusdustler1490 Pƙed 3 lety +2

      @@henrikl.w.4058 Neither of your three examples are close to the Swedish pronounciation. Är is not pronounced Air, FĂ„r is not For and För is definitely not Fur. The Swedish vowels have very different quality. The För-Fur is very close in Canadian English though.

  • @matheusbalthazar1462
    @matheusbalthazar1462 Pƙed 3 lety +4

    Things I'm struggling the most with in swedish are the huge amount of visually similar words. Like a bunch of fors..., for..., be... verbs, and those words that have 3000 meanings depending on the situation.
    I'm a Portuguese native speaker.
    Great videos!

  • @ibrahimalbaz2595
    @ibrahimalbaz2595 Pƙed rokem +1

    Man I am so happy to pump into your channal with this video since I wanted to learn swedish and I wanted to know the comparsion between German and Swedish since I have been learning German for 3 years, I am so glad I found somebody who would understand me and answer my question, bless your German side of the family because they were the answer to my question haha :D

  • @michaelj249
    @michaelj249 Pƙed rokem +1

    G’day I am a Swedish guy born in Stockholm now living in Australia, I just watched your video and found it very interesting to hear what you say and tell people about my native language. I did enjoy listening to you and will probably subscribe to your channel, not that I need any help in Swedish but fun to hear you talking about different aspects of the language. My English speaking friends are always telling me how hard they find the sch/tjĂ€/ske sound as it’s spelt differently however pronounced the same when spoken. Try the classic and get the pronunciation right
.”SJU SUNGADE SJÖMEN PÅ ETT SJUNKANDE SKÄPP”. That has always been a hard one for foreign people visiting or living in Sweden I’m interested in ow you find this. Anyway all the best and have fun in Sweden speaking Swedish or English as you said either works well there! HĂ€lsn. from the land of OZ

  • @roslynlefin694
    @roslynlefin694 Pƙed 3 lety +30

    I speak English and Afrikaans fluently and would love to learn Swedish next. My dad's family is from Sweden and some still live there and would love to visit and be able to speak the language. Because of my Afrikaans heritage I do understand some Dutch but not a whole lot.

  • @lokis7230
    @lokis7230 Pƙed 3 lety +29

    People who learn Swedish always have problem with:
    I went to the doctor=jag gick till doktorn. Ok. No problem.
    But:
    Then I went to the doctor=dÄ gick jag till doktorn
    In Swedish we change places of words some times.

    • @nickhall1632
      @nickhall1632 Pƙed 3 lety +1

      verb stays in the 2nd position

    • @lokis7230
      @lokis7230 Pƙed 3 lety +2

      @@nickhall1632 If you translate word by word "dÄ gick jag till doktorn" it will be "then went I to the doctor". This is not easy to learn.
      It was cold this night=det var kallt i natt.
      This night it was cold=I natt var det kallt (this night was it cold)

    • @sayitinswedish
      @sayitinswedish Pƙed 3 lety +5

      @@lokis7230 V2 word order is a Germanic feature, that only English has lost (=

    • @v.becker1775
      @v.becker1775 Pƙed 3 lety +1

      In German:
      I went to the doctor = Ich ging zum Doktor
      Then I went to the doctor = dann ging Ich zum Doktor.
      So you see that the grammar is the same in germanic languages

    • @northernswedenstories1028
      @northernswedenstories1028 Pƙed 3 lety

      The way I learned this was the general rule that most verbs always come in the second position. Verbs are always a priority in the speech.

  • @mikek2218
    @mikek2218 Pƙed 3 lety +1

    Excellent overview. It is very much appreciated. Thank you.

  • @Shuuuky
    @Shuuuky Pƙed 3 lety +1

    It was a super interesting video ! I've been following you ever since you started on CZcams and its been inspiring to see your progress. I just moved to Sweden 2 weeks ago and hope to learn the language (I am lucky to live with 10 Swedes in a corridor, so I should be able to practice with them :) ).

  • @AnnizeJ
    @AnnizeJ Pƙed 3 lety +13

    I have heard this before, that it can be a challenge to learn Swedish when coming to Sweden, because everyone around you speak English. I have had a lot of colleagues from mainly Germany come and work here for like 3 years and then move back to Germany. And we are so "nice" so as soon as we hear someone struggling to find the words in Swedish we switch to English. I work with marketing at a international company here in Sweden. Right now we are owned by a German company, but even when we were Swedish-owned we made all our marketing material and also technical manuals etc. in English as the original language. Sweden isn't a very big market for us so our material is first and foremost for international use (we use a translation agency to make Swedish translations of the material if needed)

    • @erscott887
      @erscott887 Pƙed rokem

      wow
      that’s crazy! but so cool! I was thinking sweden 🇾đŸ‡Ș itself isn’t that big of a country just like alot of the other surrounding countries like germany đŸ‡©đŸ‡Ș norwegian, spain đŸ‡Ș🇾 They probably all have a lot of english speaking language because english is a dominant language and culture that brings in the most money in markets just like china and japan and mexico . You go to those countries and you’re not going
      to find majority of english speaking people in those countries.

  • @plutopingvin454
    @plutopingvin454 Pƙed 3 lety +88

    The Swedish language is easy grammatically for English speaking people, which makes it easy to learn. But to pronounce the words correctly and pretty much sound like a somewhat native speaker is near impossible for an English speaker if they aren't from Scotland (that gives it a slight advantage). So you'll be able to read Swedish quite perfectly and somewhat understand it perfectly when spoken, but you probably won't be able to speak it perfectly if you don't work really hard on the pronunciation and when i say hard, I mean HARD.

    • @StefanThyron
      @StefanThyron  Pƙed 3 lety +25

      Very true, the pronunciation is the hardest part for me as well!

    • @erik....
      @erik.... Pƙed 3 lety +3

      Unless they come here as a child.

    • @herrbonk3635
      @herrbonk3635 Pƙed 3 lety +10

      Perhaps self evident, but Swedish pronunciation is much easier if you are musically talented (and/or able to listen carefully). It's about rhythm as much as about melody (prosody). I know English speaking people that achieved pretty realistic Swedish in a couple of years, but also people that never learned it (and are old or dead now).

    • @meginna8354
      @meginna8354 Pƙed 3 lety +4

      That applies to every language

    • @DNA350ppm
      @DNA350ppm Pƙed 3 lety +4

      In Sweden it is more important how you look than how you sound - so if you want to be accepted try to wear the same kind of clothes as Swedish people at your work place or your school, and cut/arrange your hair as they do. Swedes come in all colors, but show where they belong by dressing alike. If you dress very differently Swedes read it like you don't want to have contact with Swedes. It is silly, but that is how it is.
      There are always some Swedes that are willing to share your interests and concerns, because there are so many different subgroups in the country, some are prejudiced and narrowminded, some the opposite. Look out for those you like the most! Swedes often connect to strangers (native or not) through what they like to do outside the family and job. Music, football, boating, animals, crafts, gardening, bird watching, hiking, etc. It takes at least a year to learn to know a few Swedes, if they don't have happened to be newly moved into the area themselves. Swedes are mostly occupied with their family and long-time friends, and there might be no vacuum in their lives, on the contrary. Swedes are not so chatty and not much for small-talk, they prefer more permanent relationships with fewer people, but then they don't care so much about pronunciation or grammar mistakes, it is not like Swedes are snobbish in general. But avoid the worst upper-class people, they are hopeless in any country. Do your best for the sake of communication or the demands in your job, for example if you work with people in service, health care, or education.

  • @sayitinswedish
    @sayitinswedish Pƙed 3 lety

    Great video, you hit the nail with this one. Worth sharing!

  • @406richie
    @406richie Pƙed 3 lety +2

    Thank you for a very informative lesson. I am just embarking on a tentative start to learn Swedish. I have a grandson who is now learning to talk who is half Swedish and living in Sweden. So I need to get my act in gear to be able to communicate with him properly. He will pick up English from my son, but he will also start to learn Welsh when I see him next. Iaith y nefoedd.

  • @pierreblomgren9221
    @pierreblomgren9221 Pƙed 3 lety +8

    Why people have difficulty with the Swedish language has partly to do with grammar but also dialects.
    I myself am from SkÄne, but if I drive to Eastern SkÄne, the dialect begins to be distorted, so even we in SkÄne have difficulty with the language. SkÄne was Eastern Denmark
    many hundreds of years since the Viking Age until now.
    My hometown Helsingborg was a hub for Denmark. That is why most of the SkÄne wars were here,
    and not in Malmö.
    The population of Helsingborg is twice as small due to these wars
    .
    I read somewhere that Helsingborg was a Viking pirate nest, that's how my city came to be over a thousand years ago.

  • @ismaela.6973
    @ismaela.6973 Pƙed 3 lety +7

    My kryptonic in Swedish is the word "Man". It means so many things!! My brain sometimes can't comprehend lol

  • @sudharmasrinivasan
    @sudharmasrinivasan Pƙed 3 lety +1

    Hey! I have been following you. Been trying hard to learn and speak Swedish. This helps

  • @TurtleSB
    @TurtleSB Pƙed 2 lety

    Good job on the 100k!

  • @lucasgentilemalaga
    @lucasgentilemalaga Pƙed 3 lety +3

    Dude I love your videos . I am from
    Buenos Aires, Argentina . I studied the Swedish languages for over 3 years in Argentina because I wanted to move to Sweden . I really love both Swedish culture and Swedish people .
    In 2010 I meet my wife in germany so I ended up living in Berlin ;) I speak both Swedish and German and I agree 100% with you : Swedish it is way easier than German , no doubt about it ;)
    If you ever come to Berlin contact me and I ll show you arround and we ‘ ll drink a couple beers
    Regards
    Lucas

  • @gj4080
    @gj4080 Pƙed 3 lety +10

    For me who speak Portuguese, it is very difficult to learn Swedish, because the sound produced by the Swedish language is very different from Brazilian Portuguese. I really think the Swedish language is beautiful.

    • @gunnarsgarageband6384
      @gunnarsgarageband6384 Pƙed 3 lety +2

      And as a Swede, I think Brazilian Portuguese sounds very sensual. European Portuguese howeversounds like Spanish in Russian 😅

  • @mijafija5214
    @mijafija5214 Pƙed 3 lety

    love your videos, Àlskar dina videos

  • @klarabjerin8706
    @klarabjerin8706 Pƙed 3 lety

    dina videor Àr verkligen spÀnnande ur en svensks perspektiv och det Àr fantastiskt att kunna följa din resa. dina videor fÄr mig att reflektera över saker med sverige och svenska som jag aldrig har tÀnk pÄ innan, och sÀger saker som jag alltid har velat sÀga haha. keep it up:)

  • @andrenilsson5261
    @andrenilsson5261 Pƙed 3 lety +7

    Stefan, one reason we are so good at English is that we don't dub movie or tv show from other countries, well; we might dub it for children up to like 8 or 12 yo.
    For example, Germany dub movies into their own language.

    • @andrenilsson5261
      @andrenilsson5261 Pƙed rokem

      @@gee8883 Did you get offended or something? Why even comment like that?

  • @tamorap1614
    @tamorap1614 Pƙed 3 lety +4

    I am from South America. It wasn't difficult to learn swedish but to speak it was something different. I have been spoken swedish 30 years now but I still have problems in expressing some words sometimes. I studied at the university too and it helped a lot but anyway. I came to Sweden as an adult so that can be a problem if a person wants to learn a new language. Besides spanish is a romance language and swedish is germanic so they can be very different.
    My experience.

  • @robertjoelsson2387
    @robertjoelsson2387 Pƙed 3 lety +1

    I also think the most difficult when it comes to Swedish is how you stress a syllable and how you stress a word in a sentence. Because it may change completely the meaning of the message that’s been adressed.
    Once again, loved this posting đŸ„°

  • @Crogatho
    @Crogatho Pƙed 2 lety

    I love your videos, man. I'm from The Netherlands and moved to Sweden in 2017, and I'm still having difficulties speaking Swedish because it's just so tricky haha. But I live in the Stockholm area as well :)

  • @NinaHardy-thegreatmaleficence

    Very easy, especially if you already speak English or German!

  • @moortician
    @moortician Pƙed 3 lety +4

    The definite article (the) in German is even more of a pain in the arse than you mentioned, because it also changes according to number and case, so there are six different words for 'the'. I spent a lot of time in Geman writing exams trying to visualise the grammar table in my head for really basic things!

    • @solorock28
      @solorock28 Pƙed 3 lety

      even the word order in German is a pain in the ass, to me it is more similar to Japanese (grammar?) than to Swedish or English

  • @kajsakatt40
    @kajsakatt40 Pƙed 2 lety

    Eeeeeeey snyggt jobbat! Jag fattade verkligen vad du sa. Du jobbar verkligen SUPERHÅRT och det fattar jag! Jag förstĂ„r ocksĂ„. Det Ă€r jĂ€ttekul att se pĂ„ dina videor ❀ (jag Ă€r svensk och halvdansk det Ă€r dĂ€rför jag kan skriva sĂ„ hĂ€r bra.)

  • @ItzMasterEmil
    @ItzMasterEmil Pƙed 3 lety

    SÄ kul att se! Innan jag sÄg den hÀr videon trodde jag att svenska var rÀtt svÄrt, vi har ju en hel del konstiga uttal av ord. Typ sked, skön, skÀra, tjÀra och gÀrna...

  • @gamarleton
    @gamarleton Pƙed 3 lety +26

    For the sake of knowledge on pronounciation for anyone who's interested:
    Ă„ = the o in ore
    À = the a in have
    ö = the i in girl (this one is actually used for the same thinking sound ("öh") which in english is spelled "err")

    • @k8o181
      @k8o181 Pƙed 3 lety

      200iq

    • @TheKfauw
      @TheKfauw Pƙed 2 lety

      This advice makes no sense unless you specify which English dialect/accent you have in mind. American? British? Cockney? RP? Scottish? Australian?

    • @gamarleton
      @gamarleton Pƙed 2 lety

      @@TheKfauw Like most general statements on pronunciation, I was more going for the American accent. :P It's hard to truly learn it without hearing it though.

  • @matildawolfram4687
    @matildawolfram4687 Pƙed rokem +3

    Thank the author of the channel for making this beautiful and useful video for us! Many people are embarrassed to speak a foreign language if they have no speaking skills. People are afraid to hear criticism from others in their address. It all comes from having a psychological complex - to make a mistake. But, after all, he who does nothing is not wrong! In Yuriy Ivantsiv's workshop "Polyglot Notes. Practical tips for learning foreign language" states that we need to talk as much as possible: with yourself, with the mirror, with inanimate objects, with children and with pets. Find an interlocutor in real life or online. Talk without shyness. People won't care how you speak. They understand that you are a foreigner, as long as they understand you. They may even acknowledge your progress in their language and compliment you. However, always be prepared for criticism of your speaking skills. If you have the will to speak, you will gain an interesting interlocutor to consolidate your knowledge. Everyone is strewn with mistakes - don't be afraid to learn from them. As the Latin wisdom says, "walk and thou shalt not go astray". In the book "Polyglot Notes" by Yuriy Ivantsiv an entire chapter is devoted to the development of spoken language. Here you will find many useful tips and each student can choose a technique that suits him or her best! I wish you all the best of luck in your language learning!

  • @ak5659
    @ak5659 Pƙed 2 lety

    Thank you! I've been telling people for years that all the Germanic languages are actually way closer to each other than you'd think from just listening to them.
    Thanks also for mentioning that knowing some German helps.
    The Romance languages are 'easy' for English speakers because almost half the words in English are borrowed from the Romance languages. Their grammar, however, is another is very different. From what I've seen it goes the other way as well; people who have Spanish, Italian, etc as a first language often develop a very impressive English vocab very quickly yet struggle with constructing simple sentences.
    Thanks again. Subscribed!

  • @oulaalshahel1246
    @oulaalshahel1246 Pƙed 3 lety +2

    language is about attitude! if you have a good attitude to the society then you learn their language faster. That is what expert says. Ive learned to speak Swedish by watching SVT and listening to Sveriges Radio in a way that helped me not only learn swedish but also understand whats going on ( even if my pronunciation is still not as a swedish born in sweden). I guess your positive attitude is what make you learn and search learning swedish and that will help you feel and live this country as anybody else born here! wish you luck!

  • @madmakks
    @madmakks Pƙed 3 lety +3

    Im from sweden!😄
    Can you do a Video when you talk swedish a whole Day?

  • @TheLowegirl
    @TheLowegirl Pƙed 3 lety +7

    I'm swedish and work in a school where there is SFI and I think it seems to be quite easy to learn swedish but hard to perfect it, especially spoken swedish. Partically from english speaking countries it seems really hard, I have never met someone that speak english as a first language that I can't immediately clock where they're from. For exemple our english teacher have lived in Sweden for 40 years and I still have to concentrate sometimes to understand her.

    • @ojda405
      @ojda405 Pƙed 3 lety +8

      Yeah I noticed that too. Especially with the older generations of immigrants. Sometimes it's shocking hearing "25 Ă„r jag har bott i Sverige"" and they still have a really rough accent. It really depends on where they are from, like if someone is from Thailand, Syria, Afghanistan etc.. they generally have a harder time with the accent compared to someone coming here from Iceland or the Netherlands. Also when they already come from a Germanic speaking language they'll have to spend less time on grammar and can generally just focus on their pronounciation a lot more. Also a lot of Swedish people are too scared to correct immigrants, because it can be seen as rude. So when the person makes a grammar mistake people don't correct them. So the mistake becomes a habit that just becomes harder and harder to break out of.

    • @nomadinna2898
      @nomadinna2898 Pƙed 3 lety +2

      I agree. Most native English speakers have a very thick accent (brytning) and can be
      difficult to understand when they speak Swedish. Also, word order (ordföljd) as well as many other aspects of Swedish grammar can really trip them up. However, there are some English speakers who are able to speak, read, and write very fluently in Swedish (and don't have a thick accent). They are few and far between, but do actually exist (perhaps they're language unicorns?)!
      Swedes tend to have major problems with subject and verb agreement in English (among other things - including thick Swedish accents and other grammatical and/or pronunciation issues), so they're easy to spot, too.
      For example, in your comment above: "our English teacher have lived in Sweden for 40 years" is not correct. It should be "has". The word teacher is singular, so it can't be "have" as that's plural. And it isn't "I have never met someone that speak english as a first language". It's "I have never met someone who speaks English as a first language". The subject and verb have to agree in English, so in that sentence it needs to be "speaks", not "speak".
      Just pointing it out as it goes both ways...hoppas ingen tar illa upp...

    • @annabackman3028
      @annabackman3028 Pƙed 3 lety

      SFI = Svenska För Invandrare = Swedish For Immigrants
      Swedish lessons given (free) to most immigrants.

  • @nezukoshiki3579
    @nezukoshiki3579 Pƙed 2 lety

    I stopped giving "likes" to normal videos, only music, but you deserve the "like "man. great job.

  • @t0ve463
    @t0ve463 Pƙed 3 lety

    Bra video, trodde det var jĂ€ttesvĂ„rt för personer som inte kan svenska att lĂ€ra sig det đŸ˜ŻđŸ™ƒâ€ïž

  • @donaldstorm4959
    @donaldstorm4959 Pƙed 3 lety +4

    Thanks I've been deciding trying to learn Norwegian or Swedish cuz it's my family background. I guess I can start this winter is good time to do it.

    • @vicepresidentyoda9274
      @vicepresidentyoda9274 Pƙed 3 lety

      You can pick any of them Norwegian is basically just an accent of Swedish

    • @beorlingo
      @beorlingo Pƙed 3 lety

      @@vicepresidentyoda9274 if you are Swedish I suggest you go ahead and read a book in Norwegian. You will be surprised how different Norwegian actually is. Not saying you will not manage. But you will be surprised. Us Norwegians
      And Swedes are mutually exposed so much to the spoken versions of our respective languages that we tend to think they are more similar than they actually are.

    • @vicepresidentyoda9274
      @vicepresidentyoda9274 Pƙed 3 lety

      @@beorlingo Reading in norwegian isn't that difficult i do it all the time on instagram

    • @beorlingo
      @beorlingo Pƙed 3 lety +1

      @@vicepresidentyoda9274 all I'm saying is reading makes you more aware of the differencies. Try reading a book!

    • @vlagavulvin3847
      @vlagavulvin3847 Pƙed rokem

      Hehehe, from the third party's point of view, Norwegian is like an attemt of Swedes to speak Danish.

  • @nissanslut7870
    @nissanslut7870 Pƙed 3 lety +19

    Pronouncing and the pitch accents

  • @simii-pi7ne
    @simii-pi7ne Pƙed 3 lety +2

    I agree that learning swedish is hard because pretty much everyone over 15 is going to start speaking english to you almost directly just because that's often the easier eay to go. And just because of that english speakers almost need to tell us "hey speak swedish so i can learn " otherwise we are just going to switch to english.
    I have revatives in Ohio and visited them 2 years ago. My uncle married a girl from there and she wanted me to almost always speak swedish to her so she could talk to my uncles mom which is pretty old and isn't the best english speaker. And we had a blast trying to learn her as much swedish in 2 weeks as possible.
    Love your videos have been watching for a while now.

  • @mattelhead793
    @mattelhead793 Pƙed 3 lety

    I just gotta say , since im from scania - that I feel for those who are learning swedish in places where we have our own words for things .
    A BIG example is here in SkÄne , even swedish people have a hard time or dont even know what a certain word is or what one is saying due to the dialect .
    Btw this gave me a fun idea for a video , It would be fun and interesting to see a video of you trying some scanian words!

  • @totalbrootal
    @totalbrootal Pƙed rokem +4

    As a native English speaker, I find Swedish to be an extremely easy and enjoyable language to learn. I absolutely love not having to conjugate verbs based on who you are referring to. Even though it has grammatical gender, the fact that it is a roughly 80/20 split of en vs ett makes it something you barely have to worry about. Also having a fairly consistent word order (ordföljd) gives you an easy blueprint on how to build sentences.
    The main challenges I find for me with Swedish are pitch accent, the lack of Swedish speakers locally, remembering the exceptions to the rules, and sometimes the pronunciation of Swedish's more unique sounds.

    • @danielestella3144
      @danielestella3144 Pƙed rokem

      Hi, sorry to bother you. I'm planning to move to Sweden and I want to start studying some Swedish before going there so that I'll have a starting point in learning the language while I'll be there. Would you mind telling me how you learnt Swedish? I mean the resources you used. Thanks 🙏

    • @totalbrootal
      @totalbrootal Pƙed rokem +1

      @@danielestella3144 Hej, most of my learning of Swedish came from 2 Swedish classes I took while still in university, so some of the resources I had like the teacher and other students to interact with or the worksheets/homework assignments aren't really available.
      However, in terms of books, there were a few that I used at the time. Maybe they might be useful to you as well, but I'm sure there are tons of other great resources out there you can't go wrong with.
      Nybörjarsvenska (the blue one with a house on the cover) was one of the main books that was used, especially early on. I never had the yellow workbook version, but I assume my teacher pulled stuff from it for us to work in class. Prisma's english - swedish dictionary AND Prisma's swedish - english dictionary (third edition if it matters). Swedish an essential grammar (2nd edition if it matters), I didn't use this one much, but maybe that was just because I was learning grammar through other means in a classroom setting. Nya mÄl 3, a more intermediate book that was only used later on. I don't really remember much about it, but I think it was mainly used for reading and comprehending short stories. There is a main book and a workbook that exist for it, I have pdf copies of it.
      Lycka till!

    • @danielestella3144
      @danielestella3144 Pƙed rokem +1

      @@totalbrootal Thank you so much! I wish there were Swedish classes in my uni, but unfortunately since not many students are interested in that language here they decided not to teach it. Thank you again for your kind response, I really appreciate it. Have a great day!

  • @AnnaKaunitz
    @AnnaKaunitz Pƙed 3 lety +9

    Because I am a huge language learning fan myself I try to avoid speaking English with people that have moved here and that are learning Swedish. Why would I?
    I am not helping anyone by treating them differently and it’s only a matter of adapting to their level. Sure, code switching between the languages is natural and when their skills are limited, moving over to English if needed.
    But in order to function and integrate in Sweden, people need at least basic Swedish. We need to stop talking about learning languages as huge obstacles and how difficult it is bla bla bla. It’s relative, depends on your previous languages, and above all actually making the effort. It’s highly rewarding to learn, that’s the point :)
    I know native English speakers who refused to speak English when moving abroad and of course they did learn the new language quickly.
    It’s sad meting people living in a country for many years and realising they’ve been to lazy to learn even the basics. Like why?
    To you, wonderful learners of Swedish;
    Swedes will adapt quickly if you refuse to speak anything other than Swedish. Just tell people if they seem to forget, remind them as much as needed that you only want them to speak Swedish with you. Have to admit, I’m not sure why some Swedes speak English to learners and people moving here. Many Swedes will however speak Swedish to you for the reasons above. So it’s up to you in the end.
    I would recommend practicing the pitch accents because that will improve your spoken Swedish immensely.
    Keep up the good work young man!

    • @lorraineq169
      @lorraineq169 Pƙed 3 lety

      While in Quebec, I found that some people liked to practice speaking their English with me, meanwhile I was there to learn French

  • @robertjoelsson2387
    @robertjoelsson2387 Pƙed 3 lety

    As I’m a terrible language gik/nerd. So not sure of the spelling. No time for looking it up. Anyhow, this video is so amazing. It just wanna make me follow you even more. Yes, you may give a heart for the reaction😂
    Now back to rewatch your posting. Looking forward to next video 😊

  • @hugoharning3016
    @hugoharning3016 Pƙed 2 lety +1

    Det Àr ganska underhÄllande att kolla pÄ detta nÀr man sjÀlv kan sprÄket

  • @sonjatrgovcic8514
    @sonjatrgovcic8514 Pƙed 3 lety +35

    I think that’s quite individual. It depends as well on someone’s general talent for foreign languages. I personally didn’t experience problems with â€œĂ€â€ and â€œĂ¶â€ sounds because I’ve been learning German in school (not that I’ve learned much đŸ˜č) but that helped me very much with sounds as well with the words of germanic heritage. The â€œĂ„â€ sound didn’t presented me a problem as well. I’m native in Croatian and I just had to soften my syllables. The only thing I’m still practicing is “i” sound because it’s extremely soft in comparison with both my native Croatian and English which is my 2nd language. I’m lucky to have an ear of a parrot so to speak so movies, tv series and Swedish pop helped me a lot. 😃 Swedish grammar is a lullaby compared to grammar of many other languages. I’d dare to say it’s even simpler than English grammar, not to mention French. 😄 However one needs to practice. Vocabulary wise one must get used to many words that sound similar. One must organise them on some manner. As well there are a lot of synonyms so it takes some time to learn how to use the right one in the right context. Okej prepositions and particles can be tricky. But nothing one can’t master with practice. It’s been 2 years now I can speak language with confidence. I even text with some friends in Swedish. I feel that I’ve acquired a solid language base that will enable me to adopt to the Swedish environment easily when I move up north. My advice for everyone wether currently living or not in Sweden and who are fellow learners would be to practice everything from speaking to doing grammar and other exercises. And surround oneself with language as much as possible. Lycka till! 😊😊😊

    • @DNA350ppm
      @DNA350ppm Pƙed 3 lety +1

      Toppen!

    • @simontollin2004
      @simontollin2004 Pƙed 2 lety +1

      I don't think there's much point in learning the grammar, since it's both irregular (pretty much every rule have exceptions) and very simple, it's better to focus on vocabulary and pronancation
      That said, since your native language is Croatian, you will already be familiar with pitch accent and 30% of the vocabulary

    • @gabz3872
      @gabz3872 Pƙed rokem

      ​@@simontollin2004 wdym 30% of the vocab? Croatian is a slavic language we only have borrowed words from English, French, German, Hungarian, turkish and Czech AFAIK and none from Scandinavian languages

  • @valo2872
    @valo2872 Pƙed 3 lety +26

    Ä - jaw drop 😀
    E - smile â˜ș
    Å & Ö - no lips needed
    O - kissing lips 😚

    • @anderslavas6846
      @anderslavas6846 Pƙed 3 lety

      Å and Ö are both rounded vowels, so there you need your lips.

    • @anderslavas6846
      @anderslavas6846 Pƙed 3 lety

      @@valo2872 Men du, pÄ Ä har man ju lÀpparna pÄ samma sÀtt som pÄ o och u. Tungans lÀge Àr dÀremot lite olika. NÄja, kanske finns det flera sÀtt att producera samma ljud, kanske har vi olika uppfattning om vad som Àr rikssvenskt uttal.

    • @valo2872
      @valo2872 Pƙed 3 lety

      @@anderslavas6846 jo. Men sjĂ€lva ljudet formas lĂ€ngre bak i munnen. Sen kan man ha hur mycket lĂ€ppar man vill beroende pĂ„ dialekt. Men Ä och E blir svĂ„ra att skilja Ă„t om man inte Ă€r noga med lĂ€pparna. Och O blir inte uttydbart om man inte plutar.
      Det Àr en fingervisning för dem med annat modersmÄl sÄ dem vet vilka uttalanden dem ska vara noga med för att det inte ska missuppfattas. T.ex. svenska "el", kan lÄta som "öl" nÀr vissa med annat modersmÄl försöer sÀga det.

    • @ZakhadWOW
      @ZakhadWOW Pƙed 3 lety +1

      WORST OFFENDER:: Swedish name for FInnish city of Turku.. I have never yet mastered that damn thing...

    • @Kolvatn
      @Kolvatn Pƙed 3 lety

      xd

  • @bqualitysnake6549
    @bqualitysnake6549 Pƙed 3 lety +2

    Getting to the point where you can use grammar properly and have conversations without much issue is the easy part.
    Dealing with the exceptions to rules, slang, regional words (especially if you're up in norrbotten/vÀsterbotten or down in skÄne) can seem almost like a different language.
    Then comes the issue of being able to blend in. Pitch accents, pronouncing Å Ä Ö natively, common filler words, non-words (the sucking in air noise as an affirming/confirming word, same with a closed mouth M sound, Ă€h, nĂ€, nĂ€nĂ€, nĂ€hĂ€, nĂ€nĂ€nĂ€, nÀÀh ect) will make you stick out like a sore thumb no matter how good you get at speaking swedish otherwise. I have never been suprised that a native english speaker isn't natively swedish, while many swedes can get away with it quite easily if we move/travel to an english speaking country for a time.

  • @nurcalsc1043
    @nurcalsc1043 Pƙed 2 lety

    BEST EVER LANGUAGE REVIEW. THANK YOU TONS! REGARDS FROM TURKEY/ISTANBUL

  • @tworoyboys208
    @tworoyboys208 Pƙed 3 lety +8

    tbh i think the hardest sound in swedish is "sk" or "sj" but "r" is a hard second because it varies by region

    • @steveharris1740
      @steveharris1740 Pƙed 2 lety

      Yes! It took me forever to learn how to say turtle “sköldpadda”, shirt “skjorta” and seven “sju”.

    • @larawachter2145
      @larawachter2145 Pƙed 2 lety

      @@steveharris1740 Have you been learning swedish on Duolingo, too? xD Because Duo uses these words so often and I hate it because they are so hard to pronounce and i cant remember them

  • @ThePumpkinSpiceCorner
    @ThePumpkinSpiceCorner Pƙed 3 lety +3

    I find prepositions to be partically difficult out of everything , "pÄ" is usually on, "i" is usually in, "om" is usually if and "till" is usually to. But it changes alot, but you get this in every language i suppose, prepositions are always different. I find everything else to be quite easy, its just the prepositions I find myself bashing my head against a wall at times, I will get there one day! :D
    "Om en dag" means in a day (after a day), "pÄ en dag" means in a day (timespan of a day) and "i en dag" means for a day.
    - "vi arbetar inte pÄ lördagar." - we dont work on Saturadays
    - "pÄ eftermiddagen" - in the afternoon.
    - "jag sover inte pÄ morgonen" - i do not sleep in the morning.
    - "mÄnaderna pÄ Äret" - the months of the year
    - "Jag dricker kaffe pÄ restaurangen" - i drink coffee at the restaurant
    - "Katten Àr i hatten" - The cat is in the hat
    - "Jag sover i flera timmar" - I sleep for several hours
    - "kommer du i eftermiddagen?" - Are you coming this afternoon?
    - "i sommar" - this summer
    - "Barnen leker i en kvart" - The children play for 15 minutes
    - "vi kommer till er i november" - We come to you in novermber
    - "Mannen köper klÀder till barnet." The man buys clothes for the child
    -"vi Àter Àgg till frukost" - we eat eggs for breakfast
    - "om du vill" - if you want
    - "jag Àter om du dricker." - i eat if you drink
    -"Hans tidning kommer om en mÄnade." - his newspaper comes in a month
    - "om en timme." - in an hour
    - "om en vecka." - in a week

    • @christofferhembo9454
      @christofferhembo9454 Pƙed 3 lety +1

      Just a slight correction: "kommer du i eftermiddagen?" is sort of a mix of two different sentences with different meanings.
      "Kommer du i eftermiddag?" - Are you coming this afternoon?
      "Kommer du pÄ eftermiddagen?" - Are you coming during the afternoon?
      Otherwise, spot on.

    • @ThePumpkinSpiceCorner
      @ThePumpkinSpiceCorner Pƙed 3 lety

      @@christofferhembo9454 thanks for correcting me! x

  • @MMM18092
    @MMM18092 Pƙed 2 lety +2

    Knowing a lot of expats in Sweden, it baffles my mind how many make no effort to learn the language. Sure, people speak good English here but signs, menus, manuals, maps are all in Swedish. And what about being able to follow local news on TV and radio, following other people's conversations, being able to go to the theatre or any kind of seminar or public meeting?

  • @Robman92
    @Robman92 Pƙed 3 lety

    Interesting video with great points!
    And I would like, if allowed, to correct your Swedish in that Instagram screenshot (just for you and others to improve even more). Like you mentioned, the grammar gets tricky at times. Your sentence "Den hÀr mÄste vara den varmaste dag i Sverige sÄ lÀnge" sounds a bit off and would be more correct as "Det hÀr mÄste vara den varmaste dagen i Sverige pÄ lÀnge". I hope that was some good feedback, I love following your Swedish journey! ^^

  • @jonathanohrman7404
    @jonathanohrman7404 Pƙed 3 lety +4

    In the "state" of SmÄland we dont use the letter R when we speak, is like a dialect down here! ^^

    • @currykott1964
      @currykott1964 Pƙed 3 lety

      Hej! Jag Àr ocksÄ frÄn Sverige!

  • @mockupguy3577
    @mockupguy3577 Pƙed 3 lety +6

    Depends a lot on where you come from.

  • @ellinorsilwer
    @ellinorsilwer Pƙed 3 lety +2

    You should try to read “Den Svenska psalmboken”. There you find, amongst other things, the Swedish version of are (Ă€ro). And some gramma that’s no longer used in the Swedish language.

  • @akvijayy92
    @akvijayy92 Pƙed 3 lety +2

    Motivation for my Swedish Journey 😃

  • @andvil01
    @andvil01 Pƙed 3 lety +3

    In south Sweden their pronounciation of R is closer to danish, further back in your mouth. Some dialects in Sweden has diphthongs. Especially in SkÄne and Gotland.
    The sj-sounds are hard to learn pronounce, but even harder to spell. It can be tj, sj, sh, sch, sk, skj, stj, k, ch. Pick the wrong at it means something compleetly different. Swedish and the other nordic languages have few words, so some words are very similar. They kan even be spelled the same, but a little difference in pronounciation tells what it means.
    TjÀra (tar) and kÀra (be in love) are pronounced the same. SkÀra (to cut) have a little different sj-sound. KÀrra (wagon) just have a shorter À and more r, than kÀra. SkÀr can be a small island or stone in the water, but also tell someone to cut, skÀr gurkan (cut the cucumber). But it can also be to glide on skates, Du har fina skÀr (You are skating nice). SkÀr can also mean the color pink.
    The lackmus test of the sj-sounds. Try to pronunce: Sju sjösjuka sjömÀn, sköttes av sju sköna sjuksköterskor pÄ ett sjunkande skepp i Shanghai.
    Good luck!
    And one more thing for you english speaking folks out there. In swedish we put the words together. Almost all the time. If you forget it is called "sÀrskrivning" and is something that compleetly can change what you say. En brunhÄrig sjuksköterska (A nurse with brown hair) is not the same as En brun hÄrig sjuk sköterska (A brown hairy sick nurse).

    • @Tapio86
      @Tapio86 Pƙed 3 lety

      The intonation/melody is hard for most languages in Swedish. This is probably easy for some south east asians since they have that part (but even harder)

    • @F1rstWorldNomaD
      @F1rstWorldNomaD Pƙed 3 lety

      Good and Interest post.
      The one thing I kinda don't really agree with is the comparison with SkÀra gurkan (Cut The cucumber) and fina skÀr (skating nicely) as that's actually the same verb.
      The SkÀr when skating is actually from skÀra (to cut) so it's not really two words sounding the same or ever one word meaning two different thing but one word with two different context.

    • @andvil01
      @andvil01 Pƙed 3 lety +1

      @@F1rstWorldNomaD One is a noun, the other a verb, but it comes from the same base word, yes. I wanted to show how it changes meaning. In english cut and skating is to different things.

    • @F1rstWorldNomaD
      @F1rstWorldNomaD Pƙed 3 lety

      @@andvil01 that's really rather nitpicky as it's only a noun/verb because of the phrasing you used.
      But I digress.
      I get your point and what you were trying to say and I don't disagree with that premise.
      Thanks for clarifying. 😄👍

    • @swedishgirl666
      @swedishgirl666 Pƙed 3 lety

      depends where in south Sweden, I live in the north of SkÄne and I dont have R like danish ;)

  • @jwideuluisinaein
    @jwideuluisinaein Pƙed 3 lety +4

    I am 14 years old, when I speak English, it's really good, espacilly since I go to a English school where 90% of the teachers only know English.
    I still have that obvious Swedish accent though and the bigger words are difficult. Either that I don't know the word at all, I have heard it but don't know the exact meaning of it or I know it but don't remember it when there's an oppertunity to say it.
    Also, my English grammar may not be the best, but my Swedish grammar is bad too.

    • @sharonoddlyenough
      @sharonoddlyenough Pƙed 3 lety +1

      You write very well. There's a lot of native speakers that will search for words, too.

    • @himfromscandinavian5354
      @himfromscandinavian5354 Pƙed 2 lety

      Hope you don't go to the english school in Göteborg, snatched a road sign from there hehe

  • @Heidelbuam
    @Heidelbuam Pƙed 3 lety +1

    it depends on your linguistic background. I find swedish to be extremely easy as I speak both english and german quite well. Swedish tends to be self-explanatory in this case because every other word is very similar to either english or german or both. What is difficult, in my opinion, is the pronunciation in some cases and probably finding people willing to talk to you.

  • @monyauz6997
    @monyauz6997 Pƙed 3 lety +1

    I love your videos so much!!!! great job!!! I have a question: " Are there any job opportunities (for English teachers) in language schools in Sweden?" Or everybody speaks perfect English and there are less opportunities than in Germany? Thanks for answer in advance!

  • @mollybone5852
    @mollybone5852 Pƙed 3 lety +10

    I moved from England to Sweden two years ago I found to learn Swedish really easy ❀

  • @allisonblanton8571
    @allisonblanton8571 Pƙed 3 lety +4

    See I’ve always found it to be fairly simple. I still get him and her confused and sometimes sentence structure will be mixed up. Other than that it’s pretty simple.

  • @karmehed
    @karmehed Pƙed 3 lety

    I'm a born and raised swede and i remember always being more proficient speaking English than all my teachers. We once had visitors from a school in Latvia and basicly they parked themselves behind my desk for most of the visit and u would tell them what we used to do during class. This was in 4th grade I think. That's the benefit of watching alot of English TV and reading alot of fantasy in English.

  • @lukeknott8566
    @lukeknott8566 Pƙed 2 lety +1

    Tack sÄ mycket!!!

  • @Miipmiip
    @Miipmiip Pƙed 3 lety +6

    Yeah you can tell, the hardest thing In Swedish is Ă„, Ă€, and ö. Even he is still struggling with â€œĂ€r” etc

    • @catholicdad
      @catholicdad Pƙed 3 lety

      Just keep practicing sjĂŒkhus & köttbullar & you'll be fine.

  • @GurrasGarage
    @GurrasGarage Pƙed 3 lety +9

    Mycket intressant, jag trodde svenska var ett svĂ„rt sprĂ„k att lĂ€ra sig. Det kan ju iofs bero pĂ„ att du Ă€r duktig pĂ„ inlĂ€rning. Pedagogiskt upplagd video, man skulle ju kunna tro att du jobbat som lĂ€rare 😄

    • @carpetclimber4027
      @carpetclimber4027 Pƙed 3 lety +1

      Nej, inte för engelsktalande eller andra germanska sprÄk.

  • @herkcollins4263
    @herkcollins4263 Pƙed 3 lety +2

    I'm currently learning Swedish to move there and I keep forgetting pieces. I think I've picked some up quickly, just can't seem to hold on to a lot of it lol. I'm told that pretty much everyone speaks English, but you still have to learn it to move there.

  • @1978Marianne
    @1978Marianne Pƙed 3 lety +2

    Next week my swedish lessons start and I am very exited. I studied Swedish for 1 year in the Duolingo app but I miss the explenation of the grammar. As I am dutch, I noticed that al lot of Words are simular. So I do not have to translate everything in English to Dutch to Swedish. Great video’s you have on your channel about Sweden👍

    • @Sebastian-pb1tq
      @Sebastian-pb1tq Pƙed 3 lety

      Swedish and dutch are both germatic languages. I have studied dutch and also lived there for a while. I also found a lot of similarities between our languages but we prounance them differently. For example regering, blodtryck, handduk, bestick, gratis and so on. I love the dutch language 😊

    • @rexuz2482
      @rexuz2482 Pƙed 3 lety

      I've heard a few dutch exchange students talk Swedish after living here for a year and they talk incredible Swedish. Like perfect, both the grammar and pronounciation. They really sound like they were born here so I've always since then thought that Dutch and Swedish must be kinda close.

    • @Sebastian-pb1tq
      @Sebastian-pb1tq Pƙed 3 lety

      @@rexuz2482 Cool! Oh yes, it is. I struggeled with the grammar and pronounce, cus they are very different but the mostly words are the same or similar to swedish and english.

    • @vulc1
      @vulc1 Pƙed 3 lety +1

      It is my impression that Dutch and Swedish are both close to Plattdeutsch, it's something like a common ancestor for both of them.

  • @kristofferhellstrom
    @kristofferhellstrom Pƙed 3 lety +3

    It's always interesting to hear non-swedish speakers pronounce Husqvarna :D

    • @christafaching730
      @christafaching730 Pƙed 3 lety

      Klasse ich finde ich die ErklÀrungen.
      Ich kann etwas schwedisch. Habe noch viel zu lernen. Tack sa mycke!

    • @vlagavulvin3847
      @vlagavulvin3847 Pƙed rokem

      Not a big deal, for any of Slavs, at least...

  • @KungKokkos
    @KungKokkos Pƙed 3 lety +3

    Å is basically "bore", between the b and r"

  • @hf91cod91
    @hf91cod91 Pƙed 3 lety

    TrÀffade dig pÄ Bron för nÄgon vecka sedan och Àr fortfarande helt chockad över hur bra du förstÄr svenska! Du förstod till och med en lite för packad mÀnniska hehe

  • @lucielou7745
    @lucielou7745 Pƙed 3 lety

    Im Australian and don't know one single swede.. but I love the culture (Ikea need I say more!) and LOVE the sound of the language. Im very much a beginner but love your videos! Thank you!