I am visiting Sweden by the end of August but my Swedish skills are non existent.

Does anyone have advise on how to learn Swedish most efficiently? You can recommend books, software or just about anything that will help me learn the language as fast as possible.
My main aim is to be able to have a normal day to day convo with someone else.

Swedish is germanic, so if you know English or German, it should be simple enough. Just keep an eye out for noun classes. In English you have articles 'a', 'an' and 'the', but in Swedish the article you use depends on each word separately, and I guess you just have to memorize some words at first. There are some clues in the meaning of the word that you probably can use to deduct what the article/class is, but I never learned any of it well. It's still easier than German where you have 3 classes.

Hmm, does this help.
http://www.ielanguages.com/swedish.html

I'm afraid that unless you know a similar language, you don't have the time.

Well I speak English and German fluently so I guess that'll help me a lot?

Swedish is an odd language. Married and poison are homonyms.

That certainly helps, especially with German. They say German and Swedish are closely related. I couldn't learn either too well though.

Well, it will certainly help to know both German and English, since some words are very similar. But German and Swedish are not THAT similar, I have to admit. Germans who visit tend to use English, and the only people I know who understand decent amounts of German have studied it in school, me included. But as said, you'll still have something resembling a vocabulary thanks to the other Germanic languages. Things like boat / boot / b?t are not so hard to figure out for instance.

Doesn't Sweden have all the pretty blonde girls? Enjoy. :thumbsup:

You can read about the swedish language and learn some basic stuff http://www2.hhs.se/isa/swedish/default.htm.

But really, most swedes will probably force the conversations into english instead of listening to your swedish accent

Just don't get Denmark and Sweden mixed up :gun:

But seriously, good luck

Trust me, unless your trip consists of talking exclusively to elderly, absolutely everyone you meet will speak english (and relish the opportunity to show off their skills in the language )



What can I say, we're a pragmatic people :tongue:

I was in Sweden from March to May, and even though I only speak English I got along just fine. Of course it's good to know some basic words and phrases. And make sure you visit Gothenburg!

God I love Sweden. I know the cool thing to do is for us Norwegians to mock you swedes, but damnit, I love your country. Norwegian tobacco taxes are beyond insane and Sweden's currency is just weak enough for me to save a ton of money every time I go there. I need to go there again soon actually, been too long since the last time I went.

Anyway, advice on learning swedish...that's a tough one, I don't know. Norway and Sweden both have fairly decent english education so you should be able to get by just fine with english, I speak english in Denmark just to make things easier (I'm sorry Denmark, while our languages are almost identical in writing, understanding what you people say is impossible. I had a danish boss once, all I did was nod and then guess roughly where I was supposed to deliver stuff, it worked out.)

Wow, that got strange and ranty, guess that's what happens when you wake up at 10PM. Anyway, you'll get by just fine with english.


That's the fourth reason I go there as often as I can. The three others being tobacco, alcohol and candy.

I've watched a few Swedish movies and a lot of words are intelligible twixt English and the Scandinavian languages. Just use words with Germanic rather than Latin or French roots and you should be fine, provided you can tell the difference. It's my understanding that most norters speak English anyways.

Play Magicka!


Well actually... No.

Don't [censored] me, you've got as many blondes in Norway! In fact, I'd recommend Norway if you want blondes, Sweden is currently under invasion :confused:

Invasion? What?

Immigration. Blondes are like 10% or less of the population in the cities these days. There aren't more blondes here than in the UK tbh. Unless you go to the countryside that is. :sadvaultboy:

Not possible without at least a year or so of formal language classes. In a few months you could try Rosetta Stone, but that's not a long term solution. I've used Rosetta Stone before, and it's pure shameless rote memorization. Good news is Sweden is one of those countries where many people will likely know English from school, and be happy to practice with an English speaker.

Just because a gil's blond it doesn't mean she's pretty..

I agree totally, hate these racial stereotypes and myths.

Anyway, language-wise, it'd be easier for you to talk English, everyone speaks it.

As others have said already, all under 70 speak English here.

Who is beautiful or not is entirely up to you. I like black hair myself and that's not a problem. Not so many Swedish-born, but who cares about such things nowadays. (My girlfriend is a blonde, so, shhhh... Nah, she don't mind me looking.)

:rofl: It's even funnier hearing that dialouge when you are swedish. So recognizable, yet so much utter gibberish.

So, you decided to try a h?liday in Sweden this y?r? See the l?veli lakes, the w?nd?rful teleph?ne system and m?ni interesting furry animals, including the majestik m??se. A m??se once bit my sister. N? realli! She was Karving her initials ?n the m??se with the sharpened end of an interspace t??thbrush given her by Svenge – her brother-in-law – an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian m?vies: “The Hot Hands of an Oslo Dentist”, “Fillings of Passion” and “The Huge M?lars of Horst Nordfink”. Mynd you, m??se bites can be pretti nasti…

My girlfriend has been over there for a month as part of her study abroad program. Judging by her pictures on Facebook, it looks like an awesome place.