LESSON NOTES

Absolute Beginner S1 #3Getting to Know More About Swedish People

CONTENTS

2 Swedish2 English3 Vocabulary3 Sample Sentences4 Vocabulary Phrase Usage5 Grammar5 Cultural Insight

# 3 COPYRIGHT 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

SWEDISHPOD101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #3 - GETTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SWEDISH PEOPLE 2

SWEDISH

1. Anders: Du, idag flyttar Nils och Ewa in i lgenheten.

2. James: Jaha, vad trevligt. Varifrn kommer dom?

3. Anders: Ewa r frn Polen och Nils r frn Sverige.

4. James: Jaha, vad intressant.

5. Anders: Du James, kan du hjlpa Nils och Ewa senare med att hitta hr i huset, tack?

6. James: Sjlvklart. Nr kommer dom?

7. Anders: Dom kommer p eftermiddagen. Jag mste verkligen g nu, hejd.

8. James: Hejd, vi ses.

ENGLISH

1. Anders: James, today Nils and Ewa are moving into this flat.

2. James: Oh, splendid. Where are they from?

3. Anders: Ewa is from Poland, and Nils is from Sweden.

4. James: Really? How interesting!

5. Anders: James, could you please help Nils and Ewa find their way around the house later?

CONT'D OVER

SWEDISHPOD101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #3 - GETTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SWEDISH PEOPLE 3

6. James: Of course. When are they coming?

7. Anders: They are coming in the afternoon. I really have to go now. Bye.

8. James: Bye, see you.

VOCABULARY

Swedish English Class

flytta in to move in phrasal verb

kan can/be able to verb

sjlvklartnaturally; no worries; don't

mention it phrase

en lgenhet a flat noun

hjlpa to help verb

hitta to find; here: to find your way verb

mste have to/must verb

g to go verb

vad trevligt how nice phrase

Jaha, vad intressant. Really, how interesting. conversational phrase

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Vi flyttar in i lgenheten idag. "We are moving into the flat today."

Jag kan inte sova. I cannot sleep.

SWEDISHPOD101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #3 - GETTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SWEDISH PEOPLE 4

Kan du skicka mjlken? "Can you pass the milk?"

Sjlvklart fr du ta med oss. "Of course you may eat with us."

Vi flyttar in i lgenheten idag. "We are moving into the flat today."

Sjlvklart kan jag hjlpa dem. "Of course I can help them."

Kan du hjlpa dem att hitta? "Can you help them find their way?"

Nej, jag hittar sjlv. "No, I'll find it on my own."

Jag mste g nu, hej hej. "I need to go now, bye."

Du mste skynda dig! You have to hurry up!

Kan du g du till Thomas? "Could you go to Thomas?"

Vad trevligt att hra. "How nice to hear (that)."

Jaha, vad intressant att hra. "Really, how interesting to hear (that)."

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

vad trevligt ("how nice") This tiny little phrase is used when the interlocutor wants to express how happy s/he is for whatever happened or about the circumstances. It is not used to refer to people, but to their actions. It keeps the conversation going and encourages the counterpart to continue. Anders kommer och hlsar p idag. - Nej, vad trevligt. ("Anders is going to come to visit today. - How nice.")

Jaha, vad intressant. ("Really, how interesting") This is another phrase used to express a positive attitude towards the interlocutor's utterance. Unlike the English "Really, how interesting" it does not tend to be used ironically, unless clearly marked by intonation. However, it does not mean the listener is extremely interested either. On a pragmatic level it keeps the conversation going.

SWEDISHPOD101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #3 - GETTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SWEDISH PEOPLE 5

sjlvklart ("naturally (no worries)") This phrase in the guise of a word is used a lot when people acknowledge that they are prepared to or will be doing something that has just been mentioned. Kan du hjlpa till ikvll? - Ja, men det r ju sjlvklart. ("Could you help out tonight? - Well, no worries, I'm happy to.") It is not very easily translatable as a concept into English. It means something along the lines of "don't mention it," but there's another Swedish equivalent for that, too.

GRAMMAR

The Focus of this Lesson is Verb Forms in the Present Tense Du James, kan du hjlpa Nils och Ewa senare med att hitta hr i huset, tack? "James, could you please help Nils and Ewa find their way around the house later?"

In this lesson we are looking at some other verb forms in the present tense. First and foremost we will be addressing modals plus infinitives.

The main difficulty with modals usually is their semantic fields. They are constructed using the present simple tense form of a modal verb (here: mste, kan) and an infinitive of any verb (here: g, hjlpa).

In this lesson we will merely look at the form in a phrase context. In particular we are looking at the modal kan or "can" in English. The example phrases here are Kan du hjlpa dem med att hitta? "Can you help them finding their way?" and Jag mste verkligen g nu. "I really have to go now."

We haven't yet either looked at those verbs that only add -r to their infinitive: flyttar (flytta) as mentioned before, these are marked by a distinctive tone accent. We have two of these verb forms in the dialogue (flytta, hitta) and might as well make some use of them.

One is featured in our dialogue in its present simple tense form (flytta) and the other in an infinitive construction (att hitta). Infinitives with two syllables to in fact always show the tone accent, when used in that form. Example phrases for these two verbs would be Ewa flyttar in idag. "Ewa is moving in today." and Nils hittar inte sjlv. "Nils can't find his own way."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Living Arrangements in Swedish

SWEDISHPOD101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #3 - GETTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SWEDISH PEOPLE 6

Schools

In Sweden students often live in university-run students halls for the duration of their studies. These can be individual flats or en suite rooms with a shared kitchen. However, it is not uncommon either to share the kitchen and one or two bathrooms as well. Such flats are often rented out to international students, since it offers them the opportunity to make new friends. Make the most of any opportunity to get to know Swedes a bit bitter and you will soon feel much more integrated already. Of course it will also require a bunch of people to share the burdens of communal living: cleaning first and foremost. But it's probably best to look at the bright side. You will get to know the people you're living with much better and more quickly, while managing life in a new country together. Talk about killing two birds with one stone!