Comments on: Secret Code: Are Swedes trying to keep Swedish to themselves?

By: Emma

Emma — Sun, 13 May 2012 19:00:37 +0000

hahah, actually i think it’s relly hard to understand when people from diffrent cuntries speak swedsih, and that’s cuz swedsih is a relly hard language!

We have words for wathever, omg, fuck it and who cares :) It’s vad, herregud, skit i det and vem bryr sig. But it sounds better in english :)

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By: Malin

Malin — Sun, 06 May 2012 19:26:25 +0000

It’s because, actually, it is quite hard for most foreigners to speak good swedish. There is a really difficult tonation(?) in the language, and therefore it is quite different for foreigners to speak, and different for native-speakers to understand. It is easier for us to speak english than it is for you to speak swedish..

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By: Bob Sinclair

Bob Sinclair — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:27:52 +0000

Swedes … Are not so friendly they all have huge self ego and speak shit about everyone that’s why there is so many coffee shops . Also they are very tight when it comes to cash I mean tight they even split bills every time they go out and eat . They do like to speak English as that is fun for them part of the ego thing and will make fun out of you every time you speak Swedish . And love to point out mistakes in general . They are a country built on material morale grounds. Positive the. Girls like to bat away from home .

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By: Svea

Svea — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:22:59 +0000

Jag skrattar �t er alla! hehe ;) The reason we speak English to you is because just like you are trying to practice Swedish we are trying to practice English. I am sure if you asked us to speak in Swedish… You must also know that Swedish is a hard language for non natives and many times we can not understand you :)

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By: Rylin

Rylin — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 09:37:51 +0000

It’s quite simple, really.
When you guys try to speak our fine language, you botch it up more than Robert Gustafsson fucks with the English language as “the Swedish ambassador”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2ez11LkUwM

We’re polite enough that we’d be embarrassed to see you embarrass yourself – and we wouldn’t want that; would we? ;-)

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By: Toast

Toast — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 20:21:23 +0000

Great article… now, say it all in Swedish.

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By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:03:52 +0000

I would like to react on the suggestion that ‘Swedes can hear and speak sounds in their own language that others just aren�t accustomed to’

This can’t be the only reason. In my native language (Netherlandic aka Dutch) we have the sounds ij, ui & eu and those are distinctly different to native speakers. For some reason it is a formidable challenge for foreigners to hear any difference between those sounds at all and they normally pronounce it ay or oy.

Still they are understood, even in a sentence with the words kijken, kuiken & keuken in it.

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By: John

John — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 02:08:49 +0000

I don’t know if my Swedish is pretty good, but the times I get to speak it with Swedes they always carry on in Swedish. One gentleman even asked if I was a Finlandsvensk (I had been living on Aaland and no doubt picked up the accent). Swedish is a great language to learn, surprisingly easy to pick up (reading, that is) and, for all but hard-core linguists or regular visitors to Scandinavia, utterly pointless to learn! Saying that, I’m glad I learned it, it is a most rewarding experience.

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By: Anna

Anna — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 22:37:34 +0000

Hahaha, good writing. However, being a Swede living abroad I have had my fair share of similar experiences… When I was studying in America I remember a German friend of mine asking the bus driver for Wallmart, pronouncing it with a typical German accent, sounding something like “wollmort”. I think she had to repeat it like six times before he understood where she wanted to go. Aaahhhh…you mean Waaalmaaart? Or my first months at the job here in Spain trying to order a donut with my coffee in the bar. Do not think that just because it is called donut in Spanish as well, that you can proncounce it in English and they will understand you. To make them understand you have to say something like dawnoot, and believe me, I did learn the hard way ;) Keep struggling with the Swedish, I will most definitely do the same with Spanish…

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By: Petulka

Petulka — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:02:09 +0000

Hmm… Agree and disagree:-) Firstly, being a Swede, I feel I should apologise on my countrymen’s behalf for
A) immediately switching into English in order to make it easier for you (that’s the most probable reason), and
B) not “sharpen their ears” in order to understand Swedish spoken with a foreign accent.

B) is a classic unfortunately, and not only in Sweden. I live in the Czech Republic, have spent years learning Czech and still sometimes find myself in that situation… I suppose it’s the small nation syndrome – people simply aren’t used to hearing their language being spoken with a foreign accent. English speakers, on the other hand, are only too used to hearing their mother tongue being mistreated in a number of ways, every day…

Anyway, keep up the good work and don’t let those bastards grind you down:-)

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