Learning Swedish

KurnDerak

I've thought about trying to learn Swedish for several months now. I've picked up a few phrases/words from Falconer songs, but that is a long way from being able to do anything with it. The only real choice I know of at the moment would be Rosetta Stone, but at least looking at Amazon the reviews for the latest version, 4/TOTALe, are rather disappointing (voice recognition issues, installation issues, etc.). Doing it through a college isn't an option right now as no colleges in reasonable distance offer Swedish, as well as do it yourself programs appear cheaper. I have a Swedish friend that I could turn to if I needed help along the way.

So, what are some options out there that would be useful?

BlindZenDriver

As a kid I learned a lot of German from watching German children TV programs. Maybe your Swedish friend can help you get your hand on some of those on DVD or something.

Lankysean

Go down to your local book store and check out their languages section. When I was brushing up on my Japanese they had a ton of books, even audio books which were very helpful.

grouch993

Check Finlandia University in Hancock, Michigan? Formerly Suomi College.

wonderpug

I find the Pimsleur audio programs to be far more effective than Rosetta Stone. It's pricier, but you can usually find them at libraries.

Peter Ebel

I assume Finlandia University, formerly Suomi College, would have a strong focus on Finnish and generally hate Sweden and everything about it.

tinwhiskers

Ikea?

Honk

Peter Ebel wrote:

I assume Finlandia University, formerly Suomi College, would have a strong focus on Finnish and generally hate Sweden and everything about it.

Swedish was up until recently the second language of Finland and they had mandatory lessons for it in their schools.

AJC delle Marche esq

Swedish is one of two official languages in Finland (the other, of course, is Finnish) and kids have to take Swedish classes in school. And if they want to go university, Finnish students have to pass a Swedish language test. All government documents have to be in Swedish and Finnish and Swedish people in Finland have a "right" to be served (for example in a restaurant) in Swedish. So everybody in Finland is supposed to have a decent quality of Swedish.

This is all a result Finland once being controlled by Sweden and the progeny of these Swedish aristocracy still have disproportionately high influence and power in the country. Timo Soini of the Perussuomalaiset party wants to finally abolish this feudal relic so for all those Finnish voters reading this, maybe give him your vote at the upcoming election. If you want to learn more about mandatory Swedish in Finland, consult Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_Swedish

As for where to learn Finnish, yeah, Finlandia University probably offers a course. But is that really a solution? The guy already said that the nearest college that offers such classes is too far away. I assume he doesn't live in upper Michigan. You might as well say, "Move to Sweden". If that's an option, I suggest moving to Sweden.

If not, I don't know. I used Rosetta Stone for Spanish and I kept up with that for about two days. And you said you don't want to use that anyone. I think your reasons are trivial, though.

So who knows? Get some books, use some software, offer money to your friend, whatever.

Siska

The final and hardest part about Swedish is learning the melodic way of speaking. To a native Swede you will sound wrong in a mister Roboto kind of way. So after you have learned enough basic Swedish through whatever means, watch a bunch of movies in Swedish and really try and pay attention to the "melody". This site here has online lessons http://www.swedishclasses.com/. However, only the first lesson is free.

Also this! NSFW Simple (free) Swedish lessons -->

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpHniCEHY7I&feature=related


And when you're good at it, this. NSFW Swedish stand up comedy by Jonas Gardell (a Finn/American who grew up in Sweden) -->

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2LhWyHwlrI&feature=related

KurnDerak

Yea, I don't live in Michigan. Not even in the same time zone.

Anyone here have any experience with Byki? Did a google for Rosetta Stone Alternatives and Byki 4 Express was the first one I saw with Swedish. First portion of the program is free, and it looks like a decent program to compliment something else.

Looking at Pimsleur, the MP3 of Swedish 1 is about $50 cheaper than level 1 from Rosetta stone. Though is it at all universal how much different programs cover? Does Swedish 1 in Pimsleur (units 1-30 of 120 it looks like) cover the same as level 1 of 5 in Rosetta stone? Or would units 1-120 in Pimsleur be equal to levels 1-5 of Rosetta stone? Checked libraries around here for Pimsleur, and the one in town has it listed as "On Order".

One thing I've wondered is how well does it work to try and learn things in your sleep? Like playing a CD of "How to speak language X". Was this one of those 'good' ideas someone had and tried to market that maybe worked for one person once? Or is there any truth behind it? It would be rather convenient if it works.

The reviews I saw on Amazon for the Rosetta Stone were overall pretty negative for Swedish, but not as much for other languages so not sure, maybe the Swedish version is more problematic or just a much smaller amount of reviews is not as reliable. /shrug

I'll talk to my friend when I get a chance and see if he can recommend some shows and such to watch.

Essee

I have BYKI Norwegian for myself, and while I haven't actually used it all that much (booooo, I really need to start working more on it soon, what with my Norwegian fiance and all) it seems like a pretty solid program. They get you used to the phrases and then have several ways for you to practice what you've learned (you can have it pull from just one lesson or multiple). I think they let you download a free trial of the software before you grab it, too? Not one of those time-limited trials, more like it only contains a few lessons, I think. I would wager that the full product is probably a much better deal than Rosetta Stone at least (which we would definitely never buy). My mom and I have used Transparent Language's products multiple times over the years now, and always been pretty happy with 'em. I have indeed heard great things about Pimsleur pretty much all the time, though! It seems like people have more experience with it and Rosetta Stone products than Transparent Language's stuff.

As for "learning things in your sleep," I'm pretty sure anything that advertises itself as such doesn't work, although I have read in my psych textbooks before that sleeping AFTER you've learned something helps commit it to memory. A brief googling of the topic found that there was a study done where sound cues during sleep after viewing images associated with them prior to sleeping actually helped people with a memory task the next day, but the same article mentions there's generally been pretty much no evidence indicating that any of the "learn x in your sleep" stuff actually works at all besides that, so yeah.

KurnDerak

Yea, I didn't expect learning something in your sleep to be true, but as I said, it would be convenient.

The Byki free trial for Swedish has 1, 2 and 3 Quick Start!, Animals 1, Colors, Days of the Week 1, Meeting and Greeting 1 and 2, Numbers: Cardinal 1, and Taking a Taxi 1 - 3. Did the first quick start and it is good at ingraining phrases, spelling and pronunciation.

How good is Byki for learning grammar and such? At least from the free portion it seems to be words/phrases but no real rules for speaking Swedish.

wonderpug

KurnDerak wrote:

Does Swedish 1 in Pimsleur (units 1-30 of 120 it looks like) cover the same as level 1 of 5 in Rosetta stone? Or would units 1-120 in Pimsleur be equal to levels 1-5 of Rosetta stone?

I can't speak to Rosetta Stone, but in Pimsleur lessons 1-30 will get you through the basics of the language structure, greetings, asking for directions, and some other common scenarios. The second Unit, lessons 31-60, start getting into more advanced grammar like "I like this better than this," "the cup is on top of the table," etc., as well as introducing more scenarios. After I did those two units in Pimsleur Japanese, I felt comfortable having basic conversations with strangers in Japan with the help of an electronic dictionary to give me a bigger vocabulary. Unit 3 (lessons 61-90) gets into yet more advanced grammar principles and more complex topics. Unfortunately, from what I can see, they have not yet developed Units 2 or 3 for Swedish.

One thing I've wondered is how well does it work to try and learn things in your sleep? Like playing a CD of "How to speak language X". Was this one of those 'good' ideas someone had and tried to market that maybe worked for one person once? Or is there any truth behind it? It would be rather convenient if it works.

Sorry, no quick fix here. When I did the Pimsleur lessons, I had to concentrate on nothing but the lessons--I couldn't listen to them while driving a car, for example. That's part of why I prefer it so much over the casual software methods; it really pushes you.

Here's one other angle to consider. There's no better way to learn a language than through immersion and direct interactions, and a way to do that without actually flying to Sweden is to find native speakers in your area. Maybe check local universities for immigrants or foreign students looking to do a language exchange, or post on Craigslist? They teach you Swedish; you help them practice English.