The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Learning Swedish
KurnDerak
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
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?
So, what are some options out there that would be useful?
KurnDerak on
0
Posts
Swedish was up until recently the second language of Finland and they had mandatory lessons for it in their schools.
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.
Also this! NSFW Simple (free) Swedish lessons -->
And when you're good at it, this. NSFW Swedish stand up comedy by Jonas Gardell (a Finn/American who grew up in Sweden) -->
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.