Swedish language tutorial. Awesome review of Swedish textbooks

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Although the Swedish language is not represented by the same variety as English, the choice is still not easy. I tried to work with different Swedish textbooks - more than 10, and in this article I want to talk about textbooks and manuals that deserve attention. Some of them are written entirely in Swedish, some are only in English, and some are in Russian.

I would like to make a reservation right away that I personally never go strictly according to one textbook and do not use the material only from textbooks. Some texts, tasks and dialogues are frankly boring or do not fit the level. Often texts go to grammatical topics that poorly reveal this very topic. Sometimes the poor choice of vocabulary is striking - the topics go and go, and vocabulary remains incomplete, unsuitable for starting to speak.

No textbook left me satisfied in terms of full coverage of every important grammatical topic. That's why I shared with you the basics of grammar, which I painted myself - in my immodest opinion, it turned out to be an excellent guide and tool for both teachers and students (while not all lessons are posted on the site, the remaining ones will appear within the next two months).

However, the undoubted advantage of textbooks is that they have voiced dialogues and texts, and the level of complexity, as a rule, is low. Therefore, somewhere up to level B1 ( middle level; Intermediate) emphasis on good and interesting texts from textbooks are justified, and then you can, with a clear conscience, switch to communication with native speakers, podcasts (although there is little of this good in Swedish, but there are many recordings of radio programs), watching movies and TV shows, reading books, forums, etc.

The fact is that in textbooks of higher levels, most of the texts are very formal (that's right, you have to justify the level with more complex and intricate words!): about environment, the political structure of the country (green melancholy ...), economic problems, biography of famous personalities, newspaper articles like "Biting and stinging insects in Sweden." Personally, such texts make me sleepy. It is much more interesting to independently find articles on the Internet on topics that I find fascinating.

I know that there are people who prefer to study strictly according to one textbook and go through it from cover to cover. I will not convince anyone, but if you are not so categorical, I still advise you to consider combining several textbooks and studying them in a free order.

What do I mean by "free order"? Feel free to skip all the texts and exercises that bore you. Jump from chapter to chapter with a clear conscience. Do you want to read about important Swedish holidays right now, and not when you get to chapter 14? Why not! The main thing is that the level is more or less suitable. Although that didn't stop me. I read the chapter diagonally, picking out the most interesting and accessible for my level, and then returned to the materials corresponding to my level.

Do you think that in this case there will be no plan? You have the plan I proposed - a logical and consistent structure of all grammatical (interspersed with lexical) topics and pitfalls. I'm not trying to convince you - I'm just suggesting what I think is optimal :)

So, let's move on to the review of textbooks and manuals!

1. Rivstart A1-A2. Very good authentic textbook. Excellent, although a little difficult exercises for listening comprehension. Difficult because in them the native speakers speak at a normal, not slow pace, and also insert words that beginners do not yet know. But the problem is solved by the fact that for all these audios there is a book Hörförståelse with scripts (texts from listening).

A big plus of the textbook: a lot of conversational topics, everyday vocabulary, many texts and dialogues are interesting to read.

Minus for those who study on their own: the entire book (including assignments) is in Swedish. If there is no base in the form of German, then it can be difficult to figure it out. Also, a beginner does not always have confidence that he understood and translated everything correctly, even with a dictionary.

However, you can learn grammar from mine, and use Rivstart purely for texts, audio, and maybe use an Övningsbok workbook with exercises. I also note that Reestart has good tables on grammar topics, and at least you can understand what they want to draw your attention to in the text or exercises.

All grammatical topics are covered, but clearly formulated rules are not given, there are only visual plates and examples. The following topics are not well served:

definite / indefinite article of nouns (the topic is given in strokes, but it is not sorted out, there are questions about the nuances);
past tense ( Irregular Verbs are almost never given in the texts);
future tense (a small tablet is briefly given, from which it is impossible to draw conclusions when to use what);
comparison of adjectives (good exercises are given on this topic, but it is poorly reflected in the texts themselves);
Bisats / subordinate clauses (only the most frequent cases are given, there is no complete picture).

In fact, the textbook is designed for conversational topics and does not aim to describe the grammar in detail. But grammar in tables and some comments are given at the end of the textbook (again, all in Swedish). It is calculated that there is a teacher who will explain all the nuances.

Important: the tutorial has a continuation, Rivstart B1-B2. There are also a lot of good materials.

2. Tutorial Khokhlova-Bjeren . Many of my friends were delighted with this textbook. I do not share the enthusiasm, but he has pluses.

The biggest plus is the Russian textbook, so all new words and incomprehensibility are translated into Russian, and pretty good grammar explanations are given in Russian;

There is geography material - for some it is very valuable;

There is a dictionary with the translation of new words after each text. The texts are also translated into Russian, so it is impossible to misunderstand. Very handy for those who do it themselves!

And now for the cons from my point of view:

- There are many exercises, but they are mostly boring, “drills” in the style of “Translate 20 sentences like: “The flower is white. The table is big. New houses."

- Inconvenient presentation of topics. Such important things as the past tense, for example, a person learns only by the end of the textbook! The overview of the Swedish language and culture is excellent, but in order to start using the language as soon as possible, this tutorial is not suitable. And by “use” I don’t mean phrases like “Today is good weather. I am going to the shop. Then I meet a friend, but ordinary everyday communication, expression of emotions, the ability to express an attitude towards something, to talk about yourself at any time (fortunately, in Swedish you can count them on the fingers);

- A lot of complex and irrelevant words for this level and for communication in general, although one could do without them perfectly. The self-instruction manual is sharpened for a leisurely comprehension of the Swedish language, and not for the development of speech skills.

Summary: A solid, detailed tutorial with a good structure. Beginner-friendly :) But with a rather slow development and no claims to the interestingness and modernity of the texts. Therefore, I very little use this textbook for assignments to my students.

3. Svenska Utifra n . You can not ignore this well-known authentic manual. It is not a textbook: it is just a disparate set of texts / dialogues (almost all with voice acting) and exercises. Almost all grammatical topics are covered (of course, in Swedish) - many of them are very well shown in the texts and dialogues.

My only complaint is that topics such as noun articles and the use of the future tense are not very clearly presented in the texts. And also the topic of understanding the difference between the infinitive of the verb and the present tense is not really considered.

Although there is no structure as such, the level of difficulty gradually increases from the beginning to the end of the book. A lot of the lyrics sound boring and old-fashioned, like you opened a third grade book from the 1960s. You can use it as an addition to the main textbook, but VERY selectively.

4. Mål (there is a continuation of Mitt i mål, Mål 3). Authentic textbook, i.e. everything in Swedish.

Audio to all texts, as well as pretty good listening exercises;

Many dialogues with colloquial vocabulary;

Phrases relevant for communication, modern words, and there are practically no unnecessary and complex vocabulary;

+ "Story": there are a number of characters, you can trace the development of their relationship.

- Grammar is pretty bad. Topics are slightly outlined in the tablets, but often this is not enough for understanding (noun articles, future tense, perfect, bisats). The topic of comparing adjectives was not raised at all;

- Poor structure. Only in the middle of the textbook does the student learn how to say “I like it”, only at the end he gets acquainted with the past tense, he learns very late that adjectives have their own three forms;

Too many narrative texts at the beginning (“She gets up at 7 in the morning. Then she takes a shower. Then she eats a sandwich and drinks coffee. At 11 she meets a friend…”). Trist! (= Boring things!). Sensation of very slow buildup.

I would suggest listening to dialogues, which are mostly quite interesting, and some lyrics (eg ”Emil vill ta körkort”, ”Hassan är nervös”). There is also a Betoning page in each chapter where beginners can practice their pronunciation with simple common sentences.

There is an Övningsbok workbook. Some exercises from there are good.

This is my first Swedish textbook :) It is a rare case when the loud headline “you will master the language in three months!”, in general, is true. This does not mean that you will be fluent in Swedish in 3 months, but this smart tutorial really quickly introduces you to the language, gives you almost all the necessary grammar, does not overload you with complex texts. I went through it for 5 months, after which I expanded this base and actively replenished my vocabulary with everyday and colloquial phrases.

A handy dictionary at the end of each lesson - nouns are given with the singular article and plural, and for verbs the number of their group is indicated. You rarely see this in other textbooks, and not even in all online dictionaries;

Each topic is very compact: the whole important information"without water";

Grammar topics are very well structured and easy to understand, so progress in terms of mastering the "mechanics" of the language is very fast (although for some people who want a detailed chew, this will be a minus);

All texts correspond to the level.

There are a few downsides, however:

- quite a few everyday topics (two dialogues are given for shopping in a store, for example - this gives a narrow idea of \u200b\u200bsuch situations; it is imperative to find additional materials on these topics) and, accordingly, few stable everyday phrases;

- texts and dialogues are simple, but often lacking in fascination;

- simple exercises, very accessible for self-study(their simplicity can be considered as a minus or as a plus);

- Russian transcription without audio has a very bad effect on pronunciation. I had a terrible Russian accent at the time and had no idea how wrong my Swedish sounded.

Summary: to understand how the language works, on what bricks it is built, the tutorial is very good. But the disadvantages listed above are serious, additional textbooks are definitely needed. If you like a compact and fast presentation of grammar, then you can take this tutorial and supplement it with, say, Reevestart.

6. På svenska! Svenska som främmande sprak . The authors of this tutorial have a lot of good ideas, but not always a good implementation, so the pluses smoothly flow into the minuses.

In addition to the textbook, there is an exercise book (Övningsbok) and a workbook (Studiehäfte). In the book with exercises, all the grammar touched upon in the main textbook is conscientiously practiced. The workbook explains pronunciation and grammar - in Russian, by the way. When explaining the pronunciation, long vowels are highlighted and letters that are not usually pronounced are crossed out. This, of course, is convenient.

What is inconvenient A: First of all, you won't find this tutorial in PDF form. It is available only in an inconvenient djvu format, but it can be bought in paper form.

Secondly, the workbook is ugly designed: a strange font that is inconvenient to read. For some reason, stable phrases with explanations were thrown here, although they would have looked more appropriate in the main textbook. When you hear in an audio recording “Now practice the phrases from the list!”, And suddenly you have to move from the textbook to the workbook - this is terribly inconvenient.

Further, for some reason, they did not break the audio recordings into separate short blocks, as is usually done. For one chapter, you get one long audio recording. There are voice acting of dialogues from this chapter, and phrases from the Workbook, and a listening exercise. If you don't plan to methodically work through the entire chapter from start to finish, then this breakdown will cause inconvenience.

Finally, despite the presence of the same characters (the claim to the "plot"), the textbook does not captivate. Moreover, sometimes you come across old-fashioned phrases like “Angenämt” (“Very nice” - when meeting). I saw this phrase only in outdated textbooks. Modern Swedes don't say that exactly. In general, a picture of “neutral Swedish” is given (not enough modern vocabulary), and useful everyday phrases are not reinforced. The atmosphere of the lyrics is classic and rather boring.

Of the good, one can note a selection of phrases on various topics (in a restaurant; phone call; travel; purchases) - they are very convenient, and they have voice acting.

Summary: I would not choose this textbook as the main one. From it you can take pages with phrases and short dialogues on topics, you can use the exercises from Övningsbok. I think it's more suitable for teachers who can pluck suitable materials from it for their classes than for someone who has recently started learning Swedish.

7.Form i focus. This is a series of manuals: there are six books Form i focus from A1 to C2 - this is an explanation of grammar + exercises for levels from elementary A1 to advanced C2. All explanations are in Swedish, so not suitable for beginners.

There are also two books Text i focus - but the texts that are given there are quite complex, level B1 and above. The style is reminiscent of good newspaper articles - the topics are modern, the language is somewhat formal and intricate, but lively. For each text there are exercises for working out: most often for understanding, for working out the correct prepositions and memorizing set expressions.

In my opinion, the series is tailored for linguists and pedants. A person should like to shovel a lot of the same type of exercises in order to practice according to this manual. It helps to work out the mechanisms of the language quite well, but gives almost nothing in terms of understanding the style of the language: what words are colloquial, what phrases are used in everyday speech, how to express an opinion, etc. Well, there is no training for listening comprehension at all.

Summary: These manuals are definitely not for beginners! But those who continue can read the texts from “Text i focusus” and do exercises for them. Teachers can take some exercises from the grammar block for tests. Some exercises are also suitable for practicing a specific grammatical topic in class - at the very beginning, the exercises are very boring, typical drills, then the picture gets better.

8. Teach Yourself Swedish. Self-instruction manual for an English-speaking audience.

Pros:

Pleasant Swedish voice acting (not monotonous, as in many tutorials);

After each text / dialogue, a list of new words with translation is given - convenient;

There are quite interesting cultural comments and remarks about the use of vocabulary (for example: “Swedes say ”tack för senast” in such and such cases: ...” or “Unlike English, in Swedish they say ”äta middag” and not ”ha middag” );

Good grammar explanations.

Minuses:

- Although the grammar itself is given incrementally, this principle is not respected in the dialogues at the beginning of each chapter. For example, in the very first dialogue, the perfect appears - although this form of the verb has not yet been discussed, it can confuse a beginner. Or maybe not embarrass, depends on the person;

- The self-instruction manual does not aim to give extremely simple vocabulary for the very, very beginners, therefore, words of a higher level are constantly coming across. On the other hand, it makes dialogue sound more natural, not contrived. In addition, all new words are translated anyway;

- The grammar that is given in each chapter is not reflected much in the dialogues. Perhaps the authors were betting on the fact that this grammar has already been encountered in previous texts and will be encountered in subsequent ones. This will suit those who are ready to delve into the texts a lot, but will not suit people who want immediate visibility;

- I personally miss the stuffing of modern colloquial words a little. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the tutorial was first published in 1995, and is unlikely to have been heavily edited subsequently.

9. “Modern Swedish. Basic course "Zhukova.

I will say right away: I have a number of complaints about Zhukova's "Basic Course".

Firstly, the presentation of the material: first, a review of the grammar is given with some exercises (hmm, do they have to be done without speaking the language yet? Why?), then the texts begin. Difficulty level is not met at all. In the very first texts, many complex words immediately come across (unfortunately, some of them are generally of little use). A disservice to a beginner who wants to start speaking the language…

In general, we can say that the self-instruction manual is not for everyone: there are people who from the very beginning try to use Difficult words as if they were speaking their own language. That is, when talking about their work, for example, they tend to issue a complex sentence like “I work at a car repair plant as a mechanical assembly worker” or “This is a sought-after profession that requires many years of practice”, etc. My opinion is that it is unproductive. It will take a long time before a person gets used to the language if he confuses himself in this way from the very beginning. But if a person likes such an approach, let him take Khokhlova-Bjaren's textbook.

I would also say that the textbook did not pass the "Swedishness" test. The texts are in Swedish, but do not give any understanding of modern language. You look at the words and think: either the author inserted it because there is such a word in the dictionary, or the Swedes really say that.

From the interesting: at the end of the textbook are given a variety of texts for reading (level - for continuing), a dictionary of stable phrases (such as "throw money right and left", "Indian summer"), biblical expressions, quotes. The lists are large, although their value is somewhat doubtful: if a person speaks Swedish poorly and suddenly inserts such a clever phrase (also with the wrong pronunciation) will they even understand him? And in general, my opinion is that you can use more advanced phrases when you yourself have already met them in context and have a good idea of whether this is a modern phrase or not; she sounds neutral or rude, and so on.

10. Spoken Swedish in Dialogues by Zhukova. But this manual Zhukova is much better! It will appeal to those who like it when the material is clearly divided into topics, and the vocabulary in such materials is not limited to the level of the reader.

An undoubted advantage is that the manual is built according to the type of "parallel texts": on the left half of the page there is a Swedish dialogue, on the right - a Russian translation. Very handy for self study. This, by the way, removes the level of complexity: even if there are a lot of unfamiliar words in the text, it’s not scary, because they have all been translated.

All dialogues are voiced.

Minuses: I would not say that the dialogues are similar to live Swedish speech. Rather, there is a feeling that the authors tried to cram as much vocabulary on each topic, and then fit all this vocabulary to the Swedish text. Therefore, sometimes the dialogues sound unnatural. I also found some errors in the texts.

Summary: It is quite possible to use. The manual contains more than 100 short dialogues on the most different topics, dialogues are voiced - all this is very convenient for self-study, especially if you are ready to turn a blind eye to the fact that some of the wording does not quite correspond to modern everyday Swedish.

11. Additional materials:

– Conversational Swedish course (translated by Ilya Kotomtsev, Dmitry Lytov), Ilya Frank's language project.

Once upon a time, texts and dialogues with parallel translation into Russian were posted on the Internet in free access. You can probably still find them now. Unfortunately, there was no audio for them, but there were about a hundred texts themselves. I liked it as a visual. I printed out all the texts and read in the transport. True, many of them were old-fashioned and boring, but the dialogues were usually funny.

— 365 Swedish dialogues for each day (according to the method of Ilya Frank) .

Short dialogues according to the method of Ilya Frank, written by easy language. Suitable for A1-B1 learners of Swedish (beginners and some advanced).

For a long time I dreamed of writing cool textbooks on spoken language, and this is the first such book.

In the meantime, I will try to objectively praise and criticize my own work :)

Convenient format - small dialogues with translation and good comments;

Dialogues are saturated with modern vocabulary and colloquial words/phrases;

All important topics are covered, ranging from such banal ones as dating, shopping, movies, health, and ending with topics such as housing, education, work and employment;

Dialogues are written with a claim to be interesting and modern realities (for example, mentioning famous films such as "Avatar" and "Lord of the Rings"; typical contemporary issues in relationship; internet and gadgets);

Attention is drawn to the pronunciation in those words where it is not read as it is written;

- Since a large amount of diverse vocabulary is involved, it is possible that words are not repeated so often that Ilya Frank's method "works" (the principle of repeating words in different contexts);

- There is audio, but it is rather bonus, since it is not from carriers;

- Occasionally, “Russian influence” is noticed: for example, the need to serve in the army, the mention of downloading films from the Internet and some similar Russian realities. On the other hand, it makes the dialogues closer to the Russian reader. And Swedish realities are also covered in them (mainly Swedish culture).

You can also get acquainted with these dialogues:

— Speak Swedish with Confidence, author Regina Harkin. A beginner's guide with 30 voiced dialogues. Dialogues are given with an English translation and some comments on pronunciation, which makes them convenient for self-study.

In the audio recordings, not only the voice acting of the dialogues themselves is given, but also some development of new words. Also, before the dialogue, the context is given (in English) and an overview of new words and phrases with translation.

Of course, 30 half-page dialogues are too few to start speaking Swedish. But for the audience, this can be a good start.

— Pimsleur Swedish Comprehensive . Audio course for English speakers. 30 lessons of 30 minutes each. Oddly enough, there are no scripts (texts) for the lessons, there are only additional text materials for each lesson.

If you consider yourself a quick-minded person in terms of learning languages, you will be frankly bored. This course is very primitive, everything is chewed like for a baby, and, accordingly, progress is slow, a teaspoon per hour.

But for the auditory, who wants a leisurely input into the language - and along the way, without being distracted from his ordinary life(say, while listening to podcasts while driving) might work. But I immediately warn you that this course is nothing more than an introduction to the language. You will neither speak nor understand by ear after it. You will just understand a little how the basic Swedish language works, but remember a hundred or two words.

— SwedishPod101. The thing is paid (from 4 bucks a month for a simple tariff), the dialogues are translated into English. The podcasts are 10 to 15 minutes each and there are all levels of difficulty. Dialogues are translated into English and individual words and phrases are translated. To be honest, these podcasts are nowhere near as cool as the ChinesePod podcasts, and there aren't many podcasts, so it's hardly worth it.

http://www.digitalasparet.se/ - on this site select ”Hör/läs”. For the beginner level - "Nybörjare A och B" - voiced pictures and simple, short dialogues are given. For a higher level - B-nivå - dialogues and interactive tasks with voice acting are given. The highest level here is D-nivå. It's not very complicated, actually. Although it cannot be said that the site will give you a lot in terms of spoken language, it will not overload you with complex unnecessary words or outdated vocabulary.

http://www.hejsvenska.se/ - very similar to the previous site. Voiced pictures, texts and short situations, in a simple and entertaining way for beginners.

Author: Margarita Shvetsova is a lover of foreign languages, especially their colloquial part. She dreams of people learning languages using interesting materials, without academic tediousness. She wrote a book with Swedish dialogues according to the method of Ilya Frank. English and Swedish teacher who is happy to share his lessons and best practices on his website

Last year, I made the decision to move in a new direction with regard to my work. My new project was to test language learning resources and apps and then review them in a blog post. The reason for the new review was that I started learning Swedish, but gave up because I ran into some difficulties and didn't set really motivating goals.

Once I successfully mastered basic Hebrew from a textbook by a well-known British publisher Routledge and now they sent me a book to review Colloquial Swedish Complete Course for Beginners- Swedish textbook for beginners! And I decided to bring my basic Swedish to mind.

What is Colloquial Series?

This is a series of English-language textbooks for learning foreign languages. You can use the paper or electronic version. The textbook comes with audio recordings that can be downloaded for free on the website. I asked for the paper version, because in my opinion it is more convenient to work with it - you can emphasize important points with a pencil, do exercises. And yes, I do love books.

Who is the textbook for?

For those who already know English at an intermediate level and above, read freely. This is a cool experiment if you want to learn Swedish and support English. Just what I'm talking about about the language environment. Learn immediately in a foreign language!
Do you want to master grammar, pronunciation and intonation, necessary phrases to communicate at an elementary level on everyday topics(about yourself and family, hobbies and work, study and travel). The book will hold brief digression in the culture of the country: there is information, regions, history, lifestyle, traditions.
In my opinion, it is advisable to connect this textbook when you already have an idea about Swedish pronunciation, you can read and know the basic words. Otherwise it will be difficult. The language is not simple, and the texts for the textbook are not the easiest - a lot of unfamiliar words. Will have to work!

What's inside the book

Each of the 17 chapters of the textbook contains the following parts: text, dialogue, vocabulary, grammar excursus, practical exercises, pronunciation training and cognitive text with explanations.

All dialogues in the tutorial are based on the story of several characters. This is student Rebecca from the USA, who came to the university in Stockholm for a year, her friend, family from Sweden and Scottish musician Bill.

Dialog presents variants of spoken language and phrases suitable for different everyday situations. For example, how to introduce yourself, say what you like and dislike, place an order in a cafe.
In notes additional constructions are offered to express the same thoughts as in the dialogue. The features of the pronunciation of individual words, phrases, combinations are also explained.
Vocabulary after dialogue and text contains the translation of most words. If some words are not here, then you will find them at the end of the book - in the general dictionary. The authors of the textbook claim that at the end of the book the student's vocabulary will be 2000 words (check!). So it’s better to learn them right away, as you go, without putting it off for later. After all, with each chapter their number will grow.
Text with geographical and historical information To be honest, not very interesting. Maybe it's the complexity and in large numbers unfamiliar words. I don't like looking into the dictionary every second. All fire is gone! It seems to me that the texts should have been made lighter and shorter. Yes, there are more interesting topics to choose from. In general, I decided to rely on the context and translate only as a last resort, as the book advises. But there were many such cases.
Exercises I liked it for practicing grammar and vocabulary. I have not practiced filling in the gaps with a pencil in a textbook for a long time. In total, the book contains 120 exercises to consolidate the material, and there are answers at the end of the book.
Chapter 1 to 10 In addition, tasks for training pronunciation are offered. There are also audios for them to compare yourself with native speakers and correct.
Chapter 1 to 5 stress is indicated in words and sentences. And not in vain! This is because the accent in Swedish is a separate issue. In addition, the Swedes like to stretch not only vowels, but also consonants. These nuances are given additional attention.

Problems in learning Swedish from scratch

Pronunciation- it is worth going through the section on pronunciation at the very beginning of the book before starting the training, and then before each lesson, train at least one audio recording from this section and so on several times. If it gets difficult, don't back down. Gradually, the rules will be remembered, their logic will become clear and become easier. I'm saying this because I haven't figured this out myself.

I draw attention to important point: I didn't have enough materials from the book. Therefore, I included the simplest and most basic audio from podcasts in the classes. SwedishPod. Thanks to them, I improved my pronunciation and generally began to understand at least something in it. At first it seemed that nothing would clear up for a long time.

stress- it depends on the correct placement of the stress whether you will be understood correctly, since there are 2 different accents in Swedish - with one accent and with two.

Word order and sentence structure- you can not pay too much attention to this if your task is to speak at the basic stage. But, if one of the tasks is to read and write, then start devoting time to these skills right away, as the authors of the textbook recommend.

My training

Week 1 This week I devoted the first chapter of the book. I started, of course, with the chapter on pronunciation plus pro read the recommendations of the authors of the textbook on how to work with the book.

I listened to 7 audio recordings, following the text, in the section on Swedish pronunciation. There are many examples, but native speakers do not list and voice everything up to last word. I will say that it was difficult, despite the fact that I had already listened and practiced pronunciation before. Still very unusual! Therefore, before each daily lesson, I decided to listen again and train aloud one audio recording from this section. I know that the skill will be honed only in this way.
T renirovala alphabet and pronunciation of vowels.
I listened to the dialogue with the presentation of the characters, the dialogue in the cafe and the text about Sweden and English-speaking countries, immediately repeating aloud after a native speaker. I studied the words to the notes and texts, answered the questions.
Grammar went through pronouns, the verb "to be" (where without it?), the articles en and ett, general issues and questions with inversion, present tense forms of verbs. Plus, I did exercises on the topics listed.

So far, there is not enough practice in pronunciation and audio recordings of individual words from the dictionary under the dialogue. It seems to me that more audio should have been recorded for the tutorial. Reading the words is not yet sure of the correctness.

Week 2 No matter how difficult it is, let's move on to the second chapter. In parallel, repeating the first.

I read (with difficulty) and listened to 2 texts and a dialogue.
I figured out the infinitive and the present form of the verb, articles and nouns, word order in a sentence.
I learned to talk about the time of the day, count to 100, ask and tell about the place of residence, greet interlocutors, introduce myself.
I did the suggested exercises, practiced pronunciation, as usual.

Week 3 In addition to connecting new material, I find time in the lesson to repeat the previous chapters.

I listen to audio recordings and dialogues from the first chapters, I train pronunciation.
At the same time, I listen to SwedishPod podcasts for beginners at home or on the road. If possible, I repeat aloud (if at home) or to myself (if in transport).
I read a new text about a trip to Sweden, studied the dictionary.
I studied grammar and vocabulary: adverbs, possessive, days of the week, numbers, action verbs.

Week 4 I studied mostly not from a textbook, but from podcastsSwedishPod. Although the repetition of dialogues took place. News: I finally noticed a clearer pronunciation and listening comprehension. Hooray! It turns out beautifully and correctly to say basic phrases. This is huge progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done. So far, this is all I can say about the results of training on this moment.

findings

Most likely I will make another series of articles about this tutorial, since I managed to get through only 3 chapters in a month. It takes time to properly work out and apply the material. In addition, the language is quite complex and unusual for me. So I see no reason to rush. We will act step by step. Isn't that a good reason to resurrect this thread?

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So far, I can say that if you study from a book, then connect either basic classes with a teacher, or first learn basic words, practice pronunciation, learn to read and listen to podcasts on simple themes. After that, proceed to the tutorial. I am now taking a break just for this purpose, and later I will return to Colloquial Swedish with new knowledge. If there is at least some knowledge of reading and pronunciation, the textbook should be enough. Well, I will continue to inform you about further actions and results.

Tell us in the comments if you have tried to learn a foreign language using English-language materials?

Swedish is rarely chosen as a second foreign language, because in Europe, basically, everyone speaks English. Swedish is spoken in Sweden and in places in Finland. In total, according to the latest data, about 10 million people speak it.

However, sometimes this language is chosen because of work, education, moving for permanent residence, or simply falling in love with the country. Then an important question arises before the student - where to start learning and how to learn at all?

This article contains important tips on how to get started and how to master this difficult Nordic language!

History and origins of Swedish

This language, as well as Danish and Norwegian, is based on Old Norse. It was spoken by the Vikings, who spread it throughout Europe through their conquests. Until 1050, the language in Scandinavia was one, but after that it was divided into three groups.

Even though the languages are divided, those who know Swedish will also be able to understand Danish and Finnish. The modern dialect of Swedish was formed already in the 19th century under the influence of urbanization. In the 20th century, serious reforms were carried out that formed the final version of the state language of Sweden.

Why you might need Swedish

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Of course, most often a foreign student is pushed to study life circumstances. Moving to a country for permanent residence, studying in Sweden or getting a job in that country, or other situations where it will be necessary to speak Swedish, will make the language skill mandatory.

Also, interest in this skill may appear due to falling in love with this country. Scandinavia is an amazing place with stunningly beautiful landscapes. Passion for Swedish culture, music, literature and nature can be a good motivator to start classes.

How to learn Swedish on your own

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One of the most popular ways to study is self-study. This is easy to do with English or Italian, but harder with Swedish. Firstly, it is more difficult to find a tutor or courses - Swedish is not very popular.

Secondly, it is quite difficult to study it without the help of a teacher, because there is not such a huge amount of video and audio materials. But still, the study of this language can be built independently. The main thing is to observe the basic rule - systematic daily exercises. Let them be 15 minutes a day, but without gaps.

Learn Swedish from scratch using textbooks and phrasebooks

This method of studying learning can be classified as traditional. Gotta get all available methodical literature in Swedish - . The difficulty lies in the fact that the material in book format can not be found in all stores - you will have to try to find books.

If you know English, it will be easier, as there are more English-language manuals for Swedish. For example, .

This method will be effective if the lessons from the textbooks are methodical and daily. You need to complete all the exercises and supplement the lessons with audio materials in order to put the correct pronunciation.

Learn Swedish online

The modern way of learning is through online courses or classes. Now the Internet provides a lot of options for self-study. You can choose step-by-step lessons with homework checks, or you can just do exercises of your choice every day. You can also download to your phone Swedish learning apps so that the opportunity is always at hand.

Why is it better to learn Swedish with a teacher?

Most The best way master it in a short time - study with a teacher. At the very least, it is undesirable to start learning a language alone. So the student will not have trial and error, and the learning process will be set up correctly and gradually.

The teacher will help to put the pronunciation well from the first lessons and explain all the subtleties of this European language. It is usually assigned an average degree of difficulty, so lessons with a teacher will bring maximum efficiency.

Quite a convenient way to study - group lessons at school. It's not as costly as private lessons, but just as effective. After all, in a group you can work in pairs, train pronunciation, try yourself in everyday situations and much more. Of course, the attention of the teacher in this case will not be as much as with personal contact. But this option is in any case more effective than self-study.
Another modern way classes - chat with a tutor online , Skype or any other video service. Such lessons will replace individual lessons, but the cost will be much cheaper. Of the obvious advantages of this method - you do not need to go anywhere to meet with the teacher, but you can study right at home in front of the computer. Video training can be built just as well as face-to-face meetings.

You can find a Swedish teacher, both Russian-speaking and a native speaker, on the website italki. There is a choice of standard lessons with homework, thematic courses or speaking sessions for practice.

What makes learning Swedish easier?

In order to learn a language most effectively and quickly, you need to use all methods at once. First you need to choose the most convenient way of learning, which is suitable for better assimilation of the material. Gradually connect others. You can consolidate standard lessons by completely immersing yourself in the environment.

It is best to hang word cards around the house, watch, listen to Swedish news and radio. This will help you surround yourself with the new language and get used to it.

It is also worth constantly practicing, before new classes, repeating the material covered and paying attention to daily activities. Constant practice is the key to success!

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In this article, I will give you a couple of important guidelines + the introductory lesson itself.

To get started you need define your goals. After all, as you know, if you just go “somewhere”, then you will come to some random point. I suggest you clarify your plans for Swedish with the help of.

When you have clearly decided what Swedish is for and how you will use it, it's time to find the right materials. This article will help you, which, in addition to textbooks, also touches on additional manuals.

At this stage, it makes sense to familiarize yourself with. I am not a supporter of hammering the rules of pronunciation to the stop and only after mastering them move on. Therefore, I divided all the information about pronunciation into 3 logical blocks, which I give to my students gradually. You can read before or after this lesson. The main thing - do not read all three at once, otherwise there will be porridge in your head.

In this first lesson, you will learn to talk about the languages you speak and talk a little about yourself and other people.

For this you need a few verbs. Verbs are generally the most important thing in the language from the point of view of a beginner, since it is with their help that the backbone of sentences is built - both simple and complex.

Talar- I say

Pratar- talking / talking

Heter- (my name is

Kommer(från) - I come; (I'm from) …

Ä r- I am, I am

Kan- can; I can; I know

Three ways to say that you speak such and such a language:

Jag talar svenska - I speak Swedish.
Jag pratar ryska. - I speak Russian.
Jag kan engelska. – I know English / I speak English.

”Talar” and ”pratar” both mean “I’m talking / talking”, but the second word sounds more colloquial (about the difference between talar-pratar-säger is). It can also mean "talking". By the way, textbooks usually give exactly the variant with ”talar”, and in colloquial speech the ”pratar” variant dominates. If a Swede asks you “Do you speak Swedish?” he will most likely say: “ Pratar du svenska?”

Did you notice that the verb hasn't changed? Nice moment: if you know how to say “I say/know/food…”, then you know both “you say/know/go” and “we say/…”, “she says/…”. Convenient, isn't it? One verb form for all!

This works for all verbs with no exceptions. Not at all like in English, where it is difficult for a beginner to keep in mind that I have, but he has; She is, but you are and I am .

Another important thing(and nice too): Asking questions is very easy. You just need to swap “WHO” (you / you / she / me / your family, etc.) and the verb (“say”, “go”, “do”, etc.).

No troubles like “auxiliary verbs”, as in English (do, does, did) are needed, which is good news.

Kan du engelska?– Do/do you speak/do you speak English? Do you know English?

”Kan” basically corresponds to the English ”can”, but can also mean “I know” in the context of foreign languages. Interestingly, in English you cannot say “I know English” (although Russians often try to say this by analogy with their native language), but in Swedish you can - just like in Russian.

Have you already noticed that the three languages mentioned - svenska, engelska, ryska - all end in -ska? This is a typical ending for the names of languages in Swedish. By the way, the word "language" itself is ett språk, and "foreign language" is ett främmande språk.

Other language examples:

tyska- Deutsch

franska- French

kinesiska- Chinese

spanska– spanish

(Yes, the names of languages—and nationalities!—are capitalized. English speakers often try to capitalize them.)

I also want to note that words of Scandinavian origin are typically stressed on the first syllable, so if you are not sure, it is better to pronounce an unfamiliar word with stress on the first syllable.

Here is how the stress falls in the words above: tálar, prátar, éngelska, rýska, svénska, kinésiska…

You probably want to say "I Little I speak Swedish" or "I not I speak Swedish.

Jag kan lite svenska. – I speak a little Swedish.

Jag pratar bara lite svenska. I only speak a little Swedish.

Jag kan inte svenska. – I don’t know Swedish / I don’t speak Swedish.

Jag talar inte svenska. – I don’t speak Swedish.

OBS! Note! Unlike the Russian language, in Swedish the negation "not" (inte) put after verb!

Talar du ryska? – Nej, jag kan inte ryska. - You speak Russian? – No, I don’t know Russian.

Jag förstar inte svenska. – I don’t understand Swedish.

How to tell about yourself?

Swedes don't usually say "My name is..." (=Mitt namn är...), although it is possible. But the usual scenario is as follows:

— Vad heter du? - Jag heter ... (Margarita).

- What is your name? - My name is Margarita).

That is, literally - "I am called / called."

"Vad" = what.

Another important word for questions about a person is ”var” (=where).

Var bor du?- Where do you live?

Var ifrån kommer du?/Var kommer du ifrån? - Where you're from)?

Those familiar with English can easily recognize the English "from" in the word ifrån (i + från). There are many more similarities waiting for you.

What can be the answer to such questions?

Var bor du? – Jag bor i Sverige (I live in Sweden).

Var kommer du ifran? – Jag kommer/är från Ryssland (I'm from Russia).

The pitfalls here are pronunciation. Everyone strives to say [boron] and [sverige]. But no!

bor / [bu:r]

Sverige / [sverige]

By the way, how do you say “Can you speak Swedish?” Negra ideer? Any ideas?

Basically, you know all these words. Then maybe ”Kan du talar/pratar svenska?” In fact, this phrase will mean "You know how to speak ish in Swedish?

The correct option is ”Kan du tala/prata svenska?”

The catch here is this: Swedish has a verb form for the present tense (usually ending in –r), and there is an infinitive (for example, “deeds be ”, “chita be ”, “look be "). This form - the infinitive - usually ends in -a:

Present tense vs. Infinitive

prat ar prat a

tal ar tal a

komm er komm a

het er het a

ar var a

kan kunn a

forstå r forstå

Surely the last three lines have raised questions in you. You will find answers to them very soon, in.

In the meantime, I suggest you practice what you learned in this lesson, using an example different countries, peoples and their languages.

First exercise

Look, the first word in the line is the country, the second is the people/nationality, and the third is their language.

Till exempl(For example):

Finland-finnar-finska(Finland - Finns - Finnish)

You need to say: Finnar b o r i Finland. De pr a tar/t a lar finska. (Finns live in Finland. They speak Finnish).

Nu kor vi! Go!

USA-amerik a ner-engelska

Spanien-spanj o rer—spanska

Frankrike-fransman-franska

England/St o rbritannien-engelsman-engelska

Ryssland - ryssar - ryska

Sveri g e - svenskar - svenska

Ki na- ki neser- ki nesiska

no rg e - norrmän - no rs ka

Danmark-danskar-danska

—————————————————————————

Second exercise

Write short texts about people you know.

Use the following template:

Jag har en pojkvän.

Hanheter Alexander.

Han är ryss/Han kommer från Ryssland.

Hanär 28 (år gammal).

Han pratar ryska och engelska.

Pojkvan means "boyfriend" (like "boyfriend").

The following words may be helpful to you:

en flickvan– girl (as “girlfriend”)

en kompis- friend, friend (also girlfriend)

en arbetskamrat- colleague

en brevvä n- pen pal

Vi h ö rs ! (Let's hear on!)

O T A V T O R O V

C There are different ways to learn a foreign language. One of them is the study of the language by the self-instruction manual. The book you are holding in your hands is intended for those who have never learned Swedish and want to learn it on their own.

The self-instruction manual consists of a phonetic introductory course and 23 lessons of the main course. In each lesson you will find an interesting text about the life of two friends - Kaisa and Pia or a text about life in Sweden, its culture and history. Also, each lesson provides information from the grammar area and simple exercises with keys (that is, the correct options for completing tasks). All keys are collected in the corresponding section at the end of the tutorial. The fact that the exercise is equipped with a key is indicated using a special icon, for example:

Ñ EXERCISE E3 .

For those who are seriously interested in the Swedish way of life, the “Country Studies” section is intended, where you can read about the Swedes and Sweden in Russian or Swedish. Each lesson has short dictionary new words used in the lesson, and at the end of the textbook there are complete Swedish-Russian and Russian-Swedish dictionaries.

The book is supplied with a CD, listening to which you can get acquainted with live Swedish speech. By doing listening exercises, you will be able to master Swedish pronunciation and understand speech. In order for you not to forget to listen to the disc, we marked all the materials recorded on it and available in the book with a special icon, for example:

² DIALOGUE

Also in the textbook you will find many poems by Swedish poets and excerpts from books and newspapers. At the beginning of the textbook, words are given with transcription (Russian letters), further words will be given without transcription, since Swedish has stable reading rules. Simple texts at the beginning of the textbook, as well as some complex texts, will have a parallel translation.

We wish you a pleasant acquaintance with the Swedish language and Sweden. Valkommen!

Ekaterina Khokhlova graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, where she studied Swedish and translation theory, and also studied at the University of Umeå in Sweden, and currently teaches Swedish at the Scandinavian School in Moscow. She loves Swedish music and Princess cake.

Pia Björen studied Russian in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and then decided to enter Faculty of Medicine at the University of Umeå in northern Sweden. She loves Russia, the Russian language, the cartoon about Pettson and Findus, as well as hot chocolate and dancing.

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SWEDISH LANGUAGE

Swedish is the official language of Sweden and is spoken by about nine million people. In Finland it is the second official language, children study it at school. The Swedish language belongs to the group of Germanic languages. It is very similar to Norwegian and Danish and is the most popular Scandinavian language among foreigners, perhaps because it is spoken by the majority of the inhabitants of the entire Scandinavian Peninsula. Swedish grammar and vocabulary have much in common with English and German.

Compare:

Swedish often resembles German to foreigners, probably because, being the language of the Germanic group, Swedish in the Middle Ages and the New Age experienced repeated German influence: then many merchants, builders and artisans came to Sweden, who brought German words into the language. Swedish, like German, has many long multi-rooted words, like pianomusik - piano music,musikskola- School of Music etc. The Swedes themselves joke that Swedish is English grammar plus German words.

Swedish grammar is much easier than German. The most difficult thing to learn is the vocabulary and melody of the language.

As you know, a language lives longer if there are wonderful works of literature in it. Famous Swedish writers Astrid Lindgren and Selma Lagerlöf are known all over the world. Swedish children's books and Swedish detective stories (Henning Mankell, Håkan Nesser, Lisa Marklund) are read with pleasure in many countries. By learning Swedish, you will be able to join the rich cultural heritage of this northern country. Since Swedish is similar to other Scandinavian languages: Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic, knowing it will help you navigate other Scandinavian countries. Now let's get to know Swedish alphabet.

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	Swedish alphabet

² Swedish	letter name


	A: (a)	en katt [katt] - cat
	Be: (be)	att bo [boo:] - live
	Se: (se)	ett centrum [centrum] - center
	De: (de)	en dag [yes:g] -day
	E: (uh)	elak [*e:lacquer] - evil
	Ef: (ef)	fem [femm] - five
	Ge: (ge)	en gata [* ha: ta] - street
	Ho: (ho)	en hall [hall] - hallway
	I: (and:)	en sil [si: l] - sieve
	Ji: (yi)	Jonas [* yu: us] - Jonas (name)
	Ko: (ko)	en ko [ku:] - cow
	El: (el)	en lampa [* lamp] - lamp
	Em: (uh)	en man [mann] - man
	En: (en)	ett namn [namn] - name
	U: (u)	en ros [ru:s] - rose
	Pe: (pe)	ett par [pa: p] - a couple
	Ku: (ku)	Enquist [e: nquist] - Enquist (surname)
	Air (er)	en rad [ra: d] -series
	Es: (es)	en sil [si: l] - sieve
	Te: (those)	en teve [* those: ve] - TV
	Uu: (u)	under [under] - under
	Ve: (ve)	en vas [vas: s] - vase
	Dubbelve: (dubbelve)	en watt [watt] - watt (unit)
	Ek:s (ex)	sex-six
	Y: (between y and y)	en by [bu:] -village
	*Se:ta (seta)	en zon [su: n] -zone
	O: (o:)	ett råd [ro: d] - advice
	æ: (uh:)	en häst [hast] - horse
	Ö: (between o and yo)	en ö [eh] -island

TO COMMENTARY

Ÿ En/ett - indefinite article nouns; It is better to memorize words immediately with articles.

Ÿ Att - a particle denoting the infinitive of the verb.

Ÿ '/* - accent marks, they are discussed below.

Ÿ The length of a vowel sound is indicated by the sign: (for example, a:).

Longitude of sounds

Swedish vowels and consonants are long and short. Let's look at vowels first.

Longitude of vowels

Vowels in unstressed syllables and vowels in closed syllables are short. Vowels in open syllable- long .

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An open syllable in Swedish is a syllable in which, after a vowel, there is one consonant or a consonant and a vowel: en ra d [ra: d] -series. A syllable is considered closed if two consonants or one consonant at the end of a word are presented: en ha tt [ hatt] - hat.

Compare!

² Long vowel - short vowel

Remember!

If there are several long vowels in a word, then they have different lengths. The longest is a stressed vowel, usually in the first syllable. The stressed vowel is automatically lengthened. For example: in the word en lärare [*le: rare] teacher sound [e] - stressed and the longest, sound -

less stressed and shorter, and the final sound [e] is unstressed and the shortest.

Longitude of consonants

A long consonant sound is indicated in writing by a double consonant letter: att titt a look, att hopp ajump.

Exception:

long [k:] is indicated on the letter by the combination ck [kk]: en flick a [* flikka] girl, en brick a [* brikka] tray, att tack a [* takka] thank.

In transcription, a long consonant is traditionally denoted by a colon,. In this textbook, for ease of reading the transcription, it will be denoted by doubling the letter: en flicka [* flicka] girl.

When pronouncing a long consonant, you should make a mini-pause in the middle of the sound and draw the consonant as you would with a vowel. Pronouncing two consonants together is a mistake!

Remember!

1. The length of sounds should be observed, since many words differ from each other only in longitude and an error in pronunciation can distort the meaning. For example:

en sil [si: l] sieve; en sill [sill] herring.

Agree, it is better not to confuse them!

2. There are no diphthongs in Swedish - double vowels pronounced as one sound. All sounds are pronounced separately. For example:

Europa [*euru:pa] Europe.

3. There are no sounds [h], [c], [h], [j] in Swedish, and the letters q [k], z [s], w [c] are found only

in surnames and words of foreign origin. For example:

Waldemar Waldemar (first name), Enquist Enquist (surname) .

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stress

The Swedish language (along with Norwegian) differs from other Scandinavian and European languages in that it has a melody created by tonic stress. According to scientists, the ancient Indo-European language Sanskrit had the same melody. This type of stress is characteristic of many Oriental languages, but is unique to European ones. So, in Swedish there are two types of stress: tonic and dynamic.

Tonic (musical, melodic) stress -gravis - can be learned by imitating native speakers or using the “Chinese dummy” method: imagine that when you pronounce a word, you shake your head from side to side.

In this case, the main stress falls on the first syllable, and an additional, weaker one, on the second. Sometimes a word can have as many as three stresses, as in the word U ppsa la Uppsala or lä rare teacher, for example, and then they differ in strength: the first stress is the strongest, the second is weaker, the third is barely audible. Especially well it is possible to convey the melody of the Swedish language to people with a good ear for music.

Tonic stress can only be in words consisting of more than one syllable. It is always present in the infinitive of the verb and in words generic(See section "Gender of nouns") ending in a vowel, and also often in two- and three-syllable words, like en ordbok dictionary, ett vinglas goblet, en folkvisa folk song, and words ending in complex suffixes -dom, -skap, -lek, etc. To learn how to pronounce words with Swedish intonation and correctly stress, you need to listen to an audio recording and repeat after the announcer. It is very useful to read verses in which the rhythm and rhyme will tell you how to correctly place the stresses.

² EXERCISE #1. Listen and repeat after the speaker.

att tala [* ta: la] - speak	mellan [* mellan] - between
att måla [* mo: la] - draw	en doca [*docka] - doll
att rita [* ri: ta] - draw	en pojke [* pojke] - boy
att hoppa [* hoppa] - jump	en bricka [*brikka] - a tray
att titta [* titta] - watch	en lärare [* lärare] - teacher
att veta [* ve: ta] - know	en mamma [* mamma] - mother
elak [*e:lacquer] - evil	en pappa [* pappa] - dad

AT some words have only normal stress,power (dynamic), as in Russian. It falls mainly on the first syllable: gammal old, en sy ster sister, en vi nter winter. In words of foreign origin, the stress often falls on the last syllable en stude ntstudent, ett bibliote klibrary, ett konditori confectionery). In foreign words there is no tonic stress - grave.

AT In this textbook, tonic stress in transcription is indicated by * at the beginning of a word. The absence of the * sign means that the stress in the word is not tonic, but only forceful (dynamic). If such stress falls on the first syllable, it is not indicated in the transcription. If the usual, force stress does not fall on the initial syllable, its place is indicated by the sign ’ immediately before the stressed vowel.

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Reading and pronunciation

The table below gives an approximate pronunciation of Swedish sounds.

Vowels

BUT - reads like [a] (like the first sound in a word a stra): long -en dag [yes: g] day; short -en hatt [hatt] hat

Å - reads like [o] (like the first sound in the word blako): en båt [bo: t] boat, ett ålder [older] age

O - reads like [y] in words en bok [bu: k] book, en moster [* muster] aunt

It reads like [o] in the word en son [co: n] son

U - reads like a sound between [and] and [y] (while the lips are stretched, as if you wanted to pronounce [and], but it turned out [y]): du [du:] you, en buss [bus] bus

E - reads like a sound, the middle between [e] and [e], as in the Russian phrase: tre [tre:] three, vettig [* vettig]

reasonable

- without stress at the end of the word is pronounced as [e]: en lärare [*larare] teacher

Ä - reads like [e] (like the first sound in a word e that one): att äta [*e: that] is, att mäta [me: that] measure

Before r, it is pronounced as an open sound [e] (as in English a man or Russian five - the lips are stretched, the jaw is lowered down): en ära [e: ra] honor

I - reads like [and] (like the first sound in a word and me ):en bil [bi: l] car, att hitta [* hitta] find

Y - there is no equivalent in Russian; foreigners in such cases often hear [and]):

ny [nu:] new, nyss [nycc] just now

Ö - reads like a sound between [o] and [e] (there is no such sound in Russian, the closest in sound is -ё in the word ё zy): en snö -snow, en höst [höst] autumn

Remember!

The letter o can represent the sounds [o] and [y]. There are no rules.

Consonants

Remember!

There are no sounds [c], [h], [h], [j] in Swedish. Swedes pronounce many words in a special way.

C - reads like [c] before i, e, y, ä, ö (as the first sound in the word blue): en cirkus [circus] circus, in other positions - like [k]: en crawl [cro: l] - crawl

G - reads like [th] before i ,e ,y ,ä ,ö :ge [ye:] give - and at the end of words after l ,r :färg [far]

- read as [r] in other positions: gav [ha:v] gave

- at the end of words it can either be pronounced or not pronounced, cf .: ett lag [lag] command, ett slag [slug] blow, but: jag [ya: g] i, rolig [* ru: l: i] cheerful, onsdag [* unsda] Wednesday

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		End of table

	It reads like [x], but it sounds weaker than in Russian, and resembles an exhalation: att ha [ha:] have

	It reads like [th]: jag [th: yag] I, maj [May] May

	It sounds softer than in Russian: tolv [tolv] twelve, en sil [si: l] sieve
	As in English, they are pronounced with a breath, on the exhale, like h

	It reads like [ks]: ett exempel [ex'empel] example, sex [sex] six

	Reads like Russian [c]: en zon [su: n] zone

Difficult cases of pronunciation

Ÿ The combination rs is read as [w] both inside the word: mars [mash] March, torsdag [* tushda] Thursday, att förstå [fesht'o] understand, and at the junction of different words: var snäll [washn'ell] be kind .

Ÿ The letter r in combinations rd ,rl ,rt ,rn after a vowel is pronounced in the throat and is barely heard, as in English words car, barn. Examples: bort [bort] away, ett barn [‘bar n] child. The sound [p] of this quality will be marked with an underline: [p].

Ÿ In combinations rg, lg, arg -g at the end of words after a consonant, it is pronounced as [th]: en älg [‘el] moose, arg [ary] evil, en borg [fight] castle.

Ÿ In combinations ng, gn, when pronouncing, the air seems to go into the nose - the sound [n] nasal is pronounced, which corresponds to the nasal [n] in French and English. The letter g is not pronounced. Occurs in the words: Ingmar [ing mar] Ingmar (name), en vagn [vagn] wagon, många [* mong a]

lot.

Ÿ In combination nk, a nasal sound [n] is also pronounced, while k is pronounced: en bank [bank to]

bank.

Ÿ In words that begin with combinations dj, lj, hj, gj, the first consonant is not pronounced: djup [yu: p] deep, ett ljud [yu: d] sound, en hjälp [yelp] help.

Ÿ Combinations tj, kj are pronounced like a Russian sound [u]: en kjol [schul] skirt, tjugo [* shyugu] twenty.

Ÿ sj ,skj and stj - there are three different options pronunciation of these sounds different regions Sweden. Swedish learners are advised to choose one option and stick with it. For example, you can pronounce something between [x] and [w], as if [w] with aspiration: en stjärna [* sherna / herna] star, en skjorta [* shu: mouth / hu: mouth] shirt, sju [shu :/xy:]seven .

Ÿ The combination -ti - in the suffix -tion- is pronounced as [w] or [x] -en station [stash / x’y: n] station, en revolution [revolution / x’y: n] revolution.

Attention!

Please note that the sound [w] can be pronounced in different ways, so listen to the audio recording and try to imitate native speakers.

Remember!

The sound [th] in Swedish is pronounced in two ways:

Ÿ marked in writing with the letter j, pronounced, as in Russian, - [th] (as the first sound in the word, York);

Ÿ marked with the letter g, it has an overtone [gh] (as in Ukrainian - [gh] ribs, ma [gh] azin): ett gym [yumm] - gym, att gilla [* yilla] - to love.

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Pronunciation g ,k ,sk

The consonants g, k, sk are pronounced differently depending on the vowel after them.

	Before a ,å ,o ,u

g is pronounced like [g]	k is pronounced like [k]	sk is pronounced like [sk]

en ga ta [* ha: ta] street	en ka tt [katt] cat	en sko la [*sku:la] school
en gå rd [mountain :d] yard	ett ko rt card	en sko [sku:] shoe
ga len [*ga: len] crazy	en kå l [ko: l] cabbage	en ska ta [* ska: ta] magpie


	Before e ,i ,y ,ä ,ö

g is pronounced like [y/gh]	k is pronounced like [u]	sk is pronounced like [w]

att gi lla [*yilla] love	kä r [shche: r] in love	en ski da [*shy: yes] ski
ett gy m [yumm] gym	att ki ttla [* shield] to tickle	att sky lla [*shulla] blame
gjä rna [* ye: r on] willingly	att köpa [wood chips] to buy	en skä rm [sharm] screen

² EXERCISE #2. Listen and repeat after the speaker.

ett hjärta [*er ta] - heart djup [yu: p] - deep

ett ljud [yu: d] - sound

att ljuga [* yu: ha] - deceive gjorde [* yu: r de] - did

ett centrum [centrum] - center en cirkus [circus] -circus

en zon [su: n] - zone

en zebra [se: bra] - zebra (long [e] in this word is an exception to the rule)

ja [ya] - yes jag [ya] -ya

jätte- [* jette] - very maj [may] -may

en pojke [* pojke] - boy

ett ba: rn [bar n] - child bort [bor t] - away

ett kort [kur t] - card ett hjärta [* yer ta] - heart en karta [* ka: r ta] - card

arg [ary] - evil en älg [el] -moose

en borg [borg] - fortress Göteborg [yoteb'ory] -Gothenburg

många [* mong a] - a lot of Ingmar [* ing mar] - Ingmar ett regn [regn] - rain

en vagn [vagn] -car, carriage

en station [stash'u: n] - station

en revolution [revolutionary: n] - revolution en situation [situash'u: n] -situation old god [gu:] -kind

att gilla [*yilla] - like, love ett gym [yumm] - gym gärna [* ye: p on] - willingly

att gömma [* yomma] - hide

en katt [katt] - cat

en karta [* ka: r ta] - map

ett kort [chicken t] - card en kål [ko: l] - cabbage

en skola [* sku: la] - school

en sko [sku:] - boot / shoe

ett skådespel [* sko: despe: l] - performance en skam [* skam] - shame

en skida [* shi: yes] - ski en skärm [* sherm] -screen

ett skimmer [*shimmer] - shine

Numbers and numbers

EXAMPLES FOR ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION

5 + 6 = 11 fem plus sex är elva 11 – 5 = 6 elva minus fem är sex 3 + 4 = 7 tre plus fyra är sju

10 – 2 = 8 tio minus två är åtta

Note:

Hon heter Riita.

Jag har en svensk kompis.

Hon heter Pia. Hon bor också i Umeå.

My name is Kaisa. I am twenty years old.

I I live now in Umeå, Sweden, but I came from Finland.

I speak Finnish, Russian and a little English.

My mother is from Russia. Her name is Lena.

My father is from Finland. He loves Sweden.

I study Literature and Swedish at Umeå University.

At I have a young man. His name is Walter.

He is a lawyer.

At I also have a sister. Her name is Reita.

At I have a Swedish girlfriend.

Her name is Pia. She also lives in Umeå.

Words and expressions to the text

Here and below, the words are given with grammatical marks. For nouns (advokat -en, -er lawyer) the ending of a certain form -advokat en (see lesson 4, p. 43) and the plural -advokat er (see lesson 7, p. 66) are indicated, for verbs - the type of conjugation (See p. 13 later in this lesson, and also lesson 18, p. 159). Other parts of speech are not supplied with comments.

advokat -en, -er - lawyer	heta (2) - be called	också - too
bo (3) - live	hon - she	pojkvän -nen, -ner - boyfriend,
engelska -n - English	i - in	young man
finska -n - Finnish language	kompis -en, -ar - friend	studera (1) - study
från - from	lite - a little	svensk - swedish
gilla (1) - to love	min - mine	svenska -n - Swedish
ha (4) - to have	nu - now, now	tala (1) - to speak
han - he	oh-and

TO COMMENTARY

Ÿ Jag heter ... - My name is ... (note: the pronoun jag is in the nominative case!).