I finally started a notebook for all the Swedish phrases/words I'm learning. I should have done that at the beginning, but I never learned another language before, not even in high school since I was homeschooled, so it's not natural for me to keep notes on stuff like this.
But, I want to do my best and the only way that will happen is if I keep practicing the personal pronouns and plurals and possessives and all of that.
Just like with anything, the more you practice something, the more natural it becomes.
I've actually started thinking a lot about my grandfather lately, on my mother's side. He passed away before I was even born, but he was a strong and loving Christian husband and father. My mother loved him dearly, and that's enough to show me what kind of man he was as a dad.
His parents were from Finland, although they didn't meet and marry until they were both in the US. I always thought that was funny since they only lived maybe 20 miles apart when they were in Finland. Not that it was actually Finland at that time, but rather a duchy of Russia. That sucked, believe me, which is partially why they moved.
Anyway, back to Grandpa, he actually knew Swedish. He could speak it and read it, but for some reason that I struggle understanding, he never taught his children the language. So here my sister and I are, trying to learn something that is natural to our heritage, but a struggle because it wasn't something we heard in the home, except for Christmas records in Swedish.
Am I mad at him? I don't know, but I am sad. I wish that he'd taught my mother Swedish. That's all I can really say. I'm not in his head so I don't know what his logic was behind not making his children bilingual. It was probably the era since my mom was born in 1955. It wasn't necessarily a cool thing to be from a bilingual family at that point in history. People came to America for a fresh start and it was intended that they would leave their other identity behind when they immigrated.
I don't agree with that mentality since we're actually all immigrants to the United States. And we should be able to hold on to those roots since they help define our identity. I'm a Swedish Finn. It's who I am, and I just happen to live in America and speak English.
Will learning the language be an uphill battle? No.
It's not going to be nearly as difficult as learning Japanese. There's a natural inclination I have towards Swedish that is ingrained in me. So it's not really that difficult of an endeavor. I've been studying it long enough now that I automatically recognize and translate English words into Swedish when I hear them. Even strawberry! It's jordgubbe in Swedish, such a funny word!
This is a good feeling. Connecting with my ancestry and not just allowing myself to be American. Because what is that? America is supposed to be a melting pot of different ethnicities and cultures, but somewhere along the way, that intention got lost by labeling us American as if we're all the same thing.
Anyway, it's fun, discovering a large part of who I am and working towards a bigger goal. Because there are reasons behind my learning Swedish. It's not just for the fun of it.
I love this! I am grinning at our similarities. You watch the Japanese shows; I watch the Korean. And you're studying Swedish on Duolingo, and I'm studying Danish! I have no personal connection to Denmark whatsoever, however. No ancestors from that neck of the world, so that's pretty neat that you do. I chose Danish mostly for the fun of it. (And for Mads Mikkelsen, ahem.) I did take French in high school, and Russian in college, and I have to say I've been enjoying Danish far more than either, I think mostly because it was something I wanted to do just because. It wasn't because it was a requirement or anything. I've been studying it for 4 years now on Duolingo, and am close to getting all my available lessons to level 5. I can read it quite well, and when I watch Danish shows/movies, if it's a word I've learned, I can pick it out. The problem I've found is Duolingo simply doesn't offer enough vocabulary. There so many other words I need to know!
ReplyDeleteStrawberry is jordbaer in Danish. :-D My sister is studying Norwegian on Duolingo, which she is also really enjoying.
Also, like your new header!
DeleteThanks! I wanted something different for my header, something that was a more accurate representation of me at this moment. These three actors (Yamashita Tomohisa, Kamenashi Kazuya, and Suda Masaki) are my top three favorites. :)
DeleteYou're the only other person I know who cares at all about Asian dramas! I love that too! Now, if I were to branch out and try a Korean show, do you have any you would recommend? I like romcoms, supernatural, and suspense/thriller. What genres do you like?
How neat that you're learning Danish! What a terrific accomplishment after 4 years of study! I've only been studying Swedish for about 4 months now so I have quite a ways to go, let me tell you. But I'm liking it a lot. It's such a beautiful language. I'd forgotten Mads Mikkelsen is Danish! Makes perfect sense to me! ;)
My sister owns a couple of books to help learn the Swedish language so I'll be picking those up at some point. I would love to become fluent enough that I could translate song lyrics from English to Swedish and even read some books in Swedish. That's the end goal along with speaking it.
You know, I don't like American romcoms, but I love Korean ones. They're genuinely cute with people I care about. I tend to like romcoms, and historical romcoms, fantasy, and some action/thriller stuff. Let's see. I recently watched "Mystic Pop Up Bar" on Netflix, and I binged the whole series. It's sort of a nice combo of romcom/supernatural, about a woman who died 500 years ago who has to settle 100,000 grudges in the real world in order to atone for the past. I loved the characters, particularly the lead older actor. "My Only Love Song" has half hour eps and it amuses me greatly. It was actually the very first Korean show I watched, the one that got me started. It is a romcom that has time travel via a minivan with a personality, and has lovely costumes and really pretty actors/actresses. I don't know if the Japanese shows do the same wacky stuff? Like when people blink, it has a sound effect, and there are little animated hearts and stuff that swirl up on screen, and lots of silly sound effects? It took a little getting used to before I realized all their shows have that kind of stuff. Now, I look forward to that type of stuff. And if you want a more thriller/actiony one, I adore "Memories of the Alahambra," which is about an AR game that starts bleeding over into reality. Really well done. Still has romance, but lots of action and suspense too. All of those are on netflix.
DeleteWhat are your favorite Japanese series?
I have a Mads Mikkelsen line of dialogue in Danish that is my text message alert, and my goal is to be able to actually understand what he says. The thing is, he's speaking so fast, I can't even sound it out. But SOMEDAY!!!! I want to be able to understand that line.
So, what is "chicken" in Swedish, if you've had that word yet? I ask because my sister and I love our respective words in Danish/Norwegian, so I'd love to know what it is in your sister language. It's kylling in Danish (pronounced sort of like kooling in mine and shilling in Norwegian... don't remember Norwegian proper spelling.)
Hope you're doing well!