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Being an English speaker who has moved to Sweden and has completed the SFI course -- Swedish For Immigrants -- I can tell you it was a lot easier for the Englis

Being an English speaker who has moved to Sweden and has completed the SFI course -- Swedish For Immigrants -- I can tell you it was a lot easier for the English, French, German, etc, speakers to learn Swedish than it was for the Arabic, Chinese, etc, speakers. It is a bit of a no-brainer I guess. The best thing about the Scandinavians is that they not only speak fantastic English, but they also adopt the accent of the English speaking country that they've spent the most time in or watched the most TV from. Compare that to the French, Italian, etc, who can learn English very well but who never seem able (or willing) to shake the accent.

berntb 16y ago
This is probably a question of phonemes; Swedish has most of other language's strange sounds. :-) (A phoneme Swedish lacks is the "th" of "think", that was a problem to learn.)
- RuadhanMc 16y ago
  Yes, fair point. The hardest part of learning Swedish for me was learning how to pronounce å ä ö and associated words. Took about 6 months of frustration, but after that it got quite a bit easier.
pbhjpbhj 16y ago
>they also adopt the accent of the English speaking country that they've spent the most time in or watched the most TV from If it's Britain, which accent ... http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ldyx_comedy-tour-of-british-accents-uk-d_fun http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ldyx_comedy-tour-of-briti... I think his North Yorkshire and Blackburn are a bit off, others are a bit caricatured but generally he has them pretty well. "Alright my booties?"
- RuadhanMc 16y ago
  A Swedish friend of my was an au pair for 2 years with a posh family, so it is quite amusing to hear her speak.
- JCB_K 16y ago
  His Geordie accent is quite weird as well. Talking high doesn't make you a Geordie.
  - pbhjpbhj 16y ago
    It's no that far aff - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwx0-oewjsM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwx0-oewjsM
maukdaddy 16y ago
Sorry to pollute the thread, but I can't find your email address. Can you email me at the address in my profile?
- RuadhanMc 16y ago
  No problem, I added my email to my profile and emailed you.

berntb 16y ago

This is probably a question of phonemes; Swedish has most of other language's strange sounds. :-) (A phoneme Swedish lacks is the "th" of "think", that was a problem to learn.)

RuadhanMc 16y ago
Yes, fair point. The hardest part of learning Swedish for me was learning how to pronounce å ä ö and associated words. Took about 6 months of frustration, but after that it got quite a bit easier.

pbhjpbhj 16y ago

>they also adopt the accent of the English speaking country that they've spent the most time in or watched the most TV from If it's Britain, which accent ... http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ldyx_comedy-tour-of-british-accents-uk-d_fun http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ldyx_comedy-tour-of-briti... I think his North Yorkshire and Blackburn are a bit off, others are a bit caricatured but generally he has them pretty well. "Alright my booties?"

RuadhanMc 16y ago
A Swedish friend of my was an au pair for 2 years with a posh family, so it is quite amusing to hear her speak.
JCB_K 16y ago
His Geordie accent is quite weird as well. Talking high doesn't make you a Geordie.
- pbhjpbhj 16y ago
  It's no that far aff - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwx0-oewjsM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwx0-oewjsM

maukdaddy 16y ago

Sorry to pollute the thread, but I can't find your email address. Can you email me at the address in my profile?

RuadhanMc 16y ago
No problem, I added my email to my profile and emailed you.