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I lived in Sweden until I was 7, but then lived most of my life in the US and never got any formal Swedish education. I still talk Swedish with a slight America
by CogitoCogito 5y ago
I lived in Sweden until I was 7, but then lived most of my life in the US and never got any formal Swedish education. I still talk Swedish with a slight American accident and my Swedish writing is definitely very American styled. Regardless of that, I've been told at work that I may be one of the best writers in the company. My only strategy is to keep it rewrite it a couple times and keep it clear and to the point and think about what I'm actually trying to convey. The result is apparently that my writing is basically the best despite the periodic funny (and noticeable) weirdness that I throw in there.
So I totally agree with your last paragraph. In my case (as apparently in this one), I'm not writing just for writing sake. As such, the most important thing might just be to get out of the way and the let the subject matter speak for itself.
- type0 5y agoSwedish is so simple in style and so close to English that knowing it might actually help your English writing. English is my third foreign language, it is almost given that I won't be proficient in it unless I devote all my time communicating only in English, which I can't see being feasible.
- CogitoCogito 5y agoI mean it is and it isn't. The main larger points of style are definitely extremely similar. But the smaller tail of tiny stylistic elements are basically never ending (just as with every language). My my English writing is not at the level of fine literature, but it is certainly much closer than my Swedish writing is. But at the same time, if I read well-written Swedish I can identify basically all the finer stylistic points. Overall it's just certainly an issue of practice. Even if I live in Sweden, I still write mostly in English.