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On February 09 2011 15:43 Empyrean wrote: I was especially curious, though, about how to identify short/long vowels, and which syllables to stress. For example, is winter pronounced "veen-ter" or "veen-ter"? (I know it's the first one haha.
I'm not sure if there's a general rule for this, but usually, a vowel followed by two or more consonants is short, while a vowel followed by only one consonant is long.
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What about words like "besviken"? Is it "bes-vi-ken"? Or "genomsnitt"? Is it "ge-nom-snitt"? Or "påtaglig"? Is it "på-tag-lig"? Or "meddelande"? Is it "med-de-lan-de"? Is that even the correct number of syllables? Speaking of words like genomsnitt, are there any other "special" rules on pronunciation (for example, the g turning into a y sound)?
<_<...learning new languages is hard
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I don't even know the rules well as a native speaker, but I'm pretty sure g turns into a y if it's followed by double consonants after the vocal.
EDIT: Lol I'm an idiot.
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On February 09 2011 16:11 Seronei wrote:I don't even know the rules well as a native speaker, but I'm pretty sure g turns into a y if it's followed by double consonants after the vocal.
Oh, I've read that it turns into a y if it's followed by an e, i, y, ä, or ö. :<
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On February 09 2011 16:12 Empyrean wrote:Show nested quote +On February 09 2011 16:11 Seronei wrote:I don't even know the rules well as a native speaker, but I'm pretty sure g turns into a y if it's followed by double consonants after the vocal. Oh, I've read that it turns into a y if it's followed by an e, i, y, ä, or ö. :< You're probably right lol, as I said I don't even know most of the rules.
You should try to get a hold of some Swedish movies or TV shows to learn pronunciation IMO, I'm sure you can find the rules written somewhere online though, but the Swedish language is filled with exceptions and those you'll just have to learn by heart.
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On February 09 2011 16:03 Empyrean wrote:What about words like "besviken"? Is it "bes- vi-ken"? Or "genomsnitt"? Is it "ge- nom-snitt"? Or "påtaglig"? Is it "på- tag-lig"? Or "meddelande"? Is it "med-de- lan-de"? Is that even the correct number of syllables? Speaking of words like genomsnitt, are there any other "special" rules on pronunciation (for example, the g turning into a y sound)? <_<...learning new languages is hard
Oh sorry I mixed up what you were asking , that would've been way to confusing.- I also found a site which might be helpful. http://fi.forvo.com/word/meddelande/
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Check out SweTV for some Swedish television torrents. It's an invite only site, but they're big on helping foreigners watch Swedish television and there's some sort of invitation request form where you can explain your situation.
EDIT: Turns out I have several invites, PM me an e-mail if you want one.
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Thanks for the help everyone.
I currently listen to Klartext, which is supposedly a daily podcast done in simple Swedish.
I actually can't understand pretty much 99% of it, but it's still useful to listen to the language, I think.
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Don't mean to bag on you, but learning Swedish because "[you]'ve heard it's one of the easier languages for native English speakers to learn" seems to be the wrong reason to do it.
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On February 09 2011 16:58 Karliath wrote: Don't mean to bag on you, but learning Swedish because "[you]'ve heard it's one of the easier languages for native English speakers to learn" seems to be the wrong reason to do it.
I find that as a native English speaker, the argument for learning foreign languages because of utility is kind of moot; I already speak the current lingua franca, so for me to learn any foreign language is purely out of intellectual curiosity. I'm also a native speaker of Chinese (it was my first language), and can speak French at a decent level (I may speak stilted French, but I can read and write proficiently). I'd like to do something useful with my free time this semester, and it'd just be cool to know Swedish haha. I'm also picking up camping. <_<
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Jag Alska Svenska Kvinnor.
The only Swedish i know, well only sentence. It means I love Swedish women. I hope to make use of it someday.
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If you're interested in a good teaching book, try Rivstart A1-A2. It has a CD, an exercise book and many good chapters. It is Swedish only, so there are no English grammar explanations, but it gets you right into the mess Also, they have a website where you can check all the answers to the excercises. Most foreigner courses use Rivstart, so if you intend to go to a beginners course, they most likley have the course.
The tip with the Swedish TV isn't bad, but try something fun and easy, such as: http://svtplay.se/t/148700/dinosaurietaget
Dinosaurietåget is a chirdrens show with an amazing storyline AAAND subtitles! And no, I am not joking, I am watching the show every day and can recommend it to anyone!
Keep the Swedish up, its a cute language!
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On February 09 2011 18:03 Ulfsark wrote: Jag Alska Svenska Kvinnor.
The only Swedish i know, well only sentence. It means I love Swedish women. I hope to make use of it someday.
Hate to ruin it for ya, but it's älskaR. Also OT, keep to Klartext, as it's the most simple swedish you can find then move on
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On February 09 2011 16:12 Empyrean wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On February 09 2011 16:11 Seronei wrote:I don't even know the rules well as a native speaker, but I'm pretty sure g turns into a y if it's followed by double consonants after the vocal. Oh, I've read that it turns into a y if it's followed by an e, i, y, ä, or ö. :<
This is correct.
The vowels are a, o, u, å and e, i, y, ä, ö. The reason why they come in this order and in two groups is that the first four are so called hard vowels and the next group are the soft ones. They have a strong influence on pronunciation of some consonants.
G is pronounced g in gata (street), god (good), gul (yellow), and gå (go, walk) but as j (or y if you prefer) in ge (give), gitarr (guitar), gympa (gymnastics), gärna (gladly) and göra (do).
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Hehe, it baffles me that anyone would try to learn swedish of all languages. It's pretty pointless.
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Thanks for everyone's advice...I'm just going to bump this one last time; I originally posted this early in the morning Swedish time, so perhaps I couldn't get as many responses as hoped for <_<
EDIT: Also I can't watch Dinosaurietåget because I need a Swedish IP apparently <_<
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vinter is pronounced pretty similarly English word. fast i, fast e, and then just a regular v.
Though I'm not sure how to phonetically guide you through "winter" to "vinter" but I'll give it a try.
If you were to say "wynter" you're getting closer to sounding like the fast i in vinter. If you were to say "eh" with a short h, instead of saying "ehh" like you would if you're confused, you're getting closer to the fast e in vinter.
If you try to say vynt-ehr it gets as close to the Swedish version of vinter I can think of. Don't forget the rolling R's.
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