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Lizzie and I have been talking about taking a trip to Scandinavia
sometime, so since I spend a lot of time in the car, I thought I'd check
out a set of instructional CDs from the library and learn some Swedish.
For a while the lessons seemed pretty normal, with a male and female
speaker switching off lines, like this:
- ♂ "Hur står det till?"
- (How are you?)
- ♀ "Tack, bra."
- (Thanks, fine.)
- ♂ "Förstår du engelska?"
- (Do you understand English?)
- ♀ "Jag förstår lite."
- (I understand a little.)
But then I got to Lesson 9, and the practice conversation took a strange
turn:
♂ "Ursäkta — vill du ha något att äta
med mig?"
(Excuse me — do you want to have something
to eat with me?)
♀ "Nej, tack. Inte nu. Och inte senare."
(No thank you. Not now. And not later.)
♂ "Men klockan ett, går det bra?"
(But at one o'clock, is that all right?)
♀ "Nej, det går inte bra."
(No, that's not all right.)
♂ "Klockan två?"
(Two o'clock?)
♀ "Nej, tack! Jag vill inte."
(No thank you! I do not want to.)
♂ "Senare? Klockan åtta? Eller klocken nio? Vilken tid?"
(Later? At eight o'clock? Or at nine o'clock?
What time?)
♀ "NEJ, JAG VILL INTE HA NÅGOT ATT DRICKA MED DIG!"
(NO, I DON'T WANT TO HAVE SOMETHING TO DRINK WITH
YOU!)
♂ "Åh, jag förstår nu."
(Oh, I understand now.)
♀ "Bra. Du förstår nu?"
(Good. You understand now?)
♂ "Ja, du vill inte ha något att dricka med mig. Men du
vill ha något att äta med mig! På en
restaurang. Klockan åtta eller klocken nio?"
(Yes, you don't want to have something to drink
with me. But you want to have something to eat with me! At a
restaurant. Eight o'clock or nine o'clock?)
♀ "Inte klockan ett och inte klockan två. Inte klockan
åtta och inte klockan nio."
(Not at one o'clock and not at two o'clock. Not
at eight o'clock and not at nine o'clock.)
♂ "Vilken tid?"
(What time?)
♀ "Du förstår inte!"
(You don't understand!)
♂ "Vad förstår jag inte?"
(What don't I understand?)
♀ "Du förstår inte svenska!"
(You don't understand Swedish!)
I didn't even know there was a "Swedish for Stalkers" course.
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