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Reason number 537 to learn Swedish

10 comments

Here is something that most people know about me: I am the least sneaky person on this planet. I have no poker face. I can’t hide my emotions. I can’t cross a room without bumping into a chair or knocking something over. Not sneaky.

But now I’m on vacation in Italy, and I can speak Swedish. Holy moly, I have gone from speaking the most easily identifiable language ever (American English) to communicating in a secret language all of my own (shared with just 9 million people or so). I might as well be speaking Slytherin. A RIDDLE WRAPPED IN A MYSTERY INSIDE AN ENIGMA, I TELL YOU. And the key is Swedish.

My level of sneakiness: without Swedish. Photo: Simon Reuterswärd

You can walk down the street and talk about pretty much whoever or whatever you want, and no one will understand what you’re saying. It makes me feel like a secret agent 007 spy to the max, with the slight exception of the times when I can’t think of a word in Swedish so I have to say it in English. Totally blows my cover.

For all those moments when the car rental agent/hotel receptionist/waiter asks you a question and you want to confer with your travel partner? Swedish. It’s like going into another room, closing the door, and having a conversation in total privacy… but you don’t have to go anywhere. Niiice.

I can’t even begin to tell you how freeing it is to be able to travel around and not be immediately identified as American every time I open my mouth. It’s not that I’m not proud of being American; obviously I am very proud of who I am and where I come from. At the same time, being an American abroad is like having a giant target on your back: you’re instantly the closest representative of a country that everyone has a strong opinion about, whether good or bad. It’s nice to be a little undercover every now and then.

Plus, when people ask us where we’re from, people are always curious about how and why a Swede and an American got married instead of cornering me and asking me to explain the latest episode in American politics. It’s a lot more fun for me to start a conversation with people about the different places they’ve traveled and lived than to deal with an impromptu inquisition.

My level of sneakiness: with Swedish. Photo: Kate Reuterswärd

Of course, there are some downsides. I’m totally linguistically confused, for one. I used to be good at Italian, and now I can barely say a sentence without mixing together Swedish and Italian. I don’t even realize what’s going on until I get a blank stare, and Simon nudges me and reminds me – Kate, you’re speaking in Swedish.

Even worse, I think I’m speaking Italian with a Swedish accent. That is just weird. You speak Swedish a lot farther back in your mouth than you do in English or Italian. I’m so used to speaking in my throat that my Italian is coming out like I’m gargling. What a mess.

Downside number two, this linguistic mantle of privacy can be a little dangerous. One second, you’re trash-talking the family with the misbehaved kids, the next moment you realize that Oops, they’re Swedish, and Oops, we probably should have kept our voices down. It’s already happened once on our trip, although I’m not sure if they heard us. (I hope not!)

So there you have it: reason number 537 to learn Swedish. I would rank it right above giving you more leverage when starting a business in Sweden and right below being able to understand your Swedish wedding ceremony.  You’ve got to know when to say JA!, right?

 

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For more posts about learning Swedish or a foreign language in general, follow the links below:

9 Swedish Words that Should Be Incorporated into English Pronto, Immediately, Now

Stress Less, Speak More: 15 Tips for Learning a Foreign Language (Part 1)

Stress Less, Speak More: 15 Tips for Learning a Foreign Language (Part 2)

5 Simple Steps to Start Speaking a Foreign Language Now

HEJA SVERIGE!! 101 Swedish words for Soccer Terms

45 Swedish Words You Should Know Before Starting a Business in Sweden

15 Ways to Say I Love You in Swedish

35 Essential Swedish Words for Christmas

14 Swedish words that give me the giggles

25 More Swedish Words (and Phrases) That Make Me Giggle

Kate Reuterswärd - Expat

July 17, 2012

  • Monica-USA

    Ha ha ha, Kate another great story!! I hope you had a wonderful vacation? And welcome back! :o )

  • http://blogs.sweden.se/work/ Kristin Lund

    Awesome post, Kate. I totally get how you don’t even know which
    language you’re speaking. I don’t know when I’m speaking English
    or Swedish. I love the secret language idea!

  • Cecile Pham

    love this! I think the only way i can relate to this is when i was starting to learn how to speak swedish i was speaking it with a french accent! But then now i try to speak french and swedish comes out. ARGHHH!! I think I need more french lessons perhaps?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Marie-Lindström/500380295 Marie Lindström

    Love it. I also find the secrecy about it exciting. Although, as you say, talking about people within hearing distance abroad is never advisable. Although there are only 9 million of us, we seem to travel everywhere, its impossible to get away from Swedish people.

    • cynic

      And it is slightly worse than that for secresy, even if it is less than 10 millions that speak it (9,4 mil Swedes+ 0,4 mil Ålanders and native swedish speaking Finns) it is almost 25 mil that understand it at least fairly good (preey much all Norwegian, Danes and Icelanders and most Finns).

  • untitled102

    I’m thinking of learning Swedish, even though people often say that it’s just a waste of time because most Swedes can speak English.

    • http://www.transatlanticsketches.com Kate Reuterswärd

      If you live in Sweden, you should definitely learn Swedish. It will open doors to new opportunities and new connections, and it will give you new insights into Swedish life. Even if you learn only a little, it makes your life much better to speak the language of the country where you live. My two cents, at least. :)

      • http://tralalavelling.wordpress.com/ Karin Rachmadi

        I want to be an au-pair to a Swedish family, that’s why I keep on thinking of learning it, but it’s so hard to learn a language without being surrounded by native speakers :(

        • Johan

          If you want to be an au-pair you should probably know Swedish. Small children usually don’t speak English.

          Thing is, most (adult) Swedes will be able to speak English (at some level) if you start talking to them in said language. But you’ll never catch any conversations in the streets, in larger groups you always run the risk of only those standing next to you speaking English and so on. We can communicate in English, but we’re not native speakers. We’re more comfortable speaking Swedish.

          • http://tralalavelling.wordpress.com/ Karin Rachmadi

            Thanks for the info, Johan! Yes, for now I’m only learning the basic by myself, but once I got a contract with an au-pair family I will apply to Swedish language course, because that’s also part of the requirement for the au-pair application.