There are many things one has to do to prepare for a year abroad. Oh yes, there’s the regular stuff – pack, tell your family not to cry, things like that. Sometimes you might want to make sure you know the language, too. So I thought I would make it all right over here; my Swedish is not perfect but I knew I would improve because there was, and is, much room for improvement when it comes to my Swedish. However, the one thing I thought would be problem free and simple and best of the class was my English. Surprisingly, I was wrong. Hmmm.
We’re sitting in Swedish class and everyone is supposed to pick up a paper the teacher left on the over-head projector. One friend didn’t hear what the teacher said (but then, Malin never does), so I start telling her in Swedish when I realize I don’t know the Swedish word for over head.
“Dr- p, umm…. overhead?” I asked my friends sitting at the table what the word for over head was.
“Over head,” said Matilda. Oh. That was simple. So, I finish my sentence to Malin to show her that I have learned the Swedish word for “over head” – “Dr, p overhead” – but I had still done something wrong.
“No no,” Matilda continued to help me. “Not OVERhead – it’s overHEAD.”
Uh, I give up. Then I realized I was, indeed, pronouncing the English word differently. In English, we pronounce it with the emphasis on the first syllable, whereas the Swedes put the emphasis on the second.
Everyone at my table was grinning, watching me figure this out in my head. This was just too much – I had to learn to pronounce my English differently? Maybe I would return to the US with an accent after all! Overhead is not the only word Swedes have taken from English, and not every word is pronounced differently from the English version. So, how do you know when they have to pronounce the word differently? You don’t. Words like ‘white board’ sound exactly the same in Swedish an English.
Now, to confuse you English-speaking Mainers even more, there are also words that sound like one thing and mean another. Confused? Good, that means I’m not alone. “Pocketbook” means paperback book to the Swedes, not purse. “Free-style” refers to a “Walkman;” laser tag to us English-speakers is called a lazer game over here. So, half the time when I’m listening to Swedes talk I don’t know if the words they’re using in English really means the same as my version of English. I’m really very confused and surprised. I mean, who would have thought?
I am now contemplating whether future American/ English visitors to Sweden need a supplementary dictionary; along with their English/Swedish dictionaries they would need a book full of English words that mean something different in Swedish. Really, how much more difficult can this language thing get? Swedish seems to be English-infused at times and in certain conversations, and my friends speak English so well. It’s all about the media, they say; films are in English, music and TV are in English. My friends say they never go to see Swedish films because they “can’t understand what the characters are saying.” No, I’m not kidding. They’re so used to being able to read the Swedish because the movies are sub-titled. It’s bizarre thinking that they can’t even understand the Swedish in the films even though the dialects are a little different.
I’m certainly learning a lot this year. It’s making my head spin, but it’s all very interesting and exciting. I’m taking it all in as much as I can!
Would you like to say hello? Contact:
Email: flickafrancaise@yahoo.com
Address: Huginvgen 12, SE- 715 31 Odensbacken, Sweden
Send questions/comments to the editors.
