Learn how to talk about your nationality
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Jasmine: Tjena, hello there. This is Jasmine. |
| Morten: Hej, allihopa. Morten here and welcome to SwedishPod101.com, Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 7 - How Are You in Sweden? |
| Jasmine: In this lesson, we will look at ways to ask how people are. |
| Morten: We also have a very helpful piece of vocab for you. |
| Jasmine: Yes. It will prove immensely useful. |
| Morten: The conversation is triggered by a chance meeting at the university cafeteria in Gothenburg. Once again our speakers are James and Anders. |
| Jasmine: Anders bumps into James on his way back to work at the IO. |
| Morten: The conversation has very little formality, but Anders is in a bit of a rush, so he has to get back to work. |
| Jasmine: Let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Anders: Hej James, hur står det till? |
| James: Bra, tack. Och själv då? |
| Anders: Jo, läget är också bra. Hur är det med Ewa och Nils i lägenheten? |
| James: Allt går mycket väl och de mår också bra. Ewa pratar allt mer svenska och Nils är jättetrevlig. |
| Anders: Du James, tyvärr måste jag tillbaka till jobbet nu. Jag ber om ursäkt. Vi ses väl snart? |
| James: Javisst, tack. Hej och ha det så bra! |
| Morten: And now the slow version. |
| Jasmine: Och nu den sakta versionen. |
| Anders: Hej James, hur står det till? |
| James: Bra, tack. Och själv då? |
| Anders: Jo, läget är också bra. Hur är det med Ewa och Nils i lägenheten? |
| James: Allt går mycket väl och de mår också bra. Ewa pratar allt mer svenska och Nils är jättetrevlig. |
| Anders: Du James, tyvärr måste jag tillbaka till jobbet nu. Jag ber om ursäkt. Vi ses väl snart? |
| James: Javisst, tack. Hej och ha det så bra! |
| Morten: And now the English translation. |
| Jasmine: Och nu med den engelska översättningen. |
| Anders: Hej James, hur står det till? |
| Morten: Hi, James, how are you? |
| James: Bra, tack. Och själv då? |
| Morten: Fine, thanks. And you? |
| Anders: Jo, läget är också bra. Hur är det med Ewa och Nils i lägenheten? |
| Morten: Sure, all sound, too. How are things with Ewa and Nils in the flat? |
| James: Allt går mycket väl och de mår också bra. Ewa pratar allt mer svenska och Nils är jättetrevlig. |
| Morten: Everything's working out really well, and they're also good. Ewa speaks more and more Swedish, and Nils is really pleasant. |
| Anders: Du James, tyvärr måste jag tillbaka till jobbet nu. Jag ber om ursäkt. Vi ses väl snart? |
| Morten: James, I'm afraid I have to get back to work now. I apologize. I'll see you soon, won't I? |
| James: Javisst, tack. Hej och ha det så bra! |
| Morten: Yes, sure. Thanks. Bye and take care! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Morten: Anders and James are bumping into each other at the university cafeteria. |
| Jasmine: Yeah, that's right. Swedish universities all have some cafeterias that cater to students and staff. |
| Morten: Do they also have big dining halls or refectories with really cheap food? |
| Jasmine: Not always. Some do, but cafeterias are common. There are also rooms with microwaves. |
| Morten: So students can bring in their own food and you can eat it in the cafeteria. Splendid. |
| Jasmine: And if neither of these options is for you, there will also be plenty of restaurants and cafes around that offer student discounts. |
| Morten: So, it's a good idea to explore the area around your university. |
| Jasmine: And ask your friends for recommendations. |
| Morten: To get the student discount, you will need your student ID, right? |
| Jasmine: Definitely. Your studentleg is something you should always carry. |
| Morten: Studentleg means student ID. You can get discounts at other places too with it, can't you? |
| Jasmine: You can indeed. Museums, theaters, clubs and sports stadiums all offer student discounts. |
| Morten: So you should definitely be taking advantage of your student ID. |
| Jasmine: Of course. It's good to carry some other form of ID as well. |
| Morten: Why is that? |
| Jasmine: If you are one of those fortunate people who look a lot younger than they are. |
| Morten: Oh, you're talking about buying alcohol, right? |
| Jasmine: Yes, the drinking age in Sweden is 20. |
| Morten: So if you don't have your ID on you, you may not be served alcohol? |
| Jasmine: You may not even get into the pub or a club. |
| Morten: So always bring your ID. |
| Jasmine: Yes. leg is short for legitimation as we call ID is essential. |
| Morten: So don't forget it. Let's take a look at this lesson's vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| First we have. |
| Jasmine: Läget [natural native speed] |
| Morten: The situation (how things are). |
| Jasmine: Läget [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Läget [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Next, we have. |
| Jasmine: Hur står det till? [natural native speed] |
| Morten: How are you? |
| Jasmine: Hur står det till? [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Hur står det till? [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Next, we have. |
| Jasmine: Bra, tack [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Fine, thanks. |
| Jasmine: Bra, tack [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Bra, tack [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Next, we have. |
| Jasmine: Och själv då? [natural native speed] |
| Morten: And you? |
| Jasmine: Och själv då? [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Och själv då? [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Next, we have. |
| Jasmine: Hur är det? [natural native speed] |
| Morten: How are things? |
| Jasmine: Hur är det? [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Hur är det? [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Next, we have |
| Jasmine: Jag ber om ursäkt. [natural native speed] |
| Morten: I apologize. |
| Jasmine: Jag ber om ursäkt. [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Jag ber om ursäkt. [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Next, we have. |
| Jasmine: Ha det så bra. [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Take care. (lit. "have it/be so good") |
| Jasmine: Ha det så bra. [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Ha det så bra. [natural native speed] |
| Morten: And finally, we have. |
| Jasmine: Tyvärr [natural native speed] |
| Morten: Unfortunately. |
| Jasmine: Tyvärr [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Tyvärr [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Morten: Let's take a closer look at the words and phrases in this lesson. We have a big six phrases in our focus for this lesson. So let's get cracking. |
| Jasmine: That's right. There maybe a lot, but these are great for everyday use. |
| Morten: Okay. So first, upon meeting someone, you'll probably ask? |
| Jasmine: Hur står det till? |
| Morten: How are you? And is there another way to ask that? |
| Jasmine: Of course, Hur är det? |
| Morten: How are things? Are these equally formal? |
| Jasmine: Almost, but the first one is a bit more formal. |
| Morten: Okay. Let's hear them again so our listeners can repeat. |
| Jasmine: Hur står det till? |
| Morten: Hur står det till?, how are you? The pronunciation here is a bit odd, isn't it? |
| Jasmine: Yes, R and S in Swedish even when occurring in two separate words usually sound like "sh." |
| Morten: And when they're in the same word, they always do? |
| Jasmine: Yes if they're spread across two words, as in this phrase the "sh" pronunciation is likely. |
| Morten: But not guaranteed, right? |
| Jasmine: Right. But most native speakers will pronounce these letters "sh" even when they are split across words. |
| Morten: I see. What about the other question we just covered? |
| Jasmine: Hur är det? |
| Morten: Hur är det?, how are things? And the response usually is? |
| Jasmine: Bra, tack. Fine, thanks. |
| Morten: But you might want to add something after it. |
| Jasmine: Yeah. Very often you'll hear, bra, tack. Och själv då? |
| Morten: Fine thanks. And how about you? Let's here that again so our listeners can repeat it. |
| Jasmine: Bra, tack. Och själv då? |
| Morten: Bra, tack. Och själv då? Excellent. |
| Jasmine: All of these are set phrases. |
| Morten: So you're asking how people are, but you don't really want to know. |
| Jasmine: Yes and no. Yes because that is increasingly the case. No because there is nothing wrong with answering honestly. |
| Morten: I see. Good to know. |
| Jasmine: Yes. These phrases aren't void of meaning yet. |
| Morten: As they often are in English. |
| Jasmine: But there is a tendency towards that. |
| Morten: We will cover one such example in our lesson focus. |
| Jasmine: The next phrase is something you say when you truly want to apologize for something. |
| Morten: Jag ber om ursäkt. |
| Jasmine: I apologize. You can use this when you have to leave suddenly the way Anders did in the dialogue. |
| Morten: Or when you've done something that really calls for an apology. |
| Jasmine: Correct. Please listen and repeat after me, Jag ber om ursäkt. |
| Morten: Jag ber om ursäkt |
| Jasmine: And our last phrase in this lesson is the useful thing to say when you're leaving. |
| Morten: Yes. If you want to say a little more than just hejdå. |
| Jasmine: You normally use this phrase with people you know fairly well, like your friends, ha det så bra. |
| Morten: It means something like take care doesn't it? |
| Jasmine: Yes. It literally means be good. Please listen and repeat, ha det så bra. |
| Morten: Ha det så bra. Thank you very much. |
Lesson focus |
| Now, let's take a look at this lesson's grammar section. In this lesson focus, we'll look more closely at the ways of asking people how they are. |
| Jasmine: And we'll also take a look at an extremely useful word that can be used in many other context. |
| Morten: In the vocab section, we already covered some of the ways to ask people how they are. |
| Jasmine: Let's recap. What were they again? |
| Morten: Hur står det till? which is a little more formal than? |
| Jasmine: Hur är det? If you want to be a little more formal, you say? |
| Morten: Hur står det till? to be slightly less formal, you say? |
| Jasmine: Hur är det? Well done. |
| Morten: That last phrase sometimes combines with something else. |
| Jasmine: As in our dialogue, you can say Hur är det med dig? |
| Morten: How are things with you? You can also ask about someone in particular. |
| Jasmine: Hur är det med Anders? how are things with Anders? |
| Morten: Got it? If you want to make the question a little more personal, it becomes? |
| Jasmine: Hur är det med dig? That's right. |
| Morten: But there is another word hidden in the dialogue that could be used for the same purpose, right. |
| Jasmine: That's correct. In a very casual context usually among friends, you can also say Läget? |
| Morten: Which translates into something like all right or what's up? That sounds pretty casual. |
| Jasmine: It is. It's a very street way to ask how are you. |
| Morten: Of course, since we are broadcasting it in this lesson, it may not be so street anymore. |
| Jasmine: True. Once street talk enters the mainstream, it's no longer street. |
| Morten: But we can use it anyway. So if you see a good Swedish friend on the street, you can say? |
| Jasmine: Läget? very good. |
| Morten: How can I respond to Läget? |
| Jasmine: Well, you could use the old stand by bra tack. But you can also just say Läget right back. |
| Morten: Wow, that's a lot like English, sup, sup. |
| Jasmine: Ja, just det. It's just like that. |
| Morten: Do you recommend using this word? |
| Jasmine: Stick with the other options for now. If you get to know people really well and they start using it with you… |
| Morten: …you'll know when and how to use it yourself. That's what you mean, right? |
| Jasmine: Correct. |
| Morten: Now, let's move on to the very versatile little word själv. |
| Jasmine: Yes. själv, it means self, but it's such a useful word in Swedish. |
| Morten: In the dialogue, we use it in Och själv då. |
| Jasmine: That's right. You can use it to balance a question back at the person who asked it. |
| Morten: But it can be used more widely, can't it? |
| Jasmine: Even if the other person hasn't asked or anything but you want him to talk about himself, you can simply say? |
| Morten: Själv? |
| Jasmine: Yes or Själv då and that signals to your partner that you would like for him to say something. |
| Morten: Anything else to say about this word? |
| Jasmine: Only that it's very casual. So if you want to be on the safe side, you'll use? |
| Morten: Och själv då? but if you're more intimate with the person, you'll say? |
| Jasmine: Själv? That's right. |
| Morten: If someone comes up to you and ask you how you are… |
| Jasmine: …you say you're fine and then you add… |
| Morten: Och själv då? or if you know that person really well… |
| Jasmine: Själv? |
| Morten: This little word is a very useful one to master. |
| Jasmine: But we need to keep in mind how formal the situation is. |
| Morten: Thanks, Jasmine. Thanks a lot. Well that's it for this lesson. Attention perfectionists, you're about to learn how to perfect your pronunciation. |
| Jasmine: Listen, review audio tracks. |
| Morten: Increase fluency and vocabulary fast with these short, effective audio tracks. |
| Jasmine: Super simple to use. Listen to the Swedish word or phrase… |
| Morten: …then repeat it out loud in a loud clear voice. |
| Jasmine: You'll speak with confidence knowing that you're speaking Swedish like the locals. |
| Morten: Go to SwedishPod101.com and download the review audio tracks right on the lesson's page today. Tack så mycket, och hejdå. |
| Jasmine: Tack Själv. |
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