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Lesson Transcript

Hi everybody. I am Hanna and it’s time for another class in Swedish and today, we are going to talk about 10 Questions That You Should Know. So 10 basic questions that are very handy for maybe friendly conversation, first time conversation or something similar. So let’s get started.
1. Vad heter du?
“What's your name?”
And the sample answer could be,
Jag heter Hanna.
“My name is Hanna.”
Very useful and easy and always good to ask for someone’s name and also allows you to maybe learn some Swedish names. We say them a bit differently even though some of them are similar to – similar sounding to other languages.
2. Hur mår du?
“How are you?”
Jag mår bra.
“I'm fine.”
There we had the question and the answer to this. It’s a very good starter and maybe if you know someone, you will get more than the “I am fine” but for a nice and polite start of a conversation, it’s also a sign of interest to ask someone how they are. I think that’s similar to most languages.
3. Var kommer du ifrån?
“Where are you from?”
Jag kommer från Kina.
“I'm from China.”
Not that I am but in my case, I would of course use Sweden and maybe for you, it’s another country. But if you travel, I know that you meet a lot of people from different places and then knowing how to ask them where they are from is a good conversation starter and also interesting to find out. Maybe you can ask more questions about where they are from.
4. Var lärde du dig svenska?
“Where did you learn Swedish?”
Jag lärde mig svenska på SwedishPod101.com.
“I learned Swedish at SwedishPod101.com.”
Maybe you already guessed this.
5. Vart bor du?
“Where do you live?”
Jag bor i Stockholm.
“I live in Stockholm.”
Remember to add the place that you live in and do not use Stockholm if you are not in Stockholm but Stockholm is a very beautiful place. So maybe it’s a good idea to move there. It’s fun to find out more about where people are from and to hear about their country I believe and when you travel in Sweden, also not everybody is from Sweden or from Stockholm.
6. Vart jobbar du?
“Where do you work?”
Jag jobbar på ICA.
“I work at ICA.”
And for you who don’t know, ICA is a big grocery store in Sweden. There are others but this is a very common one. So if you look for a grocery store, you can ask for ICA.
7. Vad har du för telefonnummer?
“What's your phone number?”
And to this you could reply,
Det är ... and then all the numbers but I think we are going to get to the numbers in another lesson.
Det är ...meaning “It's ...”
And remember the country code if this is someone who is not from your country if you get their phone number.
8. Vad kostar det?
“How much is it?”
Det är ...
“It's ...”
Or here is another one you can also use.
Det kostar.
“It costs.”
Good to know maybe after sightseeing, what you do is, you go shopping for some things and we don’t haggle in Sweden. So you don’t have to do the haggling. You just have to ask for the price and you’ll get the response to what you are probably going to pay.
9. Gillar du svensk mat?
“Do you like Swedish food?”
So here we have both two different answers.
Ja, det gör jag.
Meaning, “yes I do.”
Or Nej, det gör jag inte.
Meaning, “No, I don't.”
And to be real honest, the Swedish cuisine is not my favorite. I prefer Asian food for example, over Swedish food but we have a few really good ones and if you are not in Sweden, maybe you have an IKEA. You know the furniture store somewhere around and you can try the Swedish meatballs. They are a traditional dish and kids really like them but that’s a good start to trying Swedish food.
10. Har du varit i Sverige?
“Have you been to Sweden?”
Ja, det har jag.
Meaning “Yes, I have.”
Nej, det har jag inte.
Meaning “No, I haven't.”
And if you haven’t been to Sweden, I hope you will go but please go during the summer unless you are into skiing or snowboarding because summer in Sweden is just magical. We have daylight until very late like almost depending on where you go but if you go very far north, there, the sun is not even going to set. And in the south, we have very long days. So, that’s a huge recommendation for you who haven’t been to Sweden yet.
And this was the end of today’s lesson, 10 Questions That You Should Know – 10 Questions that come in handy for a conversation and I will see you in the next lesson. Bye-bye!

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