INTRODUCTION |
Elin: Hej allihopa! I’m Elin |
Becky: Hi everyone, I’m Becky. Welcome to SwedishPod101.com. This is Upper Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 1 - Meet Your New Swedish Coworker! In this lesson you’ll learn how to do a self-introduction. |
Elin: The conversation takes place at Emma’s new workplace. |
Becky: It’s between Emma and her employees. Emma is using formal Swedish, because this is the first time she’s introducing herself to them. |
Elin: Okay. Let's listen to the conversation. |
POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
Becky: I must say that it was interesting to hear that Anders, the manager who Emma is taking over for, is going to go on paternity leave. Is this common in Sweden? |
Elin: I wouldn’t say that it’s common, but I guess it’s becoming more and more common. |
Becky: That’s great news! What’s the parental leave system like in Sweden? |
Elin: Well, I would say that it’s very generous, because it gives Swedish parents the right to 480 days of paid parental leave. |
Becky: For each parent? |
Elin: No, not that generous! The parents of one child get 480 days of parental leave, and each of them are entitled to half of that by law, but the days can be divided any way the parents agree upon. |
Becky: Okay, I see. |
Elin: But the father also gets an extra 10 days of paternity leave, so that the whole family can be together right after the child is born. |
Becky: That’s great! Now let’s move on to the vocab. |
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.Where should we start? |
Elin: Lets start with the word pappaledighet. |
Becky: Which means “paternity leave” right? |
Elin: Yes, that’s right! In Swedish, like in English, you have specific words for parental leave, whether it’s the mother or the father you’re talking about. |
Becky: So what is the name for “maternity leave” in Swedish then? |
Elin: That’s mammaledighet”. |
Becky: I see, and for the word “parental leave”? |
Elin: Föräldraledighet. |
Becky: Okay, and what else do we have? |
Elin: We also need to talk about the word “sambo”. |
Becky: That means “partner”. |
Elin: Yes, a “sambo” is a person you’re having a relationship with, but really, “sambo” doesn’t have an English counterpart. |
Becky: Hmm, I’m not sure I understand. |
Elin: The word “sambo” has a more specific meaning than the English word “partner”, since you only use it for a person that you’re in a relationship with, and also live with. |
Becky: Okay, I think I understand. So this word is used for two people who live together, but aren’t married? |
Elin: Yes, you could say that being a “sambo” means that you live with your partner in a marriage-like relationship, but it’s not a registered partnership. |
Becky: Okay, now I’ve got it. Let’s move on to the grammar now! |
GRAMMAR POINT |
Elin: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to do a self-introduction. |
Becky: Does that mean that we’ll learn how to say things like “my name is”? |
Elin: No, we’ve already learned that in earlier series. Instead, we’ll focus on learning how to talk about things like, where we were born, what you do for a living, and your current living arrangements. |
Becky: Ok, that sounds useful. Let’s start with where we were born? |
Elin: Sure thing! |
Becky: How would you say, “I was born in Stockholm”, like Emma says in this lesson’s dialog? |
Elin: You would start with the “I was born” part, followed by the name of the place you were born, in this case, Stockholm. So “I was born in Stockholm”, becomes “Jag är född i Stockholm”. |
Becky: Actually, I have a question about that sentence. |
Elin: What’s that? |
Becky: Why do you use the present tense of the verb “to be born”, even though we’re talking about something that happened in the past? |
Elin: That’s a great question. Actually, “jag är född i Stockholm” literally translates to “I’m born in Stockholm”. That’s because Swedes use the present tense of the verb “to be born”, which is “är född”, when we talk about people that are still alive. |
Becky: How about when you want to talk about people that are no longer alive? |
Elin: You would use the preterit tense, “föddes”, if you were talking about people who are no longer alive. |
Becky: I see. So how would you say “I was born in Linköping”, for example? |
Elin: You would say “jag är född i Linköping”. |
Becky: And how would you say, “Napoleon was born on Corsica”? |
Elin: That’s “Napoleon föddes på Korsika. |
Becky: Great! Let’s get our listeners to practice the “I was born in Linköping” one. |
Elin: Listeners, repeat after me! “Jag är född i Linköping”. [pause] |
Becky: Now, let’s take a look at how to talk about what you do for a living. |
Elin: Ok. Here, we’ll learn to say things like “I work as a doctor”. |
Becky: How would you say “I work as doctor” in Swedish? |
Elin: You would start with the “I work as a” part, which is “jag arbetar som”, followed by the name of the occupation, in this case the word for “doctor”, which is “läkare”. So, “I work as a doctor” becomes “jag arbetar som läkare”. |
Becky: Isn’t there another verb for “to work” that you can use? |
Elin: Well, you could also use the verb “att jobba”, but the verb “att arbeta” has a more formal sound to it, and since we are doing a self-introduction, “att arbeta” is better to use. |
Becky: How about practicing that sentence one time? |
Elin: Sure. Listeners, repeat after me! “Jag arbetar som läkare.”[pause] |
Becky: What about if you don’t work, because you are a student. How would you for example say, “I’m studying biology”? |
Elin: Well, there are actually two ways of saying this using two different verbs. They can both be translated as “to study” in English. |
Becky: And what are the verbs? |
Elin: If you want to say “to study” in Swedish, you can use the verbs “att plugga” or “att studera”. |
Becky: And is there any difference between these two? |
Elin: Yes. “att plugga” is more commonly used than “att studera” in everyday conversation, but it also has a more informal sound to it. |
Becky: So I guess, for the purposes of a self-introduction, we should stick to the other then! So how would you say “I’m studying biology”? |
Elin: You would start with the “I’m studying” part, followed by the name of the subject, in this case the Swedish word for “biology”, “biologi”. So “I’m studying biology” in Swedish is “jag studerar biologi”. Listeners repeat after me. |
Elin: “Jag studerar biologi”. |
Becky: Ok, now let’s learn to talk about your current living arrangements. |
Elin: Sure thing! |
Becky: How would you, for example, say “I live in Lund with my boyfriend”? |
Elin: You’ll start with the “I live in” part, which is “jag bor i”. That’s followed by the name of the place where you live, in this case “Lund”. After that, you have the “with my” part, which is “med min”, and then a noun that denotes the kind of relationship you have with the person you live with. In this case, it’s “boyfriend”, which is “pojkvän”. |
Becky: Hmm, that was a bit long. How would it sound if you put it together? |
Elin: “I live in Lund with my boyfriend” becomes “jag bor i Lund med min pojkvän”. Listeners, repeat after me! “Jag bor i Lund med min pojkvän”. [pause] |
Becky: Okay, I just have one final question! Why do you use the preposition “med” instead of “hos” in this kind of sentence? Both of them translate as “with”, right? |
Elin: Yes, both “med and “hos” can mean “with”. But if you use “hos” instead of “med”, that means you’re staying at a person’s home, rather than living with that person, and your staying there isn't seen as something permanent. |
Becky: Okay! I’m glad we cleared that up! Listeners, if you want to make sure you’ve understood this grammar point, please check the lesson notes. |
Outro
|
Becky: Okay that’s it for this lesson. Thanks for listening everyone, and we’ll see you next time. |
Elin: Hej då! |
43 Comments
HideHi listeners! How long is the parental leave in your country?
Hej Poyan,
Trevligt att träffas! Säg till om du har några frågor. 😄
(Nice to meet you! Let me know if you have any questions. 😄)
Vicky
Team SwedishPod101.com
Hej allihopa jag heter poyan och det är bra for min tack för allt hoppas studera mer svenska MIT ni hjälpa.
Hej Ivan,
Vad kul att du tycker om SwedishPod101. Jag hoppas att du fortsätter att tycka om lektionerna. Säg till om du har några frågor om dem! 😄
(How nice that you like SwedishPod101. I hope you'll continue to like the lessons. Let me know if you have any questions about them! 😄)
Vicky
Team SwedishPod101.com
jag heter Ivan och swedishpod101 ar intressant min forst gang jag tycker om det tanka sa mycket
Hej Gary,
Jo, precis! I många länder kan "jämställdhet" se mer ut som feminism. 😅
(Yes, exactly! In many countries "equality" can look more like feminism. 😅)
Vicky
Team SwedishPod101.com
Hej Vicky
Jo, vi blir också lite besatt. Men jag tror att här i Storbritannien tenderar jämställdhet mellan könen att bara gå i en riktning. Så nu har vi till exempel, (på engelska) "firefighters" och inte "firemen", men vi har fortfarande "midwives"..!
Hälsningar
Gary
Hej Gary,
Intressant! Jo, vad jag förstår så är det rätt ovanligt att pappor kan ha en sån lång föräldraledighet som i Sverige. Det är väl på grund av att Sverige är lite besatt av jämställdhet mellan könen. 😜
(Interesting! Yeah, from what I understand, it's quite unusual for fathers to have a parental leave as long as the one in Sweden. I guess it's because Sweden is a bit obsessed with gender quality. 😜)
Vicky
Team SwedishPod101.com
Hej igen !
Jag måste erkänna att föräldraledighet här i Storbritannien är inte så bra om man är nybliven pappa ! Så vitt jag vet, får nyblivna pappor bara betalt för en eller två veckors föräldraledighet. Om man vill ta mer måste man ta lite semester.
Däremot är det mycket bättre för nyblivna mammor för de får femtiotvå veckor mammaledighet.
Hälsningar
Gary
Hej Caro,
Tack för att du delar med dig av hur det är i ditt land. Vad intressant!
(Thanks for sharing how it is in your country. How interesting!) 😁
Vicky
Team SwedishPod101.com
Jag bor i Finland, och vi här ett mycket generös föräldraledighetsystem. Mamman får etthundrafem dagars mammaledighet. Efter mammaledigheten är slut, föräldrarna får etthundrafemtioåtta dagars föräldraledighet. Det finns också en pappaledighet, men jag förstår det inte :D
Tack så mycket for det bra lektion!