h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm actually quite good at it......in Swedish, that is.

An online Swedish newspaper has listed the 97 most misspelt words in the Swedish language, and there was only one misspelling that I'm guilty of using myself. 'Följdaktligen' - but then, the misspelt version makes more sense to me.

Följaktligen (the correct spelling) = consequently
Följa = follow
Följd = consequence

*shrugs*

Here's the list for those of you who know/are interested in Swedish:
http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/de-knepiga-svenska-orden-1.892122

I hesitate at dublett/dubblett. But I think I usually get it right...

My dad can be trusted to choose the wrong one in 80% of the cases, poor man. But he was still excellent as a math/chem/physics substitute teacher.

* not that he's dead, he's very well and playing golf with my son this very moment. But he's not teaching anymore.

Interesting............................... was going to do the obious IKEA joke.......... but then had a look at the list and some of the words look sort of English, and then wondered if the English words had the orgins in the Swedish, then thought of another IKEA joke, then thought of a cup of tea, so I went and made a cuppa


RJR

Also i've kept the link to the news paper as I like to look at other newspapers, the intersting thing is you can usually get a good "feel" for whats going on in someone elses country!




RJR

>>and then wondered if the English words had the orgins in Swedish>>

It's a mix, really - some Swedish words come from English, some from French, some from German - and then there are Swedish as well as British (mainly Scottish) words that come from Norse.

good init

i was told by a danish professor (boss of the 'danish language board') that even if we see more and more english words used in danish texts and contexts there are still more danish words in english than vice versa

however this was some years ago, i wonder how it is today. maybe we have passed the 'verbal la grange point' since?

I thought the Vikings brought in more words than they took home.

that's what he meant

It's been so long since I was here that I've forgotten how to post a new message, so I apologise if I'm treading on toes by lurching into view uninvited!

Titania, why has your 'name' changed (again!)?
But I wanted to ask an everso erudite, academic question whose answer will be embarrassingly obvious when it arrives:

How does a non-English speaker learn to pronounce pairs of words such as now/know, how/show, sow=lady pig/sow=scatter seeds, beak/break? I won't even look at the -ough lot. It must be a nightmare. I suppose that, if 8 year-olds are taught by Direct Method, as it was called in the days of shillings and pence, the issue won't arise till they start reading, then context will make all clear. So why did I bother to make such a fuss? Nice to be back though. How is everybody?
Dig

Hey, it's Lady Dig! Welcome back to the online !

Well, you've got to remember that in Sweden, as well as in its neighbouring countries, dubbing is only for little kids too young to read subtitles.

We are bombarded, on a daily basis, by not only English pop lyrics but also TV series, soap operas, BBC documentaries, films in the movies etc where we hear English spoken.

I can't remember ever having trouble distinguishing between now/know or the other examples you mentioned - although I'm not sure of the reason...

it's a gift

That makes a lot of sense (especially the gift - we must accept that Madam has that!). Obviously Brits are such failures linguistically because 'The Gods speak English', and they get no opportunity to be exposed to other languages. We even get wretched voice-overs when the simplest statement occurs. Why not subtitles, but ones which can readily be ignored? My husband, who is very deaf, has titles on the screen, not unreasonably, and I find my eyes drawn to them as if by a magnet. Yet another thing to make me

Dig

Something that is very when you're used to reading subtitles while listening is sloppy translations. That really gets to me, and I'll yell 'he said sixTEEN, not sixTY!'

Another thing that makes it impossible to watch a film (this happens very now and then with Swedish TV3) is when it's shown with subtitles belonging to a completely different film. Try hearing the dialogues from the film you're watching why reading the dialogues from another (as you so rightly pointed out, one can't help oneself) - that is enough to make anyone .

you have to admit it can also be fun

certainly not all of the time, but on occasions

i grew up with syncronised tv in germany and live with subtitles in denmark now

but i prefer dvd's where you have a choice