Swedish For Immigrants - Week 3 - The Benifits of Class

The Benefits of Class

One of my four test pages

This is the end of my third week of my language class, and things have taken a nice turn. I got a good grade on a test, what would amount to a solid ‘B’ in American schools, and most of my mistakes were typos! I misspelled August (Augusti) by leaving out the ‘u’, and answered a sequence of months question by listing November in front of Oktober. Duh! I’ve never been able to proofread my own work. I have an editor in India who does that for me now. Months are not capitalized here.

A ‘B’ in class was a real upper for me. I was surprised how good it made me feel, a very welcome shot of self confidence. I can do this! At the very least I will come out knowing more than when I went in, and there are other benefits. I’ve learned a bit of Swedish from my wife’s family, basics like: hello, goodbye, and thank you – things like that. Enough to get by. But there is a glass wall that keeps me not completely in the picture.I can sometimes grasp a basic understanding of surrounding conversations. There are English inserts for my benefit re: what is going on, sans details – which is where the devil hides.

The Swedes speak English and respond in kind when addressed in that fashion, but soon shift back into their native tongue with other Swedes involved in the discussion. My wife speaks Swedish on the phone. She could be selling the cats, or buying a horse. I would never know. One feels, and is, a bit left out of things.

This language class, four hours a day, has been an unexpected and unique experience. This third week found me unembarrassed by mistakes. They’ve become humorous. We are all making mistakes, and having a pretty good time of it. The Somalis are fun, and friendly – curious. They ask how old I am, and pat me on the back, perhaps as a congratulation for having lived so long. Their English is shaky and I often have to ask them to repeat what they have said, but they are helpful, sometimes whispering an answer when the teacher calls on me. Teacher is speaking more English now, and I am feeling comfortable with her.

Learning with ten other students has been such a different trip from going it alone. There is a wonderful feeling of support, and I find myself looking forward to the next class. Using even the limited vocabulary I’ve picked up has put me in a closer relationship with anyone I’m talking to. A door in the glass wall has begun to open. It feels great to have a bit more understanding, and some words at my command, to be a part of the conversation, instead of an observer looking in from the outside.

And there are other benefits. More later.

Genisis

Swedish For Immigrants - Week 1

I’ve started my Swedish For Immigrants class. There are ten of us. One from Vietnam, One from Gambia. The rest from Somalia. Teacher is not in love with me I fear. I do not fit her definition of a student. I’m too white, and too old. A problem. I waited fourteen months to get into this class. I was constantly deferred as being someone who did not need to find a job. Ageism in Sweden. Who would have thought.

It’s kind of scary. I am old, and have an iffy short term memory . . . was never good at learning languages, or math. It’s so embarrassing to be noticeably slower than others in the pack. My classmates are friendly, and create a happy sort of ambiance. The Somalis seem to already know some basic Swedish. They are all men, and go off together on our breaks, where they talk Somali to each other. I wish I could hang with them but doubt I would fit in, not speaking their language and a good fifty years older.

The Gambia student is a woman, also very nice, speaks good English. The only other girl is Vietnamese. We took a short quiz to determine where we were at scholastically, basic math and months, anatomy – body parts: arms, legs and such in Swedish. I got about half of them right. The tests were scored and discussed in a one-to-one interview. Teacher congratulated my ability to add and subtract. We were given a class list, times and dates, in Swedish.

I misread Friday’s schedule and was dismissed an hour earlier than expected, with no ride home – wife had the car. I wondered around the school and found a nice little library. Libraries, (bibliotechs) always feel like home to me, oasis’s in the swirl of life. I always carry book in case of moments like these, and sat in a comfortable chair, gazing lustfully at the shelves of books surrounding me, longing to be able to read Swedish . . . newspapers, books, and magazines – to have that knowledge.

Swedish For Immigrants - Week 2

 Monday:

The teacher is teaching in Swedish. I thought I was here to learn Swedish! There are four class levels of instruction: A, B, C & D. They have put me in the B class. I suspect this is because I listed my degrees on the application papers, fourteen months ago. Did they think an MS in education meant I had a Swedish vocabulary? I have made some progress today, moving from humiliation to laughter. It’s getting ridiculous. She calls on me asking questions in Swedish. I have no idea what the question is, let alone the answer – though I do know some of the answers, if I knew what the question was. Teacher gives me a look that says, “How can you possibly not understand.”

Last week I answered, “I do not speak Swedish, that is why I’m here.” Said that twice, no reason to say it again. It got funny after a while today. Laughter is a great survival tool. My Somali classmates are getting a kick out of it and have become very friendly and helpful. They are doing all they can to help me understand, sometimes whispering the answer. Unfortunately they speak almost no English. I suspect they have all gone though the ‘A’ class and have a fairly good beginning Swedish vocabulary. At least I seem to be making some Somali friends. One of the two girls in class (from Gambia) speaks good English, but is having almost as much trouble as I am. I could probably transfer to the ‘A’ class, but assume that would be 95% Somali students and questions asked in Arabic. Nothing is easy.

The most concrete thing I’ve learned today: There is no ‘W’ in the Swedish alphabet.

Some good news: It has finally started to rain and the forest fires seem to be under control at last. Helicopters and planes loaned to Sweden from Italy, and Norway, have been sent home. Russia offered to send an enormous water plane last week, but it was refused.

Republicans here have decided such equipment is not needed in Sweden, and have made cutbacks in numerous other essential areas, such as fire fighters and police. Sounds just like the Republicans in the U.S. There thirty forest fires burning in California, Montana, and other states, all of which are running out of money needed to fight the fires. The Republicans have refused to grant more funds and have now gone on vacation.

“As it is in Rome, it is in Athens also.” Canto the elder.

Observing Sweden - Language Classes - Week 1

Observations from language school – Swedish for immigrants.


Somali Girls
Rapt in the throes of teenage youth
they frolic amidst sparkling laughter
sharing secrets, observations
late for class, they giggle
walk with ghost-like flowing grace
seem weightless as kaleidoscopic sheets of silk
spill out behind their movements
in diaphanous extension
brilliant shadows.

Animated flower gardens.


Bruce Louis Dodson Sweden August 2014

Amber's Lament - The Heat in Sweden

 

You’d think a fur coat would be good in Sweden. Not this summer! Like I’m barely surviving. 90+ degrees Fahrenheit and half the county's on fire. I stay in my tree house most of the day and try to sleep through it. To make matters worse Bucks just told me the servants are thinking about getting a dog. A dog! Can you believe it? What possible reason could anyone have for wanting a dog? I mean, really. Bucks gets confused a lot of times, I’m hoping this is one of them.

Amber's Swedish History - Chapter 8

 

Crime and Punishment

A lot of Swedes remained Catholic in the early 1600’s, even though it was illegal. Nothing strengthens religions so much as repression, if you ask me. In Duke Karl’s Sweden there were about seventy crimes that could earn criminals the death penalty, or have their ears cut off . . . sometimes an arm. The heads of Duke Karl’s enemies were kept in cages at the entrance gates to Stockholm. If you said the wrong thing about the church you could have your tongue cut off, which must have been a real bummer. Murderers at sea were tied to the backs of their victims and thrown into the ocean. Those who murdered on land were buried alive.

It took about a hundred years for Gustav Vasa’s Lutheran reforms to take hold. People were given examinations to see how much they knew about the bible and Lutheran teaching. God help you if you couldn’t pass the test. In 1617 a new law demanded that all Catholics leave Sweden within three months after its passing, but there are still some Catholics in Sweden today, and Swedes still celebrate Santa Lucia at Christmas time.

When Gustav Vasa had been king for five years he decided it was time to get married. He was thirty-two years old, but didn’t have much of a kingdom, and people weren’t sure how long what he did have would last. This did not make him the most eligible bachelor in town. He wore a lot of fancy clothes in an attempt to look cool and improve his image.

 Gustav Vasa

 

Wife No. 1 Katarina von Sachsen

He finally married Katarina von Sachsen, who was the daughter of a prince who’s kingdom was even smaller than Vasa’s, but the prince had a small army of mercenaries which seemed like a good deal. Katarina was eighteen when they married and managed to give birth to a son, Erik. Almost everyone was named Erik in those days. It was not a happy marriage. Katarina only spoke German, and Vasa only Swedish. Katarina died two years later while dancing with her brother in law.

 

Wife No. 2 Margareta Leijonhufvud

One year later Vasa married Margareta Leijonhufvud who was Swedish and a good breeder. She was twenty years younger than him and had a whole litter of children, ten to be exact. Margareta also died early, probably from having too many children.
The faces in these first two paintings look pretty much the same, if you ask me. I don’t think the artists paid much attention to what the queens really looked like.

Katarina Stenbock

This time the artist got it right . . . or wrong, depending on how you look at it.

Vasa married Katarina Stenbock next. He was fifty-five. She was sixteen, and a not-so-distant relative. It was another unhappy marriage and no children came of it, which was probably a good thing. Gustav passed a new law that made it illegal for priests to bless the marriage of two people, “…when one is young and the other old.”

*         *         *

Katarina’s first born, Erik, now six, and two year old Johan, one of Margareta’s offspring, sat with Vasa on the throne. Gustav Vasa summoned his councilors and bishops and had them kneel before him, placing their hands on his sword. He ordered them swear to allegiance to the King and all that inherited his throne, making Sweden a hereditary kingdom.

Son Erik – better known as Erik XIV- later became the first king to inherit the throne by law. He was pretty smart, spoke several languages, and was well versed in astrology, art, and music. He wanted his coronation to be a major event, and had some Flemish masters create a crown, scepter, key, and orb made out of gold and precious stones. I wouldn't mind having one of those orbs to fool around with, but the servants tell me they can’t afford one.

Ummm. Where was I? Oh yes, Erik. Like I said, he was smart, but he was unstable.

 

Erik’s Crown

Next Week -Erik’s Evil Genius