Languages of Sweden

Swedish
The official language of Sweden is Swedish, with almost all of the country’s nine million inhabitants speaking Swedish as their first language.

Swedish evolved out of Old Norse in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and is closely related to Danish and Norwegian. Apart from Standard Swedish, there are also a number of regional dialects, some of which have very few speakers. The dialects have distinct grammatical and phonetic features, which make them almost incomprehensible to speakers of Standard Swedish.

Aside from Swedish, there are five other languages spoken in Sweden that have official status as minority languages. All five have historical roots in Swedish society and most of them are associated with a particular geographic area.

Finnish
In Sweden there has been a Finnish speaking population for centuries, as Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden from the twelfth to the seventeenth centuries. Today Finnish is widely spoken in the north-eastern province of Norrbotten, bordering on Finland.

About 5% of the population of Sweden are ethnic Finns, and Finnish is spoken by about 460,000 people. It belongs to the Finnic group of Uralic languages and is related to Estonian and Hungarian, among other languages.

Meänkieli
Meänkieli is a close relative of Finnish and is spoken by the people in the Torne Valley area above the Arctic Circle. There are no exact figures, but it is thought that about 40,000 to 70,000 people speak Meänkieli in addition to Swedish. Although many people in northern Sweden understand Meänkieli, the younger generation no longer use it in their daily lives and the language is gradually declining.

Since it was declared an official minority language in 1999, there has been an increased awareness of Meänkieli in Sweden. It is now taught in three Swedish universities, and a number of novels, plays and poems have been published in the language.

Sami
Sami is the language of the indigenous Sami people (formerly known as Lapps) who live in the far north of Sweden. There are three different Sami languages spoken in the region, and about 9,000 of the 20,000 Samis living in Sweden are Sami speakers.

Sami is a group of Uralic languages related to Finnish and spoken by Sami people in parts of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Depending on the system of classification, there are between seven and ten different Sami languages, some of them mutually unintelligible.

In Sweden, Sami was declared an official minority language in the year 2000 and can now be used in the main Sami-speaking areas in courts, government offices, preschools and nursing homes. Umeå and Uppsala Universities offer courses in the three Sami languages spoken in Sweden.

Romani
Romani, or Romani chib, is spoken by the Roma, a nomadic people who arrived in Sweden in the sixteenth century from Northern India. Statistics are not reliable, but there are believed to be between 50,000 to 100,000 Roma living in different parts of Sweden.

The Romani language is a member of the Indo-Aryan language group and is closely related to languages spoken in northern India. There are now approximately 10,000 speakers of the language spread all over Sweden.

Yiddish
Yiddish was brought to Sweden in the eighteenth century by Ashkenazi Jews from Central and Eastern Europe. It is based on a German dialect with a blend of Germanic grammar, Hebrew vocabulary and borrowings from various other languages. It is written in an adapted version of the Hebrew alphabet.

Of the estimated 20,000 Jews in Sweden, between 2,000 and 6,000 say that they have some knowledge of Yiddish. Like the other minority languages, Yiddish is protected by law in Sweden and a society has been founded to promote the Yiddish language and culture.

Before the Second World War, German was the most important foreign language in Sweden due to the proximity of Germany. However, since the mid-twentieth century German has been replaced by English as the main foreign language. Since 1952 English has been compulsory in Swedish schools, and students must demonstrate a level of proficiency to be accepted into higher education. Today English is very widely spoken, and you’ll have no problem being understood.

Since the end of the Second World War, Sweden has welcomed large numbers of immigrants, especially from Southern European countries, including Spain, Greece, Turkey, Italy or Bulgaria. In recent years Sweden has become one of the most multicultural countries in Europe, with more than 200 languages spoken, including large numbers of Arabic and Farsi speakers.

Sean’s blog for language learners and teachers

How I learned Arabic

“Wow, you speak Arabic? That must be so hard, how did you do it?” I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked that question – it seems that people are often amazed that I’ve managed to learn how to speak, read and write Arabic. Well, the fact is it wasn’t easy and it took a lot of time and effort. In this post I’d like to share the story of how I learned Arabic.

It began in high school, when Hala joined our class. She was born in Libya and at home they spoke a mixture of Arabic and English. We often ended up talking about her memories of Libya and how it differed from her present life. One lunch break she wrote out the Arabic alphabet for me on a scrap of paper. “Here,” she said, “study that. That’ll keep you busy for a while!” And it did!

When I got to college, I decided to sign up for an Arabic course. We were taught Modern Standard Arabic, a variety of Arabic that is used in literature, journalism and by politicians when making speeches. The first thing we tackled was the alphabet. The hardest thing to get used to was the lack of vowels, and for years I mixed up words that were written the same but had different vowels. Then we moved on to reading random sentences from our textbook. We took it in turns to read out a sentence, with our teacher Dr Kafrawi correcting our pronunciation at every word. We would hazard a guess as to the meaning, and the next person in line would continue with the following sentence.

It sounds a bit dry and traditional but I was hooked, and so the next year I continued. We graduated to authentic texts, including short stories and short newspaper articles. By the time I’d finished my degree I had a basic knowledge of Arabic grammar, I could read a newspaper article with the help of a dictionary, and I could laboriously write a very short text in Modern Standard. But I couldn’t speak.

At this point I still hadn’t been to an Arabic-speaking country, so I decided this would be my next step and once there I’d concentrate on learning to speak. I trained up as a language teacher and flew to Cairo to start my job in a big language school there. On day one I needed to take a taxi and a work mate taught me my first phrases of Egyptian Arabic: “Turn left, turn right, here’s fine, thank you!” To my satisfaction I got to where I needed to go. Of course I’d been told that spoken Arabic was different from Modern Standard, but this different? I soon found out that almost nothing I’d learned at college was of much use in my daily life in Cairo, it was like learning another language altogether.

The school organised Arabic lessons for new teachers, and once a week we got together with Ruby, a long-time resident in Cairo. We practised dialogues set in different situations, such as restaurants, vegetable shops and the butcher’s; we practised appropriate greetings, making small talk and telling jokes. By the end of the term my vocabulary notebook was bursting with useful phrases and expressions that I could use in my daily encounters with Egyptians. Ruby’s lessons had provided me with enough language to start a conversation in Arabic and were the basis of everything I subsequently learned. By the end of my two years in Cairo, I was able to say pretty much anything I needed to.

What advice would I give to someone wanting to learn Arabic? Be clear what your aim is. If you plan to work for a short while or travel in an Arab country, it makes sense to start with the colloquial language. In that case, learning the script isn’t essential, although it is useful in daily life and makes learning vocabulary easier. If you are more ambitious and want to explore the culture in depth, studying Modern Standard Arabic is the way to go.

If at all possible, you should spend time in an Arab country; it will give your learning a big boost. If not, there is always the Internet; there are hundreds of sites where you can easily find a language exchange partner. And, above all, stick with it. Learning a language doesn’t happen overnight!

Gadgets to help the elderly

A) Amplified big-button telephone
This phone has been designed for people with hearing problems, impaired vision or people who have difficulty using a conventional phone. The volume of the receiver can be adjusted so that it is up to four times louder than a normal telephone. This phone can function without a power supply: simply insert the batteries and connect the phone to the phone socket with the supplied cable. It can be used while wearing hearing aids.

The amplified big-button phone is also suitable for people with reduced vision. It has large, high-contrast buttons for easy use. Other features include three emergency quick-dial buttons and a number memory, which can be programmed for one-touch dialling.

B) Ultra reacher
This high-quality reacher is designed to help people with limited mobility reach and pick up small objects around the home and garden. It is made of lightweight but durable aluminium, weighing only 147 g. The jaws of this useful reacher have a flexible tip so they can hold objects of any shape securely.

The reacher has been ergonomically designed so that it is comfortable to use. It also has a built-in magnet, allowing users to easily pick up small metal objects like pins, nails or paper clips. The lightweight reacher is available in four different lengths, the maximum length being 810 mm.

C) Automatic tin opener
The automatic tin opener is a very useful kitchen aid, allowing the user to open cans and tins easily and safely. It is designed especially for elderly or disabled people who have difficulty using a conventional tin opener. It can open tins of any diameter up to 153 mm, is made of sturdy plastic and is operated by the touch of a button. Simply attach the opener to a tin and press the button. The automatic tin opener will do the rest, reducing the risk of injury or strain. The tin opener is available in dark grey or white and requires two AA batteries (not included).

D) Home safety alarm
This home safety alarm is a useful safety aid for elderly or disabled people living on their own. The alarm consists of one main unit and a pendant with a call button. The main unit plugs into the user’s telephone whereas the call button pendant is worn around the neck of the user, so it is always easily accessible. In an emergency the user activates the button on the pendant, dialling three pre-programmed numbers – one after the other. The home safety alarm has a range of 50 metres so, even if the user has fallen and cannot reach the phone, two-way communication can be carried out using this alarm system.

E) Robot vacuum cleaner
The robot vacuum cleaner is ideal for anybody who is not able to do their own cleaning. This smart device is expert at cleaning any kind of floor, both hard surfaces and carpets. It incorporates an impressive navigation system that prevents it from bumping into objects. It can easily find its way around obstacles, like the threshold of a door. When it rolls over carpet, it is programmed to use extra strong suction.

The robot is controlled via an app on a smartphone. Users can schedule the robot to clean at a specific time and get data about which parts of the house it has cleaned. It is intuitive to use and easy to maintain.

F) Pill timer
Seniors who have a hard time remembering when to take their medication will love this handy little pill timer. The alarm can be programmed to ring up to four times a day to remind users to take their medication. Once set, the alarm will repeat every day automatically. Users have a choice of alarm tone and the device can also be set to vibrate.

This timer has four medication compartments located on the back of the device. Each compartment can hold up to ten aspirin-sized pills, and a picture and the name of the medication are displayed on the screen when the alarm goes off. This pill timer is small enough to fit in a jacket pocket and is intuitive to use.