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| INTRODUCTION |
| Alisha:Hi Everyone, this is Alisha:and welcome to SwedishPod101.com. This is Beginner season 1, lesson 5, Making Swedish Small Talk. |
| Satsuki:Hej allihopa! I’m Satsuki. In this lesson, we will learn how to make small talk with people that we’ve never met before. |
| Alisha:That’s a useful skill!. The conversation takes place at Karin’s dinner party and it is between Lisa and Karin’s friend Johan. |
| Satsuki:Lisa and Johan don’t know each other, but it’s a casual event so they’re using informal Swedish. |
| Alisha:Great! Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Johan Så Lisa, hur känner du Karin? |
| Lisa Vi pluggar tillsammans. |
| Johan Jaha, så du pluggar också till sjuksköterska? |
| Lisa Det stämmer. Och du, hur känner du Karin? |
| Johan Vi är barndomskamrater. |
| Lisa Jasså. Så, vad jobbar du med? |
| Johan Jag jobbar på bank. |
| Lisa Jaha, vad interessant. Berätta mer. |
| Alisha: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Johan Så Lisa, hur känner du Karin? |
| Lisa Vi pluggar tillsammans. |
| Johan Jaha, så du pluggar också till sjuksköterska? |
| Lisa Det stämmer. Och du, hur känner du Karin? |
| Johan Vi är barndomskamrater. |
| Lisa Jasså. Så, vad jobbar du med? |
| Johan Jag jobbar på bank. |
| Lisa Jaha, vad interessant. Berätta mer. |
| Alisha: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Johan: So Lisa, how do you know Karin? |
| Lisa: We’re studying together. |
| Johan: Oh really, so you are also studying to become a nurse? |
| Lisa: That’s right. And you, how do you know Karin? |
| Johan: We’re childhood friends. |
| Lisa: I see. So, what do you do? |
| Johan: I’m working at a bank. |
| Lisa: Oh, that’s interesting. Tell me more. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Alisha:Satsuki, I have a question for you! |
| Satsuki:Sure! Go ahead! |
| Alisha:So, Swedish people always talk about how casual Swedes are. |
| Satsuki:Yes, that’s usually true... |
| Alisha:So how do you introduce yourself to people that you’ve never met before? Do you try to high five them? |
| Satsuki:(laughs) No, we are not that casual. We actually shake hands like in many other cultures. |
| Alisha:(laughs) Okay, I see! |
| Satsuki:But you should remember that a good handshake in Sweden should not be too loose. In fact, it should be quite firm and it’s good to make eye contact too. |
| Alisha:Okay, I will remember that next time I met someone from Sweden! Now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Alisha:Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Satsuki:känna [natural native speed] |
| Alisha:to know, feel |
| Satsuki:känna [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Satsuki:känna [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Satsuki:hur [natural native speed] |
| Alisha:how |
| Satsuki:hur [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Satsuki:hur [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Satsuki:plugga [natural native speed] |
| Alisha:study |
| Satsuki:plugga [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Satsuki:plugga [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Satsuki:tillsammans [natural native speed] |
| Alisha:together |
| Satsuki:tillsammans [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Satsuki:tillsammans [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Satsuki:sjuksköterska [natural native speed] |
| Alisha:nurse |
| Satsuki:sjuksköterska [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Satsuki:sjuksköterska [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Satsuki:barndomsvänner [natural native speed] |
| Alisha:childhood friends |
| Satsuki:barndomsvänner [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Satsuki:barndomsvänner [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Satsuki:att jobba [natural native speed] |
| Alisha:work |
| Satsuki:att jobba [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Satsuki:att jobba [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Satsuki:bank [natural native speed] |
| Alisha:bank |
| Satsuki:bank [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Satsuki:bank [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Satsuki:vad intressant [natural native speed] |
| Alisha:that’s/it’s interesting |
| Satsuki:vad intressant [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Satsuki:vad intressant [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Satsuki:Berätta mer [natural native speed] |
| Alisha:Tell me more |
| Satsuki:Berätta mer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Satsuki:Berätta mer [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Alisha:Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Satsuki:We will start by looking at the verb ‘att plugga’ which means “to study”. |
| Alisha:Isn’t there another word you can use instead of this? |
| Satsuki:Yes, you can also use the verb ‘att studera’. |
| Alisha:Is there any difference between them? |
| Satsuki:There’s no real difference, but ‘att plugga’ is probably used more frequently, at least in daily speech and casual conversations. |
| Alisha:So ‘att studera’ is more suitable for formal situations? |
| Satsuki:Yes, and also in writing. |
| Alisha:Got it. Now let’s look at the next expression from the dialogue, which is “that’s interesting” |
| Satsuki:In Swedish, this is ‘vad intressant’. |
| Alisha:It’s what Lisa says to Johan when he tells her what his job is. |
| Satsuki:That’s right! And it’s a very good expression to learn because you can use it when you are talking to new people to show that you’re really listening to what they’re saying, and that you think it’s interesting. |
| Alisha:But it’s not always interesting! |
| Satsuki:(laughs), Well, that’s true, so you shouldn’t use it too often, because people may think that you are not being sincere. |
| Alisha:(laughs) Okay, I got it. There was another expression in this lesson’s dialog that also seemed useful. |
| Satsuki:Yes, another useful phrase is ‘berätta mer’ which means “tell me more”. It’s similar to ‘va interessant’ since it shows that you’re taking an interest in what the person is telling you. |
| Alisha:I guess you could also use it if the conversation is not really running smoothly. |
| Satsuki:Yes, using this expression will probably make the conversation go on for a bit longer. |
| Alisha:Ok, now let’s move on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Alisha:In this lesson, you’ll learn how to make small talk with people that you’ve never met before. We will start with the question Lisa asked Johan about his job. |
| Satsuki:Yes, it was “what do you do?”, which in Swedish is ‘vad jobbar du med’? |
| Alisha:Ok listeners, before we break this down, let’s practice it. Repeat after Satsuki... |
| Satsuki:Vad jobbar du med? [pause] |
| Satsuki:Let’s now look at this sentence in more depth. Alisha, do you know what tense is used for the verb ‘att jobba’, meaning “to work”, in this sentence? |
| Alisha:Hmm…let me think! Well since you are asking about something that is ongoing, I guess you’d use the present tense. |
| Satsuki:That’s right, and ‘jobbar’ is the present tense of ‘att jobba’. Now let’s look at how we form verbs in the present tense. |
| Alisha:Great. Just remember that there are some exceptions to these rules, but for now, we will just focus on the general rules. |
| Satsuki:Okay, Swedish verbs can be classified into three types according to their verb stems. Each of these conjugate differently to their present tense. |
| Alisha:I see. So what type does the verb for “to work” belong to? |
| Satsuki:‘att jobba’ belongs to the type of verbs whose verb stem ends in ‘–a’, an English “a”, and the stem of these verbs are the same as the verb in its infinitive form. So ‘att kosta’, “to cost”, and ‘att plugga’ “to study” are examples of this kind of verb. |
| Alisha:So how do we change them into present tense? |
| Satsuki:To change these verbs into their present tense you simply add an ‘-r.’ Hence the change to ‘kostar’ and ‘pluggar’ in present tense. The second form of verb stem is the group of verbs that end with a consonant. The verb stem of these verbs is not identical to the verb in the infinitive form. |
| Alisha:Oh really? So how do they conjugate? |
| Satsuki:You simply add an ‘-a’ to the end of the stem to form the infinitive, and an ‘-er’, spelled “e-r”, to form the present tense. |
| Alisha:Okay I am feeling a little overwhelmed, but please tell me about the last one as well! |
| Satsuki:I understand that this is a lot of information, but it’s important to know, and if you can’t remember all the rules right now, you can always look at the lesson notes for the explanations. |
| Alisha:That’s good advice! |
| Satsuki:So the last type of verbs are the ones whose stem ends in a vowel other than an ‘–a’. The stem of these verbs is the same as the verb in the infinitive. The verbs ‘att bo’ meaning “to live” and ‘att gå’ “to go” belong to this group. |
| Alisha:Yes and to change them into present tense, you simply add an ‘–r’. |
| Satsuki:So ‘att bo’ changes into ‘bor’ and ‘att gå’ changes into ‘går’ in the present tense. |
| Alisha:Okay, good work everyone! That’s it for this lesson, but please come back soon to learn more useful phrases in Swedish, and don’t forget to check the lesson notes. Bye everyone! |
| Satsuki:Thanks for listening! Hej då. |
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