Amitabh Bachchan Speaks Out on Bofors
The Swedish whistleblower who exposed the Bofors scandal 25 years ago suggested Mr. Bachchan wasn't at all involved in the arms deal scandal that shook Indian politics and ruined the political career of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Read more on Wall Street Journal (blog)
Why no parenting self-help books speak to me
“How to Parent like a Half-Korean, Half Swedish/Czech Family” doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. The second problem is that the book would be filled with contradictions. You'd be hard pressed to find two countries with more different views on …
Read more on Globe and Mail
'Are Swedes really more polite in English?'
I was sitting in a bar recently, observing an English-speaking bartender in an Irish pub, while he charmingly dominated some small talk with a bunch of Swedes. Later, after I discovered that he was both proficient and educated in Swedish, …
Read more on The Local.se
Swedish safari guide, staff charged with murder in C. Africa
A Swedish professional hunter and 10 members of his safari firm have been charged with murder after 13 miners were found dead in the northeast of the country, police said Monday. Erik Mararv, who heads the big game Central African Wildlife Adventures …
Read more on Ninemsn
The FA opts for compromise: a cosmopolitan Englishman
He qualified as a teacher, briefly played football in apartheid South Africa and in 1976, aged 28, took his first managerial post at little Halmstad in Sweden. His friend Bob Houghton, once a fellow grammar school pupil, was already working in Sweden.
Read more on Financial Times
Not your typical football manager: Roy Hodgson's love of foreign literature …
He speaks Norwegian, Italian and Swedish as well as good Finnish, German, Danish and French – languages he picked up managing 16 clubs in eight countries. Along the way he has earned a reputation for helping teams punch above their weight which, …
Read more on Mirror.co.uk
Boomer Beat: Area businessman pursues his passions
He put on his bucket list the desire to learn 5 languages. He already could speak a little Swedish and German and decided to learn French. One day, customer Jared Shlaes came into The Framery and noticed Jim's French study books.
Read more on Northwest Herald
Torture is justified
Available at Asia Books and leading bookshops, 350 baht Just when I thought I'd reviewed every kind of crime novel, up comes a new variation, which Midwinter Sacrifice by Swedish author Mons Kallentoft clearly is. Not that different is necessarily …
Read more on Bangkok Post
The answer is in the seed bag
If you live in Sweden visit www.julielindahl.com to take advantage of a special offer currently available for Lindahl's books. Learn more about her other books and activities at www.julielindahl.com.
Read more on The Local.se (blog)
Learn Swedish – 4 Great Resources To Speed Learning
1) Start with Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone is the most well known language software program. It utilizes a unique system that attempts to mimic the environment that we all learn languages as children. Therefore, there are no translations or grammar rules. Instead, students must infer the meaning of Swedish words through context and pictures. This process truly aids in the retention of words and makes learning a much more enjoyable process. This software is the best place to begin learning Swedish.
2) Watch Swedish TV
One of the most difficult tasks in learning Swedish is being able to follow and participate in conversations. If you live outside of Sweden and are not surrounded by Swedish speakers, a great exercise is simply watching TV. The Swedish TV programs are well produced and often times the same as shows in the US. From sitcoms to reality shows, you can find it in Swedish
Even if you are a beginner, it still helps to watch these shows. Just try to listen for words you recognize. It’s amazing what you will pick up on and it will really help you retain the Swedish words you’ve learned. Several of the online shows offer subtitles in Swedish at the bottom of the screen. Subtitles are ideal and will allow you to pick up on much more of each conversation. You can search for many of these shows online including Swedish TV3 or TV8.
3) Try the free online Swedish dictionary
Thanks to the internet, we no longer have to go to the bookstore and pay for expensive foreign language dictionaries. The benefit of an online dictionary is not just ease of use, but also accuracy. Folkets Lexicon is a free dictionary developed in Sweden that is on an open platform basis. Since it is an open platform, it is more likely that the translations you receive are relevant words and not antiquated translations. Simply type in any word in Swedish or English that you would like to translate and a list of suggestions will instantly populate. For verbs, the dictionary provides all the relevant tenses so learning verbs has never been easier. If you want to bring the dictionary on the go, it is possible to download the entire collection. Obviously, this open source dictionary is a great free resource to help you learn Swedish
4) Take lessons with LiveMocha.com
There are over 10 million people throughout the world that have joined this social language learning network. The website offers free Swedish lessons as well as a network to connect with native Swedish speakers. The lessons follow the same structure as Rosetta Stone which is the leading language instruction software. Live Mocha offers other free resources as well such as the ability to create flashcards or use flashcards that have been created by others. The social aspect of the site will help keep students motivated to learn and help create connections to Swedes.
