Teach Yourself Complete Swedish - Audio CDs and Book
Brand New 2 CD's and Book
Are you looking for a complete course in Swedish which takes you effortlessly from beginner to confident speaker? Whether you are starting from scratch, or are just out of practice, Complete Swedish will guarantee success! Now fully updated to make your language learning experience fun and interactive. You can still rely on the benefits of a top language teacher and our years of teaching experience, but now with added learning features within the course and online.
The course is structured in thematic units and the emphasis is placed on communication, so that you effortlessly progress from introducing yourself and dealing with everyday situations, to using the phone and talking about work. By the end of this course, you will be at Level B2 of the Common European Framework for Languages: Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.
Learn effortlessly with a new easy-to-read page design and interactive features:
NOT GOT MUCH TIME?
One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started.
AUTHOR INSIGHTS
Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience.
GRAMMAR TIPS
Easy-to-follow building blocks to give you a clear understanding.
USEFUL VOCABULARY
Easy to find and learn, to build a solid foundation for speaking.
DIALOGUES
Read and listen to everyday dialogues to help you speak and understand fast.
PRONUNCIATION
Don’t sound like a tourist! Perfect your pronunciation before you go.
TEST YOURSELF
Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress.
EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Extra online articles at: www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of the culture and history of Sweden.
TRY THIS
Innovative exercises illustrate what you’ve learnt and how to use it.
* This course is equally suitable for the complete beginner or the person with some knowledge of Swedish who is looking for a thorough grounding in understanding, speaking and writing Swedish.
* The topics covered will appeal to those learning for holiday and business purposes.
* There is very little available for the person wanting to learn Swedish. This course caters for all learners - complete beginners and those with a smattering of the language.
* Covers a wide range of topics and language structures for learners who want to progress quickly beyond the basics to a level where they can communicate with confidence.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Pronunciation
Formal and informal introductions and greetings
Stock expressions and numbers from 0-12
Telling the time and counting to 100
Discussing leisure activities and the weather
Banks and money
Shopping
Directions and apologies
Meals, restaurants, food and drink
Road signs and advice
Asking for and offering assistance
Asking for information
Hotels and tourist attractions
Transport
Illnesses and ailments
Telephones and post
Some useful verbs
Swedish-English/English-Swedish glossaries
About the Author Vera Croghan:
Vera Croghan started teaching Swedish at Aberdeen University straight after her second degree from Lund University, Sweden. After her marriage, she moved to Edinburgh where she gave private lessons and translated and interpreted for the Swedish Consul and businesses. She began teaching at the University of East Anglia when it opened in 1963 and taught there for 30 years.
Professor Ivo Holmqvist has taught Scandinavian literature at the universities of Lund, Odense, Ghent and Auckland.
About the Swedish Language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by more than nine million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish (see especially "Classification"). Along with the other North Germanic languages, Swedish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era.
Standard Swedish is the national language that evolved from the Central Swedish dialects in the 19th century and was well-established by the beginning of the 20th century. While distinct regional varieties descended from the older rural dialects still exist, the spoken and written language is uniform and standardized. Some dialects differ considerably from the standard language in grammar and vocabulary and are not always mutually intelligible with Standard Swedish. These dialects are confined to rural areas and are spoken primarily by small numbers of people with low social mobility. Though not facing imminent extinction, such dialects have been in decline during the past century, despite the fact that they are well researched and their use is often encouraged by local authorities.
The standard word order is Subject Verb Object, though this can often be changed to stress certain words of phrases. Swedish morphology is similar to English, i.e. that words have comparatively few inflections; there are two genders, no grammatical cases, and a distinction between plural and singular. Adjectives are compared as in English, and are also inflected according to gender, number and definiteness. The definiteness of nouns is marked primarily through suffixes (endings), complemented with separate definite and indefinite articles. The prosody features both stress and in most dialects tonal qualities. The language has a comparatively large vowel inventory. Swedish is also notable for the voiceless dorso-palatal velar fricative, a highly variable consonant phoneme.
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