adventures in reading Swedish
Mar. 17th, 2011 02:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareinaThe advantage of having a partner who is so fluent in the one language I speak that I only have to define words I use about once a fortnight is that we can communicate about anything. The disadvantage is that it is very, very tempting to just use English all of the time, and not practice the little bit of Swedish I am learning in class or picking up through songs and children's books. On the days we don't have something scheduled like folk dancing, choir, SCA stuff, or gaming, we tend to stay home and enjoy one another's company and work on projects. On those days the only time I hear Swedish is if I remember to get out one of the kid's books and read it to him. I do hear Swedish at dance and choir, but only related to the dancing or singing, so I am getting better about understanding that. This isn't enough exposure to the language for me to have hope of actually learning it well enough to speak it.
Therefore I have started listening to an audio book that he also has on paper, Aurian, by Maggie Furey. Not one I had ever heard of before--it was chosen because he happens to have it in both formats, so I can listen to it whilst my eyes follow along on the printed page. I have decided to just listen/read at full speed ahead, and not worry about the fact that I don't understand all of the words, just try to spot the places where I do know the words. Today I made time to listen to chapter one (about an hour long), and was pleased that there were some sentences I could understand every word, and even more sentences containing words I understand. Though there were far more sentences where I was simply lost. Nonetheless, I was able to grasp some things about the plot so far.
Our main character is a little girl named Aurian. On the first page she is greeted by a stranger, Forral, who tells her she looks just like her father, and asks to be taken to her mother. She tells the stranger that her mother is so busy that she doesn't even have time to meet with her, but the stranger insists. Around that point some recall of the girl's father, who had had red hair and was a powerful magician, happens. Apparently he died in some sort of catastrophe (which he caused by magic??). When the girl brings him home and up to where her mother is working mother first reminds her that she isn't to interrupt when she is working. Forral speaks and the mother, Eilin, points out that he is too late, if he really did want to help why has he been gone these eight years (since the father died), and she dismisses him. The Aurian and Forral continue to meet, against the mother's wishes (perhaps he is teaching her something? No idea, not enough vocabulary on my part to tell) and fall turns to winter. Then we have a lovely description of a snow storm blowing against the window of the house, as Aurian thinks about Forral (who may be going to leave???). Then he arrives at the house and Eilin is upset because Aurian went out into the snow storm. He rushes out to look for her, and the mother stays in and does something (magic?). Then she appears where he is in the woods, they find the girl, and bring her home and have a long conversation. I think that he promises to stay and help (teach?) the girl. The girl wakes up and he gives her some hot broth and tells her he will stay.
Not a bad amount of understanding, given how few words I actually know. I am certain I am missing lots of important details, but if I make myself listen to the whole book through, one chapter at a time, and then go back and listen again another time, when my vocabulary is better, I will pick up more of it. I would really like to get my hands on books I already know in both print and audio format. I would have NO problems following the Swedish version of Anne of Green Gables, having read it so many times before, and there are plenty of other books that I would be better able to follow because I have read the story, so have a good idea of what happens in each chapter. I wonder where to find them? Apparently there isn't really a decent book store in this town, though I haven't been into the one that is here to see how far it really is from "decent". And where does one find audio books, anyway? I have no idea. Especially if one wants them in Swedish, preferably in a matching edition to the print book, so that one can follow the text while one listens...
Therefore I have started listening to an audio book that he also has on paper, Aurian, by Maggie Furey. Not one I had ever heard of before--it was chosen because he happens to have it in both formats, so I can listen to it whilst my eyes follow along on the printed page. I have decided to just listen/read at full speed ahead, and not worry about the fact that I don't understand all of the words, just try to spot the places where I do know the words. Today I made time to listen to chapter one (about an hour long), and was pleased that there were some sentences I could understand every word, and even more sentences containing words I understand. Though there were far more sentences where I was simply lost. Nonetheless, I was able to grasp some things about the plot so far.
Our main character is a little girl named Aurian. On the first page she is greeted by a stranger, Forral, who tells her she looks just like her father, and asks to be taken to her mother. She tells the stranger that her mother is so busy that she doesn't even have time to meet with her, but the stranger insists. Around that point some recall of the girl's father, who had had red hair and was a powerful magician, happens. Apparently he died in some sort of catastrophe (which he caused by magic??). When the girl brings him home and up to where her mother is working mother first reminds her that she isn't to interrupt when she is working. Forral speaks and the mother, Eilin, points out that he is too late, if he really did want to help why has he been gone these eight years (since the father died), and she dismisses him. The Aurian and Forral continue to meet, against the mother's wishes (perhaps he is teaching her something? No idea, not enough vocabulary on my part to tell) and fall turns to winter. Then we have a lovely description of a snow storm blowing against the window of the house, as Aurian thinks about Forral (who may be going to leave???). Then he arrives at the house and Eilin is upset because Aurian went out into the snow storm. He rushes out to look for her, and the mother stays in and does something (magic?). Then she appears where he is in the woods, they find the girl, and bring her home and have a long conversation. I think that he promises to stay and help (teach?) the girl. The girl wakes up and he gives her some hot broth and tells her he will stay.
Not a bad amount of understanding, given how few words I actually know. I am certain I am missing lots of important details, but if I make myself listen to the whole book through, one chapter at a time, and then go back and listen again another time, when my vocabulary is better, I will pick up more of it. I would really like to get my hands on books I already know in both print and audio format. I would have NO problems following the Swedish version of Anne of Green Gables, having read it so many times before, and there are plenty of other books that I would be better able to follow because I have read the story, so have a good idea of what happens in each chapter. I wonder where to find them? Apparently there isn't really a decent book store in this town, though I haven't been into the one that is here to see how far it really is from "decent". And where does one find audio books, anyway? I have no idea. Especially if one wants them in Swedish, preferably in a matching edition to the print book, so that one can follow the text while one listens...
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-17 05:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-17 08:37 pm (UTC)Luckily, someone over on FB commented on the cross+post there with links to on line bookstores in Sweden, and told me that they are called Ljudböcker, so I may be able to find them now.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-17 09:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-20 06:31 am (UTC)