Week 2 – Getting past introductions to shopping and plurals

So now we have learned three songs – The Vowel Song, Vimse Mimse Spindle, and a lullaby The Mamma Troll. The Vowel song is just to teach us the nine vowels and how they change with consonants. Vimse Mimse Spindle is exactly like the Itsy Bitsy Spinder, excepts she Klatterer upp en trad (thread), and the mamma troll puts her twelve babies to bed by tying their tails together and then singing to them in trollska. But now we are onto numbers, and shopping and telling time.

The weather is lovely is a bit windy, and although rain has been predicted it never comes.

Sunday 2nd August

But I had a delightful Sunday to refresh me and help me along with my Swedish. Julia Ryberg and Matts invited me out to Svärtbacken slow Swedish and lunch. It was lovely to meet up with them and Arturo again. I was last at Svärtbacken 18 years ago with Judith when we were planning our wedding.

Julia spoke very slowly so I could follow and she helped me form anwsers and replies. I do find it strange that German tends to come back and get confused with Swedish. But maybe because I hear a lot of German spoken outside the class by some of the other students.

Julia then switched to English to tell me about her next writing project of transcribing her family letters over 3-4 generations of women in her family. As well as diaries of her grandfathers. It made me reflect how we no longer really write many letters and I know my electronic correspondence is sometimes dashed off in a hurry and terribly mis-spelt while my letters to my brother take longer and more thought and corrections along the way.

Julia also gave me a lovely present of two of her books – Julia + Arturo = Sant, A children’s book in Swedish which I can read now. The second book is also in Swedish and is about how Quaker methods could be used in the secular world. I look forwaard to reading it when my Sweddish is a bir more devejoped, but at leasr the concepts of Quaker methods aren’ new to me.

SO thank you you to Julia, Matts and Arturo for a lovely Sunday break..