Vill du ha något att äta med mig?

[same_sky]

Remember how I said that the conversations in my Pimsleur Swedish CD were fantastically bad? And that they were all about how to pick someone up in Swedish? Today's conversation was so funny that I had to transcribe it for you. I hope the utter ridiculousness of it translates (this whole thing takes five full minutes, with the repetition and the two languages.) The intonations are part of what makes it funny.

Characters: Mikael and Ingrid.

Mikael: Excuse me. Do you want to have something to eat with me?

Ingrid: No, thank you. *pause* Not now, and not later.

Mikael: But at 1:00, is that alright?

Ingrid: No, that's not alright.

Mikael: At 2:00?

Ingrid: No, thank you, I do NOT want to.

Mikael: Later, at 8:00. *pause* Or 9:00. *pause* At what time?

Ingrid: No, I do not WANT to have something to drink with you.

Mikael: Oh, I understand now.

Ingrid: Good, you understand now.

Mikael: Yeah, you don't want to have something to eat with me. *pause* You want to have something to DRINK with me! *pause* At a restaurant! Do you want to have something to drink with me? *pause* At 8:00 or at 9:00?

Ingrid: Not at 1:00 and not at 2:00. Not at 8:00 and not at 9:00.

Mikael: At what time?

Ingrid: You don't understand!

Mikael: What don't I understand?

Ingrid: You don't understand SWEDISH!

Comments

[ladysunrunner.livejournal.com]

*lol* that is funny! especially the last line! reminds me of this...

"i will not eat them in a boat, i will not eat them with a goat. i do not like green eggs and ham, i will not eat them, sam i am!"

[carrieb.livejournal.com]

*lol* I was just going to post that Dr. Suess must have written part of that dealie.

The ridiculousness def. transtlates.

[helloheather.livejournal.com]

Hahaha... poor Mikael. He will never get the girl with THOSE moves.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

I guess persistence can be a virtue, but wow, this dude is going to be in for a lot of disappointing encounters!

[e11en.livejournal.com]

Hahaha! It's more than just Swedish he doesn't understand!

[blue-eyed-girl.livejournal.com]

Too right! Hahahahaha!

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

*laugh* Good point! I think you're right.

[brief-therapy.livejournal.com]

That is hilarious! I suppose you're learning a few Swedish phrases from that - but Mikael and Ingrid are not exactly giving their listeners any idea at all of proper Swedish social skills!

And I agree with the first commenter - the writer must have read a lot of Dr. Seuss before coming up with this! Sven I am!

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

It's so funny. And can you imagine, a learn-Swedish exercise where the annoyed Swede says "You don't understand Swedish!" in response to something the clueless (supposely American) guy says? Way to keep us motivated there! It's really a weird little set of lessons. 1, 2, 8 and 9 are the only numbers that it teaches, for one thing. (Though I haven't listened to the last one yet.) I'm not sure there were any words at all in the entire unit that I haven't known.. but it's been good to keep me motivated and practice pronunciation.

[kapuhi.livejournal.com]

See, now I'm wondering about Swedish guys.. are they notoriously persistent? 'Cause, we have a Hawaiian language book we've worked on occasionally, and the phrases they teach are VERY pertinent to the culture. Stuff like "maybe thieves stole that radio" or "Keoni is in Punalu'u, hiding from the police" or "the tourists don't know about this beach." Seriously. :)

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

Nope, they're not. M was just shaking his head at that. He does have a Swedish-pronounced name in this conversation but previously in the lessons, the male speaker (same one) was American.. so if they ARE under the influence of cultural stereotyping, it's a negative one to the US. But the phrases in your Hawaiian language book are hilarious. The tourists don't know about this beach, indeed!