Extremely lazy Sunday afternoons :)
Jun. 22nd, 2003 04:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
same_skyI would really like a good Swedish textbook. I have some of those small paperbacks (Swedish in Three Months, Teach Yourself Swedish and Essential Swedish Grammar, etc, but they're not hugely comprehensive and they won't stay open, so it's very hard to actually do any of the exercises without it being awkward. Not that I'm lazy. ;) Anyway, I've never made it to the end of either of the books with exercises, but I don't think that they go very much further than where I am now. The point here is that I would like recommendations, if any of you have them, on a excellent textbook not geared too strongly towards beginners, and of the real class type and not the teach-yourself-available-at-local-bookstore type. Doesn't necessarily have to be from an American store, though available online would be best, naturally.
I've been playing with Photoshop and pictures this morning. I have a new userpic, for one thing, which you might have noticed. That's the picture that was taken last night.. sorta. I changed the background.. I was seated on the other side of the patio from the flags and facing them. Hmm.. just realized that it's a little too dark at 100 x 100 pixels. ... Okay, betterish. I'm also in the market for a Photoshop book, although I suspect I'll never actually buy one unless it's deeply on sale. Expensive, those. Deeply on sale? What kind of expression is that? In any case, you can see from the picture that we made wreaths. They had cut a bunch of loose flowers, and we strung it all together with wire, which made the whole thing easier. Mine turned out very nicely, if I do say so myself, though I'm not sure how well it comes through. The lady who hosted the event (she was extremely sweet, btw) told me that if I put it in a bowl of water overnight, the flowers would spring back to life. I'm not sure what else I'm going to do with this wreath, but I tried it anyway, and it looks gloriously fresh this morning. Course, it's wet, so I wouldn't want to wear it, but still! There's a woeful lack of appropriate times to wear flowers in your hair, did you know that?
Oh! I just got a phone call from Jenny, who we met last night at the picnic. It was also the first event she had gone to--actually, she called after it started to ask if she could come. Did I mention that last night? I can't remember, and I can't check cause our internet connection is out again. Anyway. She had borrowed our newsletter to check something, but she forgot to give it back, and Magnus had given her his K-Image card so she could email him and get directions and such to Jungle Jim's. So she called us to let us know that she'd send it, and we talked for several minutes about last night's picnic and future gatherings and mentioned the possibility of getting together to do something sometime. That should be fun.. she seemed to be quite nice.
Ugh. I just realized that I haven't received a return receipt from the INS yet. We mailed that packet a week ago. *sob* I hope they haven't screwed this up already.
You know what's pretty neat? I actually met the husband of one of my friends-list's friend, in Stockholm in 2000. (So, the husband of a friend of a friend.) When I read the basic info on this person's info page and saw their website, I thought, "Hmm.. I wonder if that's *insert name of guy that Magnus worked with." She was a little vague about personal info, and Magnus didn't remember the details of the situation that made me wonder if it was them, but I saw, after much indirect looking, many many clues pointing in that direction. This person has a friends-only list, so I sent her an email at the address provided just to say hi and ask if it was the same person. That was several months ago, and she never replied.. I don't know if she never got it or just wasn't interested in replying (although I have to say that I would find that odd.) Anyway, indirectly due to the same mutual friend again, I happened upon her website, which had a link to recent pictures.. and there he was, for sure it was the same guy I met at a work-related dinner party. I think that's fantastically neat, but since she didn't reply, I suppose that we're the only ones that thinks so! ;)
I've been playing with Photoshop and pictures this morning. I have a new userpic, for one thing, which you might have noticed. That's the picture that was taken last night.. sorta. I changed the background.. I was seated on the other side of the patio from the flags and facing them. Hmm.. just realized that it's a little too dark at 100 x 100 pixels. ... Okay, betterish. I'm also in the market for a Photoshop book, although I suspect I'll never actually buy one unless it's deeply on sale. Expensive, those. Deeply on sale? What kind of expression is that? In any case, you can see from the picture that we made wreaths. They had cut a bunch of loose flowers, and we strung it all together with wire, which made the whole thing easier. Mine turned out very nicely, if I do say so myself, though I'm not sure how well it comes through. The lady who hosted the event (she was extremely sweet, btw) told me that if I put it in a bowl of water overnight, the flowers would spring back to life. I'm not sure what else I'm going to do with this wreath, but I tried it anyway, and it looks gloriously fresh this morning. Course, it's wet, so I wouldn't want to wear it, but still! There's a woeful lack of appropriate times to wear flowers in your hair, did you know that?
Oh! I just got a phone call from Jenny, who we met last night at the picnic. It was also the first event she had gone to--actually, she called after it started to ask if she could come. Did I mention that last night? I can't remember, and I can't check cause our internet connection is out again. Anyway. She had borrowed our newsletter to check something, but she forgot to give it back, and Magnus had given her his K-Image card so she could email him and get directions and such to Jungle Jim's. So she called us to let us know that she'd send it, and we talked for several minutes about last night's picnic and future gatherings and mentioned the possibility of getting together to do something sometime. That should be fun.. she seemed to be quite nice.
Ugh. I just realized that I haven't received a return receipt from the INS yet. We mailed that packet a week ago. *sob* I hope they haven't screwed this up already.
You know what's pretty neat? I actually met the husband of one of my friends-list's friend, in Stockholm in 2000. (So, the husband of a friend of a friend.) When I read the basic info on this person's info page and saw their website, I thought, "Hmm.. I wonder if that's *insert name of guy that Magnus worked with." She was a little vague about personal info, and Magnus didn't remember the details of the situation that made me wonder if it was them, but I saw, after much indirect looking, many many clues pointing in that direction. This person has a friends-only list, so I sent her an email at the address provided just to say hi and ask if it was the same person. That was several months ago, and she never replied.. I don't know if she never got it or just wasn't interested in replying (although I have to say that I would find that odd.) Anyway, indirectly due to the same mutual friend again, I happened upon her website, which had a link to recent pictures.. and there he was, for sure it was the same guy I met at a work-related dinner party. I think that's fantastically neat, but since she didn't reply, I suppose that we're the only ones that thinks so! ;)
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no subject
Date: 2003-06-22 04:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-23 06:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-22 06:22 pm (UTC)Well, I can recommend Nybörjarsvenska and Nybörjarsvenska Övningsbok by Göransson & Lindholm but I can't find any available copies online anywhere. I actually found the latter totally by accident at Powells (I make a point of perusing the Swedish language shelf whenever I'm there in person) -- I used both when I was taking private lessons through Berlitz. I would say by lesson 35, things get challenging (there are 74 lessons). These books are not for wimps ;-) and don't have a single word of English in them. There are no answers in the back of the Övningsbok (workbook) either but I'm sure Magnus would be happy to review your homework ;-)
I really like my little "Learn Swedish" lesson book put out more or less by the Institute for English-Speaking Students, circa 1959 (!!) which I also found at Powells.
This page (http://www.grantandcutler.com/catalogues/nordic/swedish/swede_04.htm) has an interesting list of books and CD's (some of which you're already familiar with) but since it lists the first two I mentioned, I'd say it's a pretty good list ;-) (see also http://www.grantandcutler.com/catalogues/nordic/nordicmain.htm, scroll down to Swedish)
The other approach would be to start reading a book in Swedish on a topic you're interested with a dictionary nearby. I'm barely at the Harry Potter level but it's another way to go about improving your vocab (my big challenge when I was last focused on learning Swedish).
Last but not least, have you tried asking in
Lycka till!
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Date: 2003-06-23 06:06 pm (UTC)Thanks for the recommendations. I'm going to try to get on this again and find a good book, so I'll definitely check them out. The problem with books, though, is that you have to actually read them before they do any good. Sucks that way. :) I've tried reading a book in Swedish (fiction) but I keep procrastinating with that.. I guess I need shorter texts because otherwise I can't keep my mind on it. And I'm too impatient for reading articles online. I sent Magnus on a mission to find me something daily of interest, but he never really came up with anything other than the standard newspapers and such, which I don't even read in English. :) Depressing. Oh, well. I'm sure you'll know it when I get fully back in learning mode. :)
Hugs!
no subject
Date: 2003-06-22 06:59 pm (UTC)Okay, try this link (http://www.bokpris.com/search.php?type=title&search=Nyb%F6rjarsvenska). The books you want are:
Nybörjarsvenska övningsbok ISBN: 9174344587
Nybörjarsvenska lärobok ISBN: 9174344579
They appear to be updated versions of the two I have. Hope this helps!
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Date: 2003-06-22 07:03 pm (UTC)Oh, yeah, I LOVE your new pic!! :-) (now i'll go away and stop bothering you. i promise ;-)
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Date: 2003-06-23 06:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-23 09:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-23 06:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-23 11:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-23 06:11 pm (UTC)