What do you want?

["couldbecousin"]

English overall sounds a bit "weak" to a Swedish ear. American English sounds more "genuine" and less uppity than British English.

But what about Swedish, when it is spoken by an American? Does the accent grate on your ears, or do you like the sound of it?

[TheoK]

English overall sounds a bit "weak" to a Swedish ear. American English sounds more "genuine" and less uppity than British English.

But what about Swedish, when it is spoken by an American? Does the accent grate on your ears, or do you like the sound of it?

¨

It sounds "cool" in a way. 

["couldbecousin"]

English overall sounds a bit "weak" to a Swedish ear. American English sounds more "genuine" and less uppity than British English.

But what about Swedish, when it is spoken by an American? Does the accent grate on your ears, or do you like the sound of it?

¨

It sounds "cool" in a way. 

 

I think there's a fine line between having enough of a foreign accent to be charming, and having so much that the new language is unintelligible to listeners. I would definitely eliminate most of my American accent, whatever new country I was living in. (Unless it was somewhere in the UK, in which case I'd be as obnoxiously American as I pleased  )

[TheoK]

Swedish with a slight American accent has some charm for sure.

Most Swedes admire the USA, openly or secretely. 

["couldbecousin"]

Swedish with a slight American accent has some charm for sure.

Most Swedes admire the USA, openly or secretely. 

Hooray!  Is Swedish hard to learn?

[TheoK]

Swedish with a slight American accent has some charm for sure.

Most Swedes admire the USA, openly or secretely. 

Hooray!  Is Swedish hard to learn?

The grammar is pretty simple. The hardest thing for foreigners is the spelling and pronunciation, I think.

[odeon]

I wanna live in the Netherlands.

Would you learn to speak Dutch, or does everyone speak English over there?

Most people below 60 speak English tolerable in western Europe. Younger people speak more or less fluently. 

The rules are stupid here.

Any European can come here, without having to learn the language. Do you come from outside of Europe you do have to learn the language. (though most English speaking people get away with it.) To me it is nothing more than polite to learn the basics of a language of a country you are in for more than just a few weeks. And the difference part of the EC or not makes no sense to me.

I've got neighbours for over 7 years now, who cannot but speak 5 or 6 words in Dutch. I know just as much of their language, maybe even more. I just don't think that that is right.

Agreed. I've met Finnish people who have lived here (in Sweden) for 40 years or more without learning more than a few words of Swedish. Their kids, who were either born here or very young when arriving, speak Swedish but very little Finnish, so they can't even talk to their parents properly.

Tragic, really.

Yes, three of the people next door went back to Portugal for a while, because the mother could not bear her child talking better Dutch than Portuguese. The five year old just refused to talk her mother tongue. They got back after a bit more than a year. And the kid had to relearn Dutch. The mother still doesn't speak it. I've offered her to help to learn it, but she just doesn't want to. They don't speak English either. Very secluded.

It's sad and unnecessary. Except in those few cases when they are unable to learn. Luckily my parents had no such problems when we moved to Sweden.

[odeon]

I feel the same way. If I were going to live in another country, not only would I learn to speak their language, but I would work every day to eliminate my American accent so I wasn't mangling their words. I would do this out of respect for my new home. 

*grabs Rosetta Stone software and gets to work!* 

That's a lot harder to do for most people, especially when coming from a language totally different from the new target language.

[odeon]

English overall sounds a bit "weak" to a Swedish ear. American English sounds more "genuine" and less uppity than British English.

Er, no. Some of us, maybe, but I wouldn't want to generalise. I've always found British English more pleasing to the ear.

Although I do like the English they speak in Maine.

[odeon]

Swedish with a slight American accent has some charm for sure.

Most Swedes admire the USA, openly or secretely. 

Hooray!  Is Swedish hard to learn?

The grammar is pretty simple. The hardest thing for foreigners is the spelling and pronunciation, I think.

Nah. both are pretty straight-forward, with few exceptions. English is a lot more inconsistent these days.

["couldbecousin"]

I want some new posts to read! Let's go, people! 

[earthboundmisfit]

I want to find a garage to rent. Can't find anything good on craigslist.

[odeon]

I want some new posts to read! Let's go, people! 

Here's one.

["couldbecousin"]

I want some new posts to read! Let's go, people! 

Here's one.

You rawk! 

['andersom']

I want to be somewhere else, and asleep.