Swedish: Over Before It Began

[lupestripe]

I went to my first Swedish class this evening and sadly it's going to be my last. With only five people enrolling, there are not enough students to make the course viable. Still, I may get private lessons from the tutor at a later date but these will cost a lot more money and if I am arranging them myself I doubt I will be as motivated to learn - paying money up front makes you determined to go to lessons and study - I know I will just lazy if I have to arrange things on a weekly, ad-hoc basis.

Being in a classroom again was great though, it's something I miss from my University days. The other four people there were cool and one of the guys even gave me a lift home (going out of his way too) which was nice. To get to the school, I have to walk through one of the rougher parts of town and I didn't want to risk it after my run-ins in the town centre with my pink hair. I'm not scared, I just want to live, so the guy at least saved me the taxi fare.

The only thing of note that I learned today was that "gift" - pronounced "yiffed" - means poison or married in Swedish, which made me chuckle. I wonder how that can be related to the Fandom.

I really got into studying again and it's a shame I can't continue with it. I was hoping it would occupy my mind and reduce my feelings of frustration and anger. However all is not lost. The Polish course is still running on a Wednesday night so I think I am going to do that instead. The night is not as good as a Tuesday but at least with 12 people, the course is definitely going to happen. So I'll be back down there tomorrow :-)

Comments

[shep-shepherd.livejournal.com]

I think Polish would be most useful to know in the current demographic climate, especially in my part of Southend, which seems to have become Little Warsaw over the past few years :)

[snowfields.livejournal.com]

It's funny, I only live around the corner from you and there's barely any. There are some Russians on my street though.

Gift is also poison in German, useless fact.

[shep-shepherd.livejournal.com]

Our road has the Polanka restaurant, which is the sort-of official centre of all Polish activities in S-O-S. This is good as Polish beer is available in all the shops in our locale, which makes this woofwoof very happy indeed ^^

Pawnote: Must come and see you some time :)

[snowfields.livejournal.com]

You're welcome any time.

[shep-shepherd.livejournal.com]

Thanks :)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Erm, I hope you guys have great fun lols *hugs*

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Ah Polish beer - one very good thing about EU immigration laws :)

What sort of food do they have in the Polanka restaurant? Traditional Polish stuff. It was quite nice, the stuff I had in Poland (although quite stodgy and unhealthy).

[shep-shepherd.livejournal.com]

Traditional Polish and German stuff mainly, such as boiled meat, cabbage and potatoes, which is totally unappetising to me...

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

It can be a bit bland but the beetroot soup (borszcz) is really nice :)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

I think Gift is poison in most of the Germanic languages - they are all related so do share words in common I guess.

[snowfields.livejournal.com]

Richtig! Prima! Eine gelbes sterre fur dich! (or something)
I'm a little out of practice with my German, I don't get to use it all that much any more, but I used to be really quite good.

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Lols. Ich weiss ein bischen Deutsch aber ich bin nicht fliessend. Es gibt mir Wut weil ich besser sein will aber es ist schwerig in England zu ueben :(

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

That was what I was thinking initially - I just opted for Swedish because it was going to be far easier for me to learn and probably more manageable with regards to my workload. Either way, destiny has chosen Polish for me and God it's hard. Still, I like a challenge so I'm looking forward to it.

[hytiger.livejournal.com]

Good luck :)
I've tried my hardest, & failed with Swedish :( However, I had more luck with Polish... I can easily get fed & drunk in poland!

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

That's interesting as I find Polish far more difficult than Swedish. My understanding of German (such as it is) probably helps with the latter and perhaps I am more overwhelmed with Polish as today was my first lesson but it does seem the most complex language I have ever tried to tackle.

Getting drunk and fed in Poland though is great fun - I've been there many times :)