Friday, February 3, 2012

A Glance Into Swedish for Beginners

The class happens on Monday and Wednesday, from 5:00 to 7:30 in the evening.  This is how it goes:

  1. We trudge in and shed our layers and whip out our pirated copies of the textbook.  Unless you're me, and then you wait for someone who's had the foresight to prepare for class so you can share.
  2. Role call.  Someone's not here.  Someone's not supposed to be here.  Someone switched sections without anyone's permission.  Someone doesn't know his name.
  3. Nine years later, we begin.
  4. Swedglish ensues: "Jag heter Emelia.  Jag studera political science och pop culture.  [My name is Emelia.  I study political science and pop culture.]" 
  5. The Italians shout "Bra! [Good!]" a lot.  
  6. A random outburst of English profanity occurs and is ignored.
  7. We have a break and I go get a cup of very strong coffee and a snack. 
  8. At some point, I feel the need to burst into Spanish.  Wrong. 
  9. I draw a picture in my notes.  Sometimes it goes well. 
  10. Homework instructions get fired off in a language that is neither Swedish nor English.  My hausaufgaben  will not get done if I can't understand the direcciones. 
  11. Finally, we scurry off into the night. 
The magic of learning.

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