Posts from January 2009

Jokkmokk marknad 2009 is almost here

Posted by Transparent Language 6 Comments
Jan 14 2009

As Gimena pointed out it’s almost time for the Sami market in Jokkmokk. And darn, this year I won’t be able to go. I went in 2005 when the market celebrated its 400-year anniversary, and let me tell you, it was really something. Unfortunately, I lost my camera that time… And finding a place to stay was almost impossible. Normally, all the hotels and rooms in private homes are booked well in advance. Yes, the market is THAT popular.

I just called the Jokkmokk tourist office to see how’s it’s going this year, and they told me the town is pretty much fully booked.

Why is the event so popular? This is THE Sami market in the world. And like I mentioned before, it’s been going on for more than 400 years. If you are interested in the Sami culture, there is no better place to visit.


photo: Jokkmokk guiderna

I am particularly upset that I can’t go this year, because one of my favorite Swedish indie bands – Mollet will be playing at the market.

Mollet are six Sami guys from Kiruna, who play what can be described as “garage jojk” or indigenous rock. And yes, they also sing in the Sami language.

They will be playing at the Jokkmokk market on February 6th at 10PM.
You can check out their music on their myspace page. Normally, when I’m driving long distances, you can see, or rather, hear me in the car jojking along to “Olles ija.

OK, now på svenska.

Var ligger Jokkmokk?
Jokkmokk ligger strax norr om polcirkeln, i hjärtat av Lappland.
Jokkmokk är känt för Jokkmokks marknad, som firade 400-årsjubileum i februari 2005, samt för sin roll som en central samisk samlingsplats.


Horse races are for wusses. We have reindeer races in Jokkmokk!

photo: hakimu, creative commons

PS. And don’t you just love saying “Jokkmokk“? It just sort of rolls off your tongue, doesn’t it?

Allt om reflexer

Posted by Transparent Language 4 Comments
Jan 12 2009

If you don’t mind, I’d like to continue with our little road safety awareness message. Today’s topic – reflectors. The kind you wear on your clothing.

Now, don’t laugh! This is actually a serious matter. You think you’ve seen dark, but unless you’re from Alaska, you haven’t seen real dark. The kind of dark that comes at 2PM and wants to eat your soul by 5 in the afternoon. The kind of dark that requires an additional set of headlights for your car. (No, I am not joking.)

Yet even with all the headlights in the world, it still can be very difficult to see people, especially if said people wear dark clothing, or ride bikes in the dark.

You think I’m exaggerating? Nationalföreningen för Trafiksäkerhetens Främjande (The National Society for Road Safety) doesn’t think so. They agree that using proper personal reflectors is very important.

You will often see kids with shiny plastic gizmos hanging on their jackets, yet their parents are almost invisible in their dark winter coats. Or you will see an adult with a snap-on reflective band, yet the dog they are walking is invisible against the dark. Or you will see a woman with a reflective vest, but the baby carriage she’s pushing is black against black.


Baby carriage with a glow-in-the-dark cover and a little fella dressed for a safe evening walk.

I had never realized just how important personal reflectors were until I started driving in Norrland.

Did you know that:

Om du har mörka kläder upptäcker en bil med halvljus dig på 20-30 meters avstånd och om du har ljusa kläder syns du från 60 meter. Om du bär reflex ser bilen dig redan på 125 meters avstånd.

(If you wear dark clothes you are noticed by a driver from the distance of about 20-30 meters, with light clothes – from 60 meters, but when you have a reflector, you can be seen from 125 meters.)

Fortunately, the NTF webpage is a virtual goldmine of information. All you need to know about reflective items, vests and clothing can be found on their site.

And if you don’t know where to purchase a reflective snap-on band or a cute hangy-thingy for your child, head to your nearest Apoteket (pharmacy). They have a wide selection of all sorts of snazzy reflectors for kids and adults. And while you’re at it, don’t forget about your dog, especially if you’re using an extendable leash. Your puppy needs to be seen, too.

Walk safely!

Image: NTF

Remember – hjärnan kan inte gipsas!

Posted by Transparent Language 4 Comments
Jan 8 2009

The shortest day of the year is behind us, but that doesn’t mean that the days are getting all that much longer. While it’s not pitch black at 3PM anymore, it’s still dark. Add to this snow and ice, and driving can be very unpleasant. And dangerous.

I drive, and I can’t even imagine how people can survive here without a car. But that’s a topic for a whole another post. The fact is – some people don’t drive. Even though it’s snowy and slippery, some people still ride their bicycles. And no, riding a bike in the snow is not an extreme sport here but a necessity if you don’t own a car. You can even get special winter bicycle tires, which are studded just like normal winter car tires.

Studded tires notwithstanding, it still surprises me how many of those hardened winter cyclists don’t wear helmets. The law says that only kids under 15 need to wear helmets, and it seems that even though it’s the law, few of them actually follow it. I wonder what their parents think. Do they put their faith in the Swedish health system? Hmmm… I really would like to know.

According to Vägverket’s statistical information, only 65.5% of kids under 10 years of age wear a helmet. And only 43.6% in the 10 to 16 years of age group. For adults the results are embarrassing – 20 to 22% of adults under the age of 65 wear a helmet. The percentage is equally low for older people.

This is pathetic. I did not look for statistics about brain injuries, but a visit to any ER in winter will tell you all you need to know. Not wearing a helmet when riding a bike can be deadly.

Vägverket is being very gentle on their website when reminding people to wear bike helmets. Too gentle, if you ask me:

Varje dag skadas nära hundra cyklister i Sverige. Få av dem krockar med bilar eller andra trafikanter. Den vanligaste olyckan är en singelolycka. Så glöm inte hjälmen – hjärnan kan inte gipsas.

Why am I writing about it today?
I was driving from the store and on my way home witnesses a serious accident. A cyclist didn’t manage to stop in time at the intersection. He was going downhill from a bike path, but braking on snow and ice proved to be too difficult. A couple of somersaults later, he ended up with his head in the middle of a busy road. And oh yeah, he was not wearing a helmet.

So, even if you think you don’t look cool when wearing a helmet, just imagine how uncool you will look with a serious brain injury.
Remember – you can put an arm or a leg in a plaster cast, but not a brain.

Here is some info about choosing a proper bicycle helmet, courtesy of Vägverket.

Tips när du köper hjälm:


Hjälmar ska uppfylla grundkrav för hälsa och säkerhet för att få säljas. Bruksanvisningen ska vara på svenska och även förklara märkningen. Ett CE-märke på hjälmen visar att tillverkaren fått certifikat på att hjälmen uppfyller de krav som lagen ställer. Bara särskilt utsedda laboratorier kan utfärda certifikaten.


När du provar hjälm, tänk på följande:
• Hjälmen ska sitta perfekt så att den inte kan trilla av eller skjutas bakåt och lämna pannan fri. Den får inte glida ner i nacken!
• Om du köper till ett barn: köp inte en för stor hjälm som barnet ska växa i.
• Hjälmen ska täcka panna, bakhuvud och hjässa.
• Hjälmen ska vara lätt att ta på och av och lätt att fästa med hakbandet.
• Hjälmen ska vara så lätt och bekväm att den inte känns jobbig att använda. Se till att knäppningen i hakbandet inte nyper eller klämmer.
• Hakbandet brukar vara lagom spänt om du får ett finger mellan bandet och hakan. Det är viktigt att hjälmen sitter stadigt!
• Du ska trivas med hjälmen. Prova den framför spegeln innan du bestämmer dig. Det är inget fel om den är snygg.

Image: pressbilder VV

Vecka 2

Posted by Transparent Language 7 Comments
Jan 6 2009

If you are a new arrival to Sweden, there is something that you will notice almost immediately. Even sooner than immediately (if that’s at all possible) if you have school-age kids.
Or maybe you’ve already noticed it when dealing on-line with various Swedish establishments.

I’m talking about the charming, but vaguely inconvenient to the uninitiated, way in which Swedes use the calendar.

You see, things are counted in weeks over here.
A notice may appear at your local gym proclaiming it closed vecka 28-30, for example. With no dates added. Why no dates? Because almost everybody here knows exactly when weeks 28, 29 and 30 are.

Weeks are numbered on almost all calendars available for sale in Sweden (except for the one I bought at Ica MAXI, but it has cute kitten pictures instead, so it’s a fair trade, in my opinion).

When the weeks are in single digits, it’s easy enough to keep track of them. We are now in week 2 – vecka 2 of 2009. But just wait till summertime rolls around and you will have to decipher when week 28 begins.

Because the weeks are not numbered in my calendar, I printed out this handy chart I found on the internet and stuck it on my fridge.

And as you can see above the chart, even vacation rentals are reserved by week number, and not the actual date.
You will see week numbers on correspondence from your local vårdcentral (health clinic), library, your kids’ school, on announcements from all sorts of organizations, including Migrationsverket, and even on supermarket circulars.

So, in other words, week numbers = important stuff in Sweden.

201 Swedish Verbs

Posted by Transparent Language 4 Comments
Jan 3 2009

Do you like learning about verbs? I mean, learning foreign verbs? If you’re like me, you probably love it and detest it, depending on the weather.

Someone asked me not so long ago about a good book when it comes to mastering Swedish verbs. And I think I mentioned “201 Swedish Verbs (fully conjugated in all the tenses)” but honestly, I don’t know what on earth I was thinking.

“201 Swedish Verbs (fully conjugated in all the tenses)” by Richard Auletta and Leif Sjöberg, ISBN 0-8120-0528-7

I have this book. And let me tell you, as far as verb books go, this one is well, how to put it nicely… I guess “mediocre” will have to do.

The concept is great. I’ve used books from this series (Barron’s Educational Series) for learning Spanish and French. I liked how they explained everything in excruciating detail, and how the verbs were presented in all the tenses and forms and what not. It was designed for dummies like me. It was just perfect.

But the “201 Swedish Verbs” book is far from perfect. Why? Oh, let me count the ways!

  • 1. Swedish verbs stay the same regardless of which subject pronoun you use, whether it is jag, du, han, hon, vi, ni or de, the verb form stays the same.
    Yet, all the forms with their applicable pronouns are listed on every page
  • 2. Just like in English, some Swedish verbs are irregular. But many are perfectly regular, and after you’ve seen a couple of them, you can follow the pattern in your sleep.Yet, such perfectly regular verbs as “arbeta” (to work) and “baka” (to bake) and “börja” (to begin) and many, many others are included in the book.
  • 3. Some Swedish verbs are very similar to the ones in English. So similar in fact, that you have absolutely no doubt regarding their meaning.Yet such verbs are also included in this book: “kritisera” (to criticize) and “öppna” (to open) for example. And wouldn’t you know it? It’s a regular verb, too!
  • 4. Most foreign language learners are interested mainly in irregular verbs, right? Those are the ones that give students the most trouble.
    So why not make a book chock-full of irregular verbs instead?
  • 5. The book was first published in 1975. It claims to include all the verbs which occur in the three thousand words in Swedish. Well, that might have been the case in 1975, but really, who in this day and age uses the word “to curtsy” (niga)?
    In the authors defense, it IS an irregular verb, though it’s far from a common one these days.
    The book is in a desperate need of an update, that much is clear.

Yet, if you are struggling with Swedish verbs, this might be a helpful choice.

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