Colloquial Swedish: A Complete Language Course (Colloquial)

We bought this book in preparation for a short holiday to Sweden, interested to have something a bit higher and to gain more insight into the way the language works than you would gain from a phrasebook.

On the positive side, the book has a strong focus on pronunciation. However, you will gain limited essential vocabulary for everyday situations. We thought it was laughable that the word for "metal workers' union" had cropped up twice before we could even say "Good morning", ask for and receive directions, order food, know basic numbers, etc. etc. etc. (you get the picture).

It's difficult to pick up basic vocabulary from the CDs. You are asked to repeat back lots of words for pronunciation (metal workers' union; religion, institution, a variety of personal names and place names), without worrying about the meaning, but not asked to repeat back anything from the dialogues featured, so don't expect much progress from these.

On the CD, lots of passages are read aloud as in the book, many without pause or any explanation or afterword, in constrast to other volumes in the series, where the speaker explains in English, invites you in English to make certain responses (as given in passages).

We previously bought the Prague volume, and thought that the selection of material in that course was a bit eclectic and eccentric. This is even more the case in this book, which contains dialogues on moving in with someone in Sweden and buying a sofa (surely by the point you were moving in with someone, you'd have got past the language course stage?).

All in all, better for those with lots of time and interest, but no interest in basic conversational Swedish.

How to put you off learning languages (7/11 people found this helpful)

Perhaps I had unrealistic expectations, having had previous success with Michel Thomas titles in French and Italian, but this book and DVD are really hard going. It starts with "this is the Swedish alphabet" and moves quickly on to "repeat these 84 vowel sounds". By the time it gets to some dialogue you are straight in at the deep end, and unlike one of the other reviewers I would quite like to know how to say "how are you?". After two 30 minute sessions, during which I fell asleep twice and retained about three words, I have given up. Definitely not for beginners, nor possibly anyone with a brain rather than a microprocessor in their head.

A thorough grounding in Swedish (10/10 people found this helpful)

As a English/Dutch speaker trying to learn my 3rd language I must say that this is the best language book that I have ever come across. Admittedly the level starts high and progresses quickly but I was grateful not to spend the first 4 chapters learning to say 'My name is... I am 26... & Where is the museum?...' IMHO if you want to learn a new language then there is no quick way (like so many books promise) and this book explains grammar in a clear logical way which will keep you on the right track for the remainder of your Swedish speaking life. This is no phrase book, so if your just on holiday there for a few days then this is not for you. However if you seriously want to be able to speak Swedish and have a thorough grounding in the language then I couldn't recommend this book highly enough. (I finished the book 1 year ago and now consider myself to be pretty fluent).

Great for people with an existing second language (5/5 people found this helpful)

This book covers a lot of ground quickly - after the prologue i felt i could pronounce most swedish sounds and grasp good chunks of the grammar (i already have german which helps).
Compared to other colloquial books, there's about twice as much in this as in the spanish/italian/french books. This is great, as there ain't many useful swedish books out there for beginners.
One thing - if you want to learn swedish using this book, don't skip ahead. Do each page over and over until it sinks in. It'll take time, but it's worth it.

A Rare Disappointment (10/16 people found this helpful)

Hitherto I have been a great fan of the "Colloquial" series and have not hesitated to recommend them to other people, regardless of the language in question. This book has caused to me to think again. I don't like to speaking badly of a book, but this is a rare disappointment in this language series. I came to it fresh from "Colloquial Norwegian", which is superb, far better than "TY Norwegian" and "Norwegian in 3 Months". I learnt Norwegian really quickly and learnt lots of words as well. I hoped this book would be similar, but not so. It is very dense, which makes it heavy going and also difficult to move backward and forwards to find things you wish to refer to. Important points are explained very briefly or hardly at all. The index is very poor. I campared it with the index for "Colloquial Norwegian". They are almost the same length, but the Norwegian one is much more useful. Part of the problem is the concentration on grammar both in the text and in the index (though it fairness, one can find "my name is.." -- if you look hard enough), but one is better off using a proper primer for grammar. I note the authors used this book in a class situation. Perhaps in a class with a teacher to explain things, this book may work well enough, but for a self-learner (for which the "Colloquial" series is usually well-suited) this book is hard work. There are also too many characters knocking around (the Norwegian book uses one family) and the Swedish text is difficult to read (it is rather blurred, particularly in the glossary).

Colloquial Swedish: A Complete Language Course (Colloquial)

Philip Holmes, Gunilla Serin

Reader Reviews:

What were the publishers thinking? (1/2 people found this helpful)

How to put you off learning languages (7/11 people found this helpful)

A thorough grounding in Swedish (10/10 people found this helpful)

Great for people with an existing second language (5/5 people found this helpful)

A Rare Disappointment (10/16 people found this helpful)

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