2017.03.17: Sun and Swedish

There is a palpable buzz when the sun is shining in these early spring-ish days after a dark, cold winter.

I biked to the gym, and I actually had two conversations in Swedish! One amazing factor is actually talking with strangers, as it rarely happens, and the other amazing factor was that I used my basic Swedish! One conversation was rather short during the entrance to the gym, as I helped a woman in a head scarf enter through the door. The other conversation was longer but a bit strange, as it started as we were naked coming out of the shower room, but our lockers were next to each other. She was patient with my beginning Swedish, and now I have a recommendation for a dentist, as she is a retired dental hygienist.

As the gym is 98 steps from work, I stopped in to print out the 2nd year essays that were due today. I then biked to my Swedish lesson with Lennart. He said he would be willing to work with me in reading a bit of the essays. We got through about 2 pages carefully. I am able to get many words, but there are many that are not yet in my vocabulary. There are also words that have dual meanings, so it is helpful to talk through these. The huge blessing is that as a theologian, he knows the theological language. Did you know that there is only one word in Swedish for our two English words of reconciliation and atonement?

So, how am I going to get through 4 essays of 8-10 pages each written in Swedish by the end of Tuesday? Well, the reading won’t be this careful, as this is a language-learning-lesson-quality engagement. I will probably cut and paste into Google translate to get a faster–though rough–translation, and check where things don’t seem to make sense. Fortunately, there is a “defense,” so all the students have to read the other 3 essays. They each get assigned one that they must read very carefully and be the “opponent”, but I am calling it a respondent. So, I will get other perspectives on the paper. But the saving grace is that I only have to determine if the paper is unsatisfactory, a good pass, or a very good pass. For this first time, I’ll do the best I can under the circumstances. I hear that my essay-course students have appreciated my guidance and help, in spite of the extra effort for them speaking in English.

Today, I also am working on the discussion on online-learning that I will facilitate on 29 March. I’m reading a book, developing a survey, and working on a PowerPoint presentation for some talking points.

Then I took a break and biked to the mall to get a carbonator for our Soda Stream thing. That’s the closest place, but it also means that it gets a little crazy on a Friday afternoon. However, I did get a pulled pork roast for dinner and some things that aren’t in our neighborhood store, like water chestnuts and pistachio ice cream.

This evening, I worked on some Swedish with Duolingo. I now reached a 54% fluency, according to whatever metric they use.

I actually think I’ve been hovering at 53% for several months, even after completing all the lessons. I just have to keep on keeping on.

Keeping on,

Beth