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I moved to Sweden in 2022 and am a solid CEFR B1 in Swedish – or at least, I am when I’m talking to people in central Sweden. I'm able to have simple business and social conversations with my colleagues, who all have Stockholm or Gothenburg accents, and in Stockholm I could manage adequately in shops, stations, doctors etc.

A few months ago I moved to south-west Sweden, where they speak Scanian, and I can’t understand a thing. Dealing with services or trying to have social conversations is a non-starter. I’ve joined a choir to get social interaction and people understand my standard Swedish, but when they reply, I can’t identify any words - none at all. It’s like being a complete beginner again and I'm concerned they will stop bothering to try to speak to me if I don't improve soon.

I’m aware Scanian is a dialect, not just an accent, and that it can be hard even for native Swedish speakers to understand. It’s not my goal to speak the dialect – there are plenty of words I don’t understand in standard Swedish but I can usually pick out enough words to follow the conversation. That’s all I want here.

I can’t find much in the way of useful resources. There are a few videos on youtube but they seem more about the general history of the dialect, or else focus on a few specific words that don’t come up in regular conversation. Of the websites about learning accents in general, one suggested asking someone to explain the differences in their accent, but I don’t know anyone well enough to do that. Another said ‘identify the sounds that are different from your accent’, but that’s the problem – I don’t know where to start with that. I can’t find a ‘way in’.

Aside from paying for 1-1 tuition, what else can I do to get to grips with the dialect quickly?

sina
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Mousentrude
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  • I don't understand your question at all. What accent? If Scanian is a dialect? I doubt you can learn an accent without learning how a language is spoken.... – Lambie Jan 10 '24 at 17:39
  • Would it make more sense if I replaced all instances of 'accent' with 'dialect'? I guess I'm hoping that if I can get sufficiently attuned to identify individual words that I'll be able to get the gist of what people are talking about. But maybe that's wishful thinking. – Mousentrude Jan 10 '24 at 18:40
  • Isn't there any media (like movies on a streaming service) where you can hear it? Yes, dialect is better than accent here. Haven't you made any friends? There must be someone you can do an exchange with even though most Swedes know a lot of English. Turn on the Closed Caption on tv shows there. – Lambie Jan 10 '24 at 18:42
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    Skåne has a famously challenging dialect for others to understand. https://www.isof.se/lar-dig-mer/kunskapsbanker/lar-dig-mer-om-svenska-dialekter/utforska-sveriges-dialekter/sydsvenska-mal/skane – Tommi Jan 10 '24 at 18:56
  • Look up and call local schools. They will surely be glad to help you. – Lambie Feb 01 '24 at 18:57

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