My Swedish is not good. I studied it at Uppsala University's summer session 19 years ago, and really haven't used it since. Part of the problem is I only have my parents to speak it with, and I'm very reluctant to do so when non-Swedish-speakers are around, which is most of the time. I consider it discourteous to do so. I'm ashamed of my lack of ability in speaking, understanding, and reading Swedish, most particularly where vocabulary is concerned.
A disadvantage I'm now feeling as an extension of this lack is my inability to comprehend the German language. I need to study German if I'm going to get a real idea of what Till is doing. His work is diluted unless it's read and understood in German. The basis of the work is lost in translation, in terms of the flow, rhythm, and mood. I trust the real German-language adepts to capture and convey subtext in meaning, but the 'movement' of the words is what attracted me to Till in the first place, and that doesn't exist in the English translations.
You can see how this whole project came about if you think about that for a minute...
*pause*
I'm trying to re-apply those currents and wave-forms to the translations. With that in mind however my attempts to reanimate the translations do not mean the original is being felt properly. For that I have to be able to read Lindemann's work as a German-speaker does.
My mother is a Swede and is adept at understanding other languages, despite not using them in her every-day life. I can't honestly say I speak Swedish any more, despite having done so in the past. That feels wrong, because I want to learn more about the country I was born in and the people my mother comes from. Yes, I get to meet and know them, but not the nation they're part of. I need to develop my Swedish further.
I also want to learn the German language to get the whole picture from Till's words. You might consider this an extreme step to merely appreciate the work of one author. Maybe it is. I think however that it's going to end up being much more than that in the end, and it's something I have added to my plans for the coming years.
Adding to my self-imposed burden of language-learning is the fact that I'm married to a Greek family and am off to Greece for a month in June, to holiday with my in-laws at Kyparissi. I don't speak Greek either!
Yeah, good one Camilla. You can picture me rolling my eyes at my own preposterous situation here. I have three languages to [re-]learn. At least two of them share characteristics...
By the way, the title of this post is meant to read as 'German reading-comprehension' in Swedish and German. My success may be mixed.
[discuss]
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