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Re: Team Nordic [study and support group]

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 6:24 pm
by Ketutar
Well... I am getting help with my French, so I would like to pay back by giving it forward.
Now, I can't help with French, but I'm a native Finnish speaker, born, grown and educated in Finland, and I know Swedish, living in Sweden at the moment.
This is the closest I find a group for Finnish speakers, would you have any use for me? :-)

Re: Team Nordic [study and support group]

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 7:04 pm
by Brun Ugle
Ketutar wrote:Well... I am getting help with my French, so I would like to pay back by giving it forward.
Now, I can't help with French, but I'm a native Finnish speaker, born, grown and educated in Finland, and I know Swedish, living in Sweden at the moment.
This is the closest I find a group for Finnish speakers, would you have any use for me? :-)


That would be great. Several of us are starting Finnish together in September and I'm sure your native expertise would be very welcome.

Re: Team Nordic [study and support group]

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:26 pm
by tiia
Ketutar wrote:Well... I am getting help with my French, so I would like to pay back by giving it forward.
Now, I can't help with French, but I'm a native Finnish speaker, born, grown and educated in Finland, and I know Swedish, living in Sweden at the moment.
This is the closest I find a group for Finnish speakers, would you have any use for me? :-)


Tervetuloa!
Well, there are at least Serpent, caam_imt and me as Finnish speakers in this group. They just don't post as much as others in this thread.

Re: Team Nordic [study and support group]

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 6:09 pm
by Elenia
Thank you, Ketutar! I'll add you to the first post as a Wise Owl :) as Brun Ugle said, there are a few of us planning to start Finnish in September, so your offer is both timely and appreciated!

Re: Team Nordic [study and support group]

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 12:41 pm
by Elenia
Hello all! A couple of things. First to say that the Finnish group learning group is open for business (for those of you who haven't seen it lurking around already). Many thanks to Brun Ugle for that.

Secondly, for those not taking part in the previous book club, the Odinsbarn read a-long is officially finished. Some people are still reading, and others seemed to have finished all three books by 12.01 on May the 1st. They know who they are...

This means that we are ready for another book! I promised last time to give Soffía first pick, as Icelandic was the only language not available for the previous book club. So, Soffía, if you're have any book you'd like to suggest, please let us know.

I suggest waiting another few months before the next bookclub, to give everyone time to recover, to give those of us jumping into Finnish time to settle, and to give everyone who wants to join in time to get their hands on the book. I also suggest an overhaul of the way we read. I enjoyed the weekly reading sessions, and they generally worked quite well for me, but I know they don't work for everyone. I will now shamelessly steal Stelle's idea of picking a book, reading it, and then talking about it together at the end of a fixed period. That way everyone can read at their own pace, without worrying too much about falling behind or speeding ahead of the group. How does that sound?

Re: Team Nordic [study and support group]

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:05 am
by Soffía
Elenia wrote:This means that we are ready for another book! I promised last time to give Soffía first pick, as Icelandic was the only language not available for the previous book club. So, Soffía, if you're have any book you'd like to suggest, please let us know.


First of all, congrats on finishing Odinsbarn! An epic choice to be certain.

I've been pondering this question and my inclination is to pick something that is:
• Originally written in Icelandic
• Available in as many of the Nordic languages as possible
• Relatively short and relatively easy in its language, so that people at different levels can participate
• Sophisticated as a piece of literature, so that there's plenty to say about it

Therefore I'm going to suggest Englar Alheimsins by Einar Már Guðmundsson, which is a modern classic of Icelandic literature, a winner of the Nordic Council Literature Prize. I know from a quick search that it's available in Norwegian, Danish and Faroese - I would be shocked if it isn't also in Swedish and Finnish, but maybe someone who speaks those languages can check? There's also an Icelandic audiobook (which I own).

I enjoyed the weekly reading sessions, and they generally worked quite well for me, but I know they don't work for everyone. I will now shamelessly steal Stelle's idea of picking a book, reading it, and then talking about it together at the end of a fixed period. That way everyone can read at their own pace, without worrying too much about falling behind or speeding ahead of the group. How does that sound?


I feel like there's something both encouraging and community-building about discussing a book as you go along. Is it maybe a question of reducing the weekly pace? I'm not certain how many pages you were aiming to get through per week.

Englar Alheimsins is about 220 pages in Icelandic and has 11 chapters, but the final one is very short. So I was thinking it would make sense to read it over 10 weeks, which would mean about 20 pages a week. There will still be plenty to discuss at that pace, though obviously the faster readers will be reading other things at the same time!

Re: Team Nordic [study and support group]

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:36 am
by andrepleite
Therefore I'm going to suggest Englar Alheimsins by Einar Már Guðmundsson, which is a modern classic of Icelandic literature, a winner of the Nordic Council Literature Prize. I know from a quick search that it's available in Norwegian, Danish and Faroese - I would be shocked if it isn't also in Swedish and Finnish, but maybe someone who speaks those languages can check? There's also an Icelandic audiobook (which I own).


Surprisingly, I could not find a copy of the Swedish translation (Universums änglar).

There's only an edition from 2004 which is sold out.
http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789127107045/universums-anglar/

Re: Team Nordic [study and support group]

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 9:36 am
by tiia
The book is called "Kaikkeuden enkelit" in Finnish. Although it might be out of stock in at least some bookshops (I only checked one), it's available via antikvaari at the same shop as the second book of Odininlapsi.

Re: Team Nordic [study and support group]

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 2:56 pm
by daegga
Surprisingly it's even available on amazon.de as kindle ebook (in Icelandic)

Re: Team Nordic [study and support group]

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 8:24 pm
by Elenia
It sadly doesn't seem to be available in Swedish as andreipleite said, but if everyone else can get hold of a copy then I think the book club should go ahead :)

As for the pace thing - I suggest an end date with Brun Ugle specifically in mind, as she has said before that the week-by-week format of book clubs doesn't really suit her. That being said, as you have thought out a time frame ahead of time, I don't see why it can't be done both ways, with a group reading week by week and then with those who want to read through it in one go joining in at the end to share overall impressions? How does that sound?