One of the reasons we’re living in the icy north is to help me improve my Swedish. Before that my Swedish education would go something like this:
The problem
- I would try to say a sentence in Swedish..
- I would get stuck on a word meaning.
- I would ask my wife for help.
- She would then attempt to explain for me.
- I would not be satisfied with her explanation. (I guess it’s because I’m a ‘headline first, details second’ kind of guy.)
- She would get bummed out!
The solution
When we moved up here last month, we decided to get a 3G mobile surfing subscription for my mobile telephone so I can check emails, skype people, etc. Fortunately, one of the apps on my phone is Google Translate. So, now, whenever I need to translate a word in mid-flight, I no longer need ask my beautiful wife what it means. I simply ask my phone. And you know what? It works pretty darned well. The best part: Veronica no longer feels that undue pressure from me that she has to explain it ‘just right’ 🙂
The Confession
3G didn’t really save our marriage, because it wasn’t even in trouble in the first place.. our marriage that is! But what a nice benefit to be able to lighten the load on our communication!