Come to learn Swedish (瑞典语). It seems challenging, but it could be easier if you are a good English speaker. The two languages have a lot more in common than you think.     

The Swedish alphabet (字母表) is almost the same as the English alphabet, but has three more letters：A, Ä and Ö. Although some letters, like O and Ö look alike, they are actually different. Take the Swedish words “lov”and “löv” as an example. The word “lov” can refer to holidays while “löv” translates to “leaves”.     

Many words are close in Swedish and English. “Bok” in Swedish is only a one-letter change to “book”, “äpple” is an easy change to “apple”and “man” and “piano” are the same in both languages. However, there are special suffixes (后缀), such as “-en” and “-t”, to stand for “the” in English. For example, “boken” in Swedish means “the book” in English.     

Another similarity is the word order. It’s often possible to directly translate sentences between the two languages. One big difference is that Swedish always puts the verb (动词) in the second place of a sentence. Although in English sentences, words like “always” or “hardly” often appear in the second place, Swedish is very strict about that verb-second rule and will put them after the verb.     

There are many reasons that make Swedish hard, but with your English learning experience, you’ll find it easier.

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I have learned English for 10 years, but I know few English idioms (习惯用语). When I went to study in America last year, I had trouble communicating with Americans at times.

One day, I asked my roommate Kevin, “Shall we play soccer tomorrow?” He answered, “Let’s play it by ear.” I was so puzzled. “Ear can play soccer?” He smiled and explained, “It means let’s see. The weather report says tomorrow is rainy.”

Last October, I was waiting for bus in a station. Beside me sat a young man. When he knew I was a Chinese, he asked me about the Great Wall. I told him, “The Great Wall is more than 20,000 kilometers long.” The man said, “You don’t say.” I was surprised, “There must be something wrong with him.”I thought. Later, I knew he meant “Really?”

I was once invited to my classmate’s home. His mother said to me, “Break your ice, please.” I wondered, “Where is the ice?” Later my classmate told me she meant I could make myself relaxed in their home.

From then on, I realized English idioms had special meanings. It was wrong to understand them word by word.

Many expressions that we use in American English come from novels. Today we will look at some of them from Lewis Carroll’s famous novel “Alice in Wonderland” in detail.

The story is about a young girl falling down a rabbit hole. When she finally lands, she finds herself in a strange world and meets some strange characters.

The first character Alice meets is the White Rabbit, who runs past her and says some strange words. Alice runs after him, and that is where her adventures begin.

In English, chasing a white rabbit means chasing an impossible clue and finding yourself in a misleading situation.

Then, as she runs after the rabbit, she falls down the rabbit hole into Wonderland.

To fall down the rabbit hole can mean to enter a situation which makes people feel puzzled. However, usually we use this expression to mean we get interested in something to the point of distractions(分神). It often happens by accident and is about something not that meaningful.

Later in the story, Alice meets the March Hare and the Hatter at a crazy tea party. Hares have long been thought to behave excitedly in March, which is their mating（交配）season. Scientifically, this may not be true. But to be mad as a March Hare means that someone is completely mad, or crazy. The expression mad as a Hatter also means to be completely crazy. Of the two, mad as a Hatter is more common.

Near the end of the story, Alice meets the Queen of Hearts. A woman who is called a Queen of Hearts likes controlling others and always tries to control everything and everyone around her.