Interlinear books are bilingual translations where the original has a translation right below each word or expression. Try them out on Interlinear Books.
For multilingual verb conjugation, try CoolJugator - a tool that can currently conjugate in dozens of different languages. It also recognizes forms and provides examples for each verb.
The article of the week from the Swedish Wikipedia is the Swedish nuclear weapons program (Svenska kärnvapenprogrammet). Total length: 63.8 kilobytes, vs. English at 5.6 kb.
So...read that through Google Translate (or original Swedish if you can), if Sweden's former nuclear weapons program is something you'd really like to know about.
An article here from a few days ago informs us of tentative plans for Sweden to teach Chinese in all schools about a decade from now. The education minister also took a shot at French and Spanish while he was at it:
Very highly qualified activities are leaving Europe to move to China. Chinese will be much more important from an economic point of view than French or Spanish,” he said.
Time to get rid of a few tabs I've had up for a week or so that I haven't found the desire to write a full post about. The first one is:
this article in Norwegian from today on high-speed rail linking Norway, Sweden and Denmark. It seems Norway wants to see a train that goes at 330 kph, but Sweden is not interested in one over 250. The argument behind the faster train is that it would not be possible to get to Copenhagen within 3 hours, and 3 hours is thought to be a magic number - under 3 hours and people will prefer to use the train, over 3 hours and they tend to remain in favour of flying. The train between Oslo and Stockholm might end up going 330 kph within Norway, then slowing down to 250 kph after entering Sweden since the tracks will be incapable of maintaining the higher speed. The Norwegian side seems to be surprised that Sweden is not interested in anything over 250 kph, and maybe a more informed reader can tell us why this is.
Another film has been translated into Sambahsa. It's called Kaydara and is about an hour long, seems to be heavily based on The Matrix, and to see the subtitles in Sambahsa you have to choose Serbian since only previously approved languages can be selected. The movie already has subtitles in Croatian so the Sambahsa subtitles won't keep any Serbs from watching and enjoying the movie. I was supposed to watch it by now but it's longer than I thought (I guessed about 25 minutes) and now my time is limited due to working full time.
Your commute is killing you - an article on the link between long commutes and depression, obesity, etc.
Die Burger - an article on the Afrikaans newspaper and how its success. Its motto is Lees die Burger en praat saam.
A statement by Frank L. Culbertson (commander of the International Space Station for a time) to a Congress subcommittee where he defends the role of the ISS and the research done there.
We will be one of the strongest economies in the world, says the Swedish historian.
Today is Nordens Dag, which commemorates the basic agreement of cooperation between the Scandinavian countries that was signed in Helsinki in 1962.
All representatives from the Nordic countries were invited to Trondheim to mark the day. The Swedish historian Gunnar Wetterberg held a lecture today where he presented an exciting proposal: to merge the five Nordic countries into a single federal state. "When these countries are so near to each other in language and culture, it is no wonder that we were together not so long ago...We will have a very strong base for economic growth in the area, much stronger than we have when our countries are working separately."
There have been many Nordic unions over the centuries, but they have never quite worked. Wetterberg believes there are other causes behind that: "Perhaps there were others outside the region that didn't want it to go so well. For example the Dutch and English would not want both sides of Øresund (the strait between Denmark and Sweden) to belong to the same country...We also ended up in the middle of the USA and Soviet Union during the Cold War."
On the possibility of internal strife in such a union he says that "It has always been the case in Europe that one group fights with another. But now, after 600 years, the great powers are finally leaving us alone." On the possibility that Sweden would dominate such a union: "The Swedes are not so high on the pole any longer either, because you (Norwegians) are richer than us, Finns are better with technology, and the Danes did a better job getting through the financial crisis than we did. None of the lands would end up being Big Brother, and we will go together on equal terms."
Gunnar Wetterberg is optimistic about the timeframe, and believes it could be done around 2030. "The interesting thing is that the population has been in the forefront of this. 1 of 10 employees in Oslo are Swedish, and three percent of the population in Malmö (just across the bay from Denmark) commute across the bridge to Denmark to go to work. It's happening today, and now it is just up to politicians to put a frame on it."
At least according to this article from that day, on a new law passed in Sweden that would make marriage in Sweden (almost) equal, and divorce much easier.
That bit on paper money there on the right is about a new type of money developed in France that can be split into four pieces.
If you've ever wondered what it looks like to be saved by helicopter from a mountain, here's a video showing the rescue from the point of view of the squadron member performing the rescue. Apparently the guy (25 years old, name Filip Ainouz) was doing some hiking and took the wrong way down, eventually finding himself near the edge of the mountain 640 metres above a fjord and unable to find his way back. He then made the smart decision to call for help and stay where he was and thus was able to be rescued by helicopter.
This is the face one makes the moment one is pulled away from a mountain by helicopter.
And then a bit higher up, about halfway in. Now appearing to enjoy it quite a bit.
Sweden just passed a bill by a mere two votes (three legislators were also absent) to rescind a former piece of legislation from 1980 banning the construction of nuclear power plants, but depending on the results of the election in September the rescinding of the rescinding of nuclear power could be rescinded.
One interesting thing about France: in both health care and power, France is a country that carries out policies that are both more liberal and environmentally-friendly than other countries, but those on the so-called left wing in other countries oppose. Private companies being involved in health care such as in France would be vehemently opposed in Canada and Britain for example, while the same goes with nuclear power.
In the meantime as the election approaches, here's a debate from Ted.com on nuclear energy. I haven't watched it yet but probably will today. It's quite new and so far has only been translated into Vietnamese.
While we're on the subject of trains, Norway is debating (though it doesn't seem likely to happen) the idea of installing a seat fee for passengers of 100 kroner ($17 USD) on airplanes which would then go towards rail infrastructure. Some opposed to it say in that article that it's too general a fee, and offers airlines no incentives to fly fuller planes (fuller planes = less CO2 emissions per capita) and would just end up as a penalty to them that they can do nothing about.
Putting the debate aside for a moment, the article also has some interesting stats comparing modes of transport with each other:
That's right, the Pirate Party (Piratpartiet) won a seat in the European Parliament with 7.1% of the vote (the minimum threshold for a seat is 4%), or about 200,000 votes. All of a sudden the European election isn't so dry and boring, is it?
A quick piece of news in Norwegian from here. Buying real estate in neighboring Sweden at a time like this makes sense considering 1) the record low interest rates, 2) the fact that Norway hasn't been hit as hard by the crisis as other countries (they have oil), and 3) the difference in GDP per capita between the two:
Norway - $95,062
Sweden - $52,790
And since relations between the two are as good as can be, this is good news for both countries.
Part of the article:
---
In spite of the financial crisis, more and more Norwegians are getting cabins in Sweden, and moving ever southwards. Real estate agents in Strömstad and Tanum are having the best sales they have had for over 10 years, reports Swedish Radio. And with record low interest rates in Norway and Sweden the selling is continuing.
In Strömstad 80-90 percent of real estate buyers are Norwegian, though this is not the same case in Tanum.
...
The prices can be as high as 3 million Swedish kronor ($400,000) or more.
From an article here in Norwegian complete with a photo of a big pirate flag fluttering in the breeze. I prefer this part of the photo below though:
Some parts of the article translated into English:
Around a thousand people gathered today in Medborgarplatsen in Stockholm to demonstrate against the Pirate Bay ruling, where Carl Lundstrøm, Fredrik Neij, Gottfris Svartholm Warg and Peter Sunde were given a year in jail.
One other banner along with the Epic Winning lol one was "Vill ni ha det som i Sovjet?" (do you want things like in the USSR?)
Quote from author Unni Drougge at the demo: "I have taken part in file sharing for a long time. I have many children that are musicians, and know that they would not have been able to live off their music if it hadn't been for downloading."
Other demonstrations: 200 gathered in Stortorget (another part of Stockholm), with smaller numbers in places like Karlstad and Göteborg.
You can also see a list of blog responses to this article here (and then use Google to automatically translate the article as Norwegian-English is usually fairly accurate), mostly in favour of the Pirate Bay and the Pirate Party, but not all, like this one for example:
"Tyveri er tyveri uansett hva man kaller det <-- Thievery is thievery regardless what one calls it.
Top comment below the article:
Med dette graver musikkindustrien sin egen grav. <-- With this the music industry digs its own grave.
Gratulerer til alle store artister, hvordan skal de små komme frem til overflaten nå??? <-- Congratulations to all big artists, now how will the smaller ones make their way to the surface (get noticed) now?
Recommending comments on Dagbladet is easy and you don't even have to register. Just click on bra! 
and the comment goes up a notch.
Some more blog responses:
Norwegians understand 88% of the spoken swedish language
understand 73% of the spoken danish language
Swedes understand 48% of the spoken norwegian language
understand 23% of the spoken danish language
Danes understand 69% of the spoken norwegian language
understand 43% of the spoken swedish language
Fig. B. An understanding of the written language
Norwegians understand 89% of the written swedish language
understand 93% of the written danish language
Swedes understand 86% of the written norwegian language
understand 69% of the written danish language
Danes understand 89% of the written norwegian language
understand 69% of the written swedish language.
Skandinaver snakker nesten samme språk. Men er det nordmenn, svensker eller dansker som forstår hverandre best?Scandinavians speak almost the same language. But is it Norwegians, Swedes or Danes that understand each other the best?
En undersøkelse utført av Nordisk språkråd prøver å komme til bunns i mysteriet, skriver Dagsavisen. Du har kanskje opplevd om du møter andre skandinavere at det lett oppstår diskusjon om hvilket annet skandinavisk språk man forstår best. Noen nordmenn synes dansk er enklere å forstå enn svensk, mens andre har motsatt oppfatning. Og hva så med svensker. Er norsk eller dansk lettest å forstå?A study done by the Nordisk språkråd attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery, writes Dagsavisen. You might have experienced when you meet other Scandinavians that it is easy to get into the discussion on which other Scandinavian language is best understood. Some Norwegians think Danish is easier to understand than Swedish, while others have the opposite opinion. And what about Swedes? Is Norwegian or Danish easiest to understand?
- Nordmenn er skandinaviske mestere i nabospråkforståelse, sier Arne Torp til Dagsavisen.- Norwegians are the masters in Scandinavia in understanding neighboring languages, says Arne Torp to Dagsavisen.
Han er førsteamanuensis i nordisk ved Universitetet i Oslo og har deltatt i utformingen av en språktest som er gjennomført i Norge, Sverige og Danmark.He is an associate professor in Nordic at the University of Oslo and has taken part in the designing of a language test conducted in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Nordmenn, svensker og dansker fikk se en sekvens av tv-programmet «Vil du bli millionær», de fikk lese en avisnotis og høre på en nyhetssendig. Testgruppene fikk poeng ut fra hvor dyktige de var til å forstå hva som ble sagt og skrevet. 60 poeng var full pott.Norwegians, Swedes and Danes saw a sequence of the tv program "Who wants to be a millionaire", read a newspaper notice and listened to a news broadcast. The test groups received points for how well they understood what was said and written, with a maximum of 60 points.
Undersøkelsen viste at nordmenn hadde størst forståelse av de nordiske språkene. Nesten en tredel bedre forståelse av de andre språkene enn svensker og dansker ble status når poengene var talt opp. I 1976, da man foretok en lignende test, kom også nordmenn best ut, skriver Dagsavisen.The survey showed that Norwegians had the greatest understanding of the Nordic (Scandinavian) languages. They had almost one third better understanding of the other languages than Swedes and Danes when the points were added up. Norwegians also did best in 1976 when a similar test took place, writes Dagsavisen.
Undersøkelsen viser at både svensker og dansker synes norsk er enklest å forstå. I Sverige er det slik at de synes nynorsk er enklere å forstå enn bokmål. Trolig skyldes det at svenskene har problemer å forstå dansk, og bokmål har større innslag av dansk språk enn nynorsk. Nordmenn forstår litt bedre svensk enn dansk, viste undersøkelsen.The survey shows that both Swedes and Danes see Norwegian as the easiest to understand. In Sweden they found Nynorsk to be easier to understand than Bokmål (note: these are the two official standards of the Norwegian language. Bokmål is used by the majority and looks a lot like written Danish). Perhaps that is because Swedes have problems understanding Danish, and Bokmål has a greater Danish element than Nynorsk. The survey showed that Norwegians understand Swedish a bit better than Danish.
Forståelsen av norsk har bare økt siden 1976, spesielt forstår svensker nordmenn bedre nå enn før.Understanding of Norwegian has only increased since 1976, especially where Swedes understand Norwegians better now than before.
- Det at vi har blitt rike på olje og at svenske arbeidere kommer hit for å arbeide kan ha endret synet på det, sier Torp til Dagsavisen.- The fact that we've become rich in oil and that Swedish workers come here to work may have changed the outlook on it, said Torp to Dagsavisen.
Undersøkelsen viste også at de som bor på Østlandet forstår svensk veldig godt. Trolig skyldes det at de har lett tilgang til svensk tv og at dansebandmusikk er populært på Østlandet.The survey also showed that those living in Eastern Norway understood Swedish quite well. This is probably because they have easy access to Swedish television and that dance music is popular in Eastern Norway. Read more...
Sammankomst av doktorer vid universitetet i Paris. Miniatyr ur en medeltida handskrift av "Chants royaux". Från Bibliothèque National, Paris.Unfortunately, those who do not perform so well in intelligence tests could suffer a higher risk of heart disease, fatal accidents and suicide.
The discovery was made after researchers looked into the medical records of one million Swedish army conscripts.
After taking into account whether they had grown up in a safer, more affluent environment, they established the connection between IQ and mortality.
One of the researchers, Dr David Batty, said the statistics showed "a strong link between cognitive ability and the risk of death."
He added: "People with higher IQ test scores tend to be less likely to smoke or drink alcohol heavily. They also eat better diets, and they are more physically active. So they have a range of better behaviours that may partly explain their lower mortality risk."
Research has now shown a link between high childhood IQ and an adult enthusiasm for alcohol that leads in some cases to problem drinking.Oh, so people with higher IQs are more likely to drink excessively. Interesting.
Parents may be aware that the easiest children to have around the house, and those who are also the most likely to have a predictable, comfortable lifestyle when adults, are those with a slightly aboveaverage intelligence, neither too clever, nor stupid.
Most parents would be proud to be told by a teacher that their child has a higher IQ than his or her peers. It would not occur to anybody that there might be an association between that high IQ at the age of 10 and an enthusiasm for the drinking culture, leading occasionally to a problematic excessive alcohol intake.
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