By: Katey Hawley

November 2009

Ever wondered how people learn languages so quickly? Ask Louise Ulveland, an EC sophomore from Stockholm, Sweden. She knows five.

“I know all the words to ‘Baby Got Back’. In a way, that’s how I started to learn English.”

As an assignment in an English class when she was in elementary school, students were required to bring in lyrics to an English song. Louise Ulveland chose Sir Mix-a-Lot’s famous hit, the words of which she had memorized before knowing their meaning. Who knew that the song possessed such educational value?

Ulveland is majoring in multi-language and interdisciplinary communications with a minor in history, and she can already speak five different languages: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Spanish and German. In addition to those, she wants to learn Arabic, Russian, Swahili and Japanese.

Starting out as a music business major her freshman year,
Ulveland knew immediately that she wanted to do something with languages once she started taking a German course.

Since changing her major, she still takes guitar lessons and remains an avid music fan, her tastes ranging from indie to hip-hop,  and R&B with a love for metal bands such as Opeth.

“My favorite band is Magic Numbers,” she says, “which is my happy music.”

Ulveland classifies the band as psychedelic rock, adding that when she went to their concert that was filled with giant, colorful balloons, she knew “this music is me!”

Ulveland explained that she has always been a huge music buff.

 “I was brought up with Abba. I still listen to them. There have been more than one occasion where my roommate caught me dancing to Abba.”

Ulveland added that she loves anything she can dance to, her guilty pleasure being Pit Bull by “Ocho Calle.”

Since August of 2008, Ulveland has been experiencing and enjoying the Chicago life.

“I really like the city, especially the Bean. I have seriously taken around 100 photos by the Bean.”

She has also learned to fully appreciate the Chicago style hotdog.   

"I love pickles on my hotdogs. Back home all we put on them is ketchup and mustard, but here when I learned you could order it ‘with everything’ I was so excited to see what ‘everything’ was!”

Chicago style pizza is also a necessity.

“Every time someone comes to visit me I take them to a place like Giordanno’s and make them try Chicago style.”

Her favorite food from Sweden is a type of meatball sandwich with beet root salad and cut up meat balls.

Her boyfriend came to visit her at home this past summer, and had him try it.

“He tried it and he hated it,” she said. “It is definitely an acquired taste.”

She also loves Swedish salmon, which is cooked in mustard sauce.

In addition to the food, Ulveland has also been adjusting to the
other American differences.

“Sweden is a Socialist country, so education and healthcare is all free back home. [Having experience in a Socialist country] definitely brings up a lot of good debates in class!”

Ulveland also pointed out her amusement in finding out that even American “smart cars” are bigger than European cars.

In general, she also noticed that “everyone drives a lot more,” whereas back in Sweden transportation is often walking, bike riding, or public transportation.            

Although she is not entirely sure if she will come back to America to work after her visa expires upon graduation, Ulveland knows she wants to work in foreign affairs. This summer she plans on applying for an internship at the Swedish Council in Chicago to help her get a head start in the field.

When asked what she would like the readers to know about her country, Ulveland answered immediately.

“We’re not all blonde! And not a lot of people are aware that Ikea and H&M are both Swedish. We also invented the zipper, dynamite, the wrench, and matches.”