Ingela will present her lecture on the minority languages of Sweden. There are five official minority languages in Sweden: Yiddish, Roma, Sami, Finnish, and Meänkeli. These languages have existed in Sweden for over 100 years. These minority populations receive funding from the Swedish government to preserve their language and cultural traditions and to thrive in modern day Sweden. Please join us to find out more about when these specific language populations made their way to Sweden, where they established themselves, how Sweden was influenced, and how the languages are faring today in modern day Sweden.
Ingela-Selda Eilert Haaland is a language teacher at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. She moved to Minnesota in 1994 to study at St. Olaf College in Northfield, and ended up marrying and staying in Minnesota. She holds a B.A. in English Literature from St. Olaf College and a M.Ed. from the University of Minnesota. Ingela teaches language and culture classes at the ASI for adults, as well as Swedish School for children. Additionally, she is a member of the ASI Spelmanslag, a folk music group that performs traditional Swedish folk music. In 2018 she started a youth folk music group at ASI. In December 2019 she received an American Scandinavian Foundation grant that will allow her to travel to Sweden together with the youth musicians to explore folk music in Dalarna, Skåne, and Småland.
Ingela has always been fascinated by literary, historical and cultural topics. She gives a number of lecture series at the ASI on folklore and superstition in Sweden, a topographical/cultural journey across Sweden, traditions through the year in Sweden and the roots of these traditions, and minority languages in Sweden.
