[Magdalen] Music question

[Cantor03 at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/18/2016 11:10:04 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
scottknitter at gmail.com writes:

German  is challenging, at least to get a more native sound. There are
subtleties  of long vs. short  
vowels.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 
 
True of most Germanic languages.  The Scandinavians literally  swim
in oceans of vowel subtleties.  Having three official dialects  (Norway)
in one small country doesn't help, either. 
 
Then there is the business of rapidly evolving languages, with vowel
shifts in just a generation or two.  There is a Swedish ethnic  enclave
around a hamlet (Falun) near my home town in NW Wisconsin settled
rather quickly by Swedes in the late nineteenth century.  Their  Swedish
hasn't evolved, of course, cut off from the mainstream.  They  have
been the subject of much study by Swedish linguists.
 
 
David S.