Pogo,
I think he may be a Finn. Finnish language is not a member of Indo-European family of languages. So it is harder for Finnish people to learn the basics of a language that is a member of Indo-European family of languages. North Germanic languages (Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, etc.) are members of Indo-European family of languages. So it easier for a Swede or a Norwegian or a Danish person to learn English compared to a Finn.
Yeah yeah yeah I know all that, I'm a linguist, please don't patronize me, and you left out Icelandic and Dutch and Frisian. But he's self-identified as a Swede. I know there's a small population of Finnish speakers in Sweden but generally they're at least bilingual with Swedish, just to get through life.
It's arguable that being a native speaker of a Finno-Ugric language makes it in a sense easier to pick up English, since one would not have the common cognates to get hung up on and would be forced to learn them from scratch.
Maybe Lucy's right -- maybe he's a Sámi from way up north.
Anyway my point is as always to convey to him that his English is not proficient enough to be understood.
I did not know you were a linguist. If I did, I would have stayed clear of you
Dutch and Frisian are not the members of North Germanic family of languages. Dutch and Frisian along with German and English belong to West Germanic family of languages. There is one more branch of Germanic languages: it is called East Germanic Languages; I think most languages in this branch are pretty much extinct.
I apologize for leaving out Icelandic in favor of etc
BTW, I am surprised that he is a Swede because Swedes usually have decent command on English.
Touché -- I skipped by the word "North". You win.
I'm surprised too for the same reason. And so do Finns. A few years ago there was a Finnish reporter who posted here (Saigon) whose English was flawless. Others may be a bit less fluent but they're still comprehensible. But this guy is gobbledegook.
I have a new neighbor I just met today, from Mexico. She doesn't have much English but we managed to exchange pleasantries. Wonderful news for me, I'm thinking I can do some language lesson exchange and pick up some Spanish.
I am not a linguist by any stretch of imagination. So I will not let you concede the victory
Anyone, with proper effort, can master any language. There is no doubt about that. However, I was suggesting that when it comes to learning English, a Finn has bigger natural barrier than a Swede.
and he's already self-identified as a Swede .... although he could be a Finnish-speaking Swede. I think I said that. Either way his English is atrocious, regardless what his point of reference is.