Today I have some thoughts about the difference between the American word "culture" and the Swedish word "kultur". They do not carry the same meaning at all.
Today's thoughts started as I read a Swedish news article about Max von Sydow. If you haven't heard of him: he was a Swedish actor, most famous for his role as Antonius Block in Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal" (one iconic scene is when Antonius plays chess with Death).
Try to stay on topic now Kriz! Okay, so, after I had read the article, I saw suggested ones appear and one of them had the Swedish word "kultur" as part of the headline. "Kultur" in Swedish would translate to "The Arts" in English. It has everything to do with anything that is creative - like music, dance, art, theater and the like. If you say "fin-kultur" (or "finkultur), it would encompass the higher forms of arts like opera, classical music, poetry, classical plays and paintings and art that are very expensive. "The Seventh Seal" would be considered "finkultur".
Now over to the English meaning of "culture". That can be described as things one particular group of people would do/say/listen to because it is part of their culture and heritage. Let me give you some examples: Americans often eat hamburgers as it is part of their culture. Swedes celebrate Midsummer because it is part of their culture.
I hope that clarified and explained the distinction between the two words.
For a deeper dive into the understanding of culture, go to this wiki: Wikipedia's article about culture
If you'd like to read the Max von Sydow IMDb bio, you can find it here: Max von Sydow IMDb bio
A video I made to explain part of the Midsummer celebration in a musical and visual way:
