Headscratchers / Vinesauce

• Has Joel lived in Sweden his whole life, or did he move to America at some point? Do we know the age at which he learned to speak English? He's 100% fluent in English with only a slight accent, so I'm assuming he must have been around 10. I ask this because I'm curious as to whether "WHO'S BEEN DRAWING DICKS?" and the various memetic quotes from his father were originally uttered in English or in Swedish.
  • He has confirmed that in fact he has never been out of Sweden via his tumblr. Plus, Scandinavian countries teach English since elementary school and have the advantage of sharing roots with the English language (and a large influx of english speaking tourists)[1]. The quotes of his father are probably translated from Swedish to English, I don't know about "WHO'S BEEN DRAWING DICKS?" though.
  • In addition, English media is very popular in Sweden, which combined with how dubs are looked down upon by nearly everyone means that most broadcasts from abroad are in English with Swedish subtitles. Hell, there are plenty of people over here who believe that the influx of English slang in Swedish people's vocabulary is threatening to "ruin the Swedish language" (though most linguists will be quick to tell you it's bull). Interestingly, when Joel talks (dirty) Swedish to Cortana in Windows 10 destruction, he changes from the accent he uses while speaking English to his genuine one about halfway through the sentence. Which contrary to what you'd expect is more evidence that he has to make an effort - people who use more languages in their daily lives are prone to switching between their accents flawlessly.
  • Also, Joel is not exactly 100% fluent. He frequently stutters, pauses, and on numerous occasions has had to look up the English translation of a Swedish word. This suggests his thoughts are in Swedish and he translates as he speaks.
  • His dad's quotes are translated from Swedish. While Joel is good at speaking English, he once recounted an incident that indicates that this isn't the case with his dad (or at least that this used to be the case); specifically, assuming that a file Joel once downloaded contained a virus solely because it had the English word "madness" in the filename, due to his mistaken belief that the word in question indicates a virus when used in filenames.

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