How to Improve Your Swedish
By: Silvia Lopez Prieto
Are you looking forward for the moment of speaking Swedish or, at least, understanding what you are buying when you do the grocery shopping? Learning Swedish takes time, but here are some tips on how to make it easier!
Music
I am a huge fan of some Swedish artists like Veronica Maggio, and one of the things I love doing is choosing a song, go through the lyrics and try to translate them! Sometimes grammar is not the most correct one, but I love to understand songs and it’s also useful for learning some Swedish slang! Hey, there’s a Study in Stockholm Spotify playlist right here!
TV news in easy Swedish
A great option for those who like watching more than reading! The Swedish television shows every day at 17:15 the News in an easier Swedish (also you can always watch them in SVT play). I love this option; I feel great when I can understand the daily news in Swedish!
Allt för Sverige
Allt för Sverige is an award winning tv show that you can find on svtplay.se. “Ten North Americans come to Sweden to experience the country where they have their roots. Tears, cultural clashes and a lot of laughter are mixed with competitions that are linked to Swedish customs and myths.”
8sidor
A news site available as an app and website. Here you can read news in a Swedish for real beginners, having also an audio to check and correct your pronunciation!
Children’s cartoons
SVT Play and Netflix have channels for children where you can find cartoons and kids programs in Swedish. I love “Lilla spöket Laban” (little ghost Laban), so easy to understand when you know a little bit of Swedish to practice some basics.
Radio Sweden in easy Swedish
This website helps me a lot! The idea is the same as 8sidor but the level varies, having so short news but also longer interviews to listen and read. There are even children stories, which are easier to understand and sometimes funnier!
Språkcafé
Pretty known by everyone (pre-googled here) but so great to improve in speaking and leave the doubts between if we take the risk of speaking Swedish or we speak English to be sure that we will be understood. And usually includes free Fika 😉