Learn Swedish

Learning another language can seem rather daunting. But, it all begins with a commitment, which could begin with just 5 to 10 minutes per day. The important thing is consistency. You’ll be surprised, if you show up every day, or most days, how quickly you will progress.

The Swedish Cultural Society (SCS) has several members who are actively studying the Swedish language, at various levels of proficiency, from Beginner to Advanced (see note on Language Proficiency). Some of these members meet on Mondays to practice Swedish conversation as part of the Svenska Samtalet (the Swedish Conversation). Contact us if you’d like more information on that group.

Concordia offers its Swedish Language Village (Camp), known as Sjölunden. It’s an on-site, intensive, immersive language-learning experience. Several members of SCS have participated in this program. Each year SCS gives out two $500 scholarships to attend this program. For more info on the program, visit the Concordia Swedish Language Village. Contact us for more info on the scholarship available.

Independent Learning Resources

Here are some tools/resources for you to use in your journey to learn the Swedish language.

• Structured Language Learning – These are the tools that form the building blocks (structure and knowledge) of your learning experience.
  • Duolingo – is the most popular language learning app in the world, with over 100 million monthly active users. It uses the method of gamification to engage the user. It does not offer grammatical tips. It tries to emulate how people learn language as a toddler and infant. Duolingo guides you through a series of lessons grouped into sections and arranged as a path. Each lesson completed opens up the next lesson. When a section is completed, you move onto the next. Eventually you reach the final lesson, after which you are offered a Daily Refresher. This path used to be referred to as the “tree”. It also allows you to have “friends” so you can support each other. Several members of SCS are using this app/website, with many having completed the entire “tree”, many times over. Duolingo has both free and paid options.
  • Babbel – Another option with both free and paid plans.
  • Rosetta Stone – Rosetta Stone is a language learning app that uses an immersive method to teach new languages through visual aids, audio from native speakers, and interactive exercises, focusing heavily on pronunciation practice with immediate feedback, allowing users to learn a language by essentially “being immersed” in it, similar to how children learn their first language; it’s considered one of the leading language learning apps available on mobile devices and desktops. They offer a free trial. But, long-term, there is no free option.
  • Transparent Language
• Forvo (English interface) or Forvo (Swedish interface) [Pronunciation] – This site offers the user the opportunity to listen to native speakers pronounce almost any word, often by more than one person using different dialects.
• Svenska.se [Dictionary with Word Forms, Definitions, Pronunciation & History] – This site is actually three resources in one. 1) SAOL, 2) SO, & 3) SAOB. These are officially published by Svenska Akademien (the Swedish Academy, same one that awards the Nobel Prizes) and is the official Swedish reference for their langauge. 1) SAOL (Svenska Akademiens OrdLista) contains all the Swedish words and shows each in all of its forms, including, Noun Forms & Gender, Verb Translations & Adjective Declensions. 2) SO shows additional information about each word, including proper pronunciation and definition. 3) SAOB shows historical data for each word. This is an amazing, indispensable resource and the pronunciation is the most reliable available.
• 8 Sidor – [News] – Sweden has a large number of immigrants and refugees. The Swedish government felt it was important for these people to feel included and so it has funded this resource since its inception over 40 years ago. Each day at least 8 articles are published in easy-to-read (lätt läst) Swedish. Each day there is an audio file offered (look for the Lyssna tab) where one of the editors reads aloud all eight articles. Making a habit of reading Swedish every day greatly accelerates your learning curve. This site is one of the best ways to accomplish two things at once; read the news (from a Swedish perspective) and learn the most commonly used Swedish words.
  SVT Nyheter – This is another news site aimed at the general population (not beginner Swedish). But, it is free and very interesting. Check it out as your language skills progress.
• Google Translate [Translation] – Google’s translation tool is an indispensable resource. You can look up the translation for almost any word (or collection of words) and get a translation to or from English. Keep in mind, even Google doesn’t get it right all of the time. In those cases, refer back to Svenska.se to get to the real meaning.
• DeepL – Another translation tool. For the languages that it supports, DeepL is regarded to be a bit more accurate than Google Translate. However, DeepL Translate has a limited language selection as compared to Google Translate.
• TalkPal.ai [Conversation] – This offers an AI (artificial intelligence) partner to communicate with in real-time. The paid version offers unlimited conversations as well as tools to improve your pronunciation and delivery of the language.
• Preply [Tutors]- Language tutors available in a wide array of price ranges. None are free. All profess to be “fluent” or “near-fluent” (CEFR Level C2) in the language.