Hi everyone,
Today, I am going to write about learning Swedish. My history with learning languages is rich and I have been always good at it, pretty much. I am a native Greek speaker and since a young age, I have been studying English, which at the moment is the second-best language that I feel that I can fully and with efficiency express myself. Other languages that I have studied in the past are French and Spanish, but due to other obligations in life, I never managed to reach a satisfactory level.
Now, what happened with the Swedish language? I moved to Sweden in March 2015 and my main focus was the Master’s in Gender Studies: Intersectionality and Change and my work in order to have an income. Hence, I didn’t focus on the language from the start, letting other obligations rule my days. At the moment, professionally, I have reached a ceiling and I am unable to find the work I am looking for just because of the Swedish. This is why I have decided to put more effort into learning the language from now on.
The following list includes various options for learning Swedish online and offline. Of course, it is not extensive, it only represents the ones that I have personally tried and recommend.
1. Learning Swedish by the Swedish Institute
One convenient solution to study Swedish from home is a free online platform which is called Learning Swedish by the Swedish Institute. So far, I have only completed a few chapters, but I like the way of learning online and at my own pace until I officially start the courses on the spot. The platform is very well organized and interactive and it offers materials to study and many exercises to practice. The level is quite high and with the right focus and discipline, I believe that someone can actually learn a lot from it. Do I believe that the platform on its own can do miracles? Well, yes and no. I think practicing online and combining real-life experience with the language is always the best way to acquire efficiency.
2. Duolingo
Now, the app Duolingo is a rather popular choice among language learners because it is an established and guaranteed way to learn the basics if someone goes through the lessons with a good focus. The advantages of this app are that it includes Swedish, it can be download on a mobile phone, and basically, it can be used even for 5 minutes. I really love this flexibility, by using it, one can really “kill some time” in a productive and useful way, while being on the bus, taking a break from studies and work, etc. The disadvantage is that, of course, the level reached it can not be as high as other online and offline options and/or practicing Swedish on real/life events.
3. SFI Linköping
SFI stands for Swedish for Immigrants and it is an offline way of learning Swedish. Some years ago, I have registered for SFI Linköping and I have followed for a week or so the classes. The quality of the teaching was very high and helpful, but it was for personal and professional reasons that I did not complete the education. It was required to study on the spot for 4 hours per day and at that point, I was full of other responsibilities. I believe that it is a bit hard to be combined if someone is studying full and/or working at the same time. Of course, that is one of the major disadvantages to study a language in the traditional way, but I do think that being close to a teacher and other students would have made a huge difference in the learning process.
4. Linköping University
And last but not the least, I have to mention Linköping University and the options that it offers. In my opinion, this is the best way of learning Swedish and it is the method that helped me the most. Each person has very different needs and for me what helped me with following the courses A1 and A2 was that they were offered online and the structure was very modern and efficient. Once someone completes them, the next level B1/B2 is available and it is offered on the spot. The course is called “Qualifying Course in Swedish”. Through universityadmissions.se, students can find out some more information about the courses offered by Linköping University.
All in all, these are my four recommendations, and as mentioned above, they are not the only ones, there are also other solutions, such as institutions that offer paid classes, private tutoring, non-profit and student organisations organising language cafes, etc. The most important is to discover the type of learning someone prefers and their time availability.
You can also read about the same topic in Rebecca’s post “Learning Swedish (in Sweden)”
Good luck with studying Swedish!!!
All the best,
Maria
*** The pictures used in this blog post are taken from Google.
