Jag ber om ursäkt (I apologise), but I’ve been too busy actually learning Swedish to write much on this website!

However, while I was updating the ‘Recommended Resources for Learning Swedish’ page just now (I recently discovered some great new stuff), I figured that I should add a quick article to highlight some smartphone apps I’ve been finding invaluable.

So here you are, the best four apps for learning Swedish from my Android smartphone. Most of them I use every single day to improve my reading/listening skills, learn new words and consolidate the grammar I should have studied but didn’t…

1. SVT Nyheter

For the last year or so, this is the first app I look at each day (in any language), to get my news fix! Look out for the link at the top of the page early each morning – “Här är nattens nyheter” – which’ll tell you what’s been happening while you were asleep, both internationally and in Sweden itself.

2. 8Sidor

The name means ‘8 Pages’, so it’s a short daily newspaper featuring simplified articles and audio recordings. The app is free, as is the website, which means it’s probably funded by the state. Production quality is a little hit or miss and it’s weekdays only, which is a pain. But for £0.00, there’s little better out there for language learners.

3. Sveriges Radio Play

This handy app has the main state radio stations, all in one place. Just click the one you prefer, according to your mood. P1 for news and serious stuff, P2 for highbrow classical music, P3 is pop, and P4 local news. Perfect for getting in extra listening practice while you’re doing your chores!

4. SVT Play

Watch Swedish T.V. with this, including the fantastic Nyheter på lätt svenska (News in Easy Swedish). Bear in mind that a lot of Swedish TV is rights-protected, meaning you won’t be able to watch dramas, sports and so on if you’re not actually in Sweden. Some people get around this using a VPN…

Got any good apps of your own to share?

Leave a comment!

Hej!

Today we’ve added ten new, FREE Swedish conversation lessons to the club site, bringing the total to twenty (tjugo)!

Choose a topic that interests you as the basis for speaking practice with a Swedish-speaking friend or teacher.

For example, ‘Vem är du?‘ (Who are you?), which is all about, well, you (du)!

The first two questions are:

Har du några bröder eller systrar, eller är du det enda barnet?
(Do you have any sisters or brothers, or are you an only child?)

och (and)…

Hur viktig är din familj för dig?
(How important is your family to you?)

You can have fun, and get some useful practice, working out the meanings BEFORE you use them for speaking and listening practice.

We’re deliberately not providing English translations, though Google will doubtless be able to help you with any words you don’t know!

Another interesting topic from the new set of ten is ‘Har du någonsin…?‘

Have you ever been drunk? Written a poem? Ridden in an ambulance?

Tell us about it!

Twenty lessons, say an hour of preparation and an hour of speaking practice for each one, that’s fyrtio timmar (forty hours) of interesting language study, kostnadsfri (free of charge).

Har det bra!

Hej,

Jag heter Daniel.

As I live in Italy and work in a language school here, I spend most of my online time over at onlineitalianclub.com.

But for a year or so, on the suggestion of that club’s members, I’ve been learning Swedish.

Who knew how similar it is to English??

Apart from the pronunciation (sorry, but it’s HORRIBLE), Swedish is much easier for a native English speaker like me than, say, a Latin-origin language like French, Spanish or Italian.

Wonder why they don’t teach it in schools?

And Sweden has öl (beer) and älg (moose), too.

What’s not to like?

Anyway, I’m currently a weak A2 level. In 2018 I hope to improve that a lot!

Follow me as I work towards the end of my current level (by June, I hope) and then begin B1 level.

While learning, I plan to create exercises using the material I come across, review the resources for learning Swedish I find online, and generally share my exeriences with anyone else learning this fascinating language.

Vi ses!