How to learn Swedish fast
This guide draws on my work teaching Swedish to hundreds of students as well as from studying how polyglots (people who speak more than one language) do it.
You might think that people who speak more than one language are very good at learning new ones. But their main reason for being good at languages is the way they learn them.
There is no one "best" or fastest way to learn Swedish that works for everyone. The best way for you to learn will depend on your level, goals, available funds, and time.
But there are ways of learning that work better than others. I will talk about these techniques and give you useful tools, some of which will be free.
What does it really mean to "learn Swedish quickly"?
Let's talk about what ‘learning Swedish quickly’ means before I get into the best ways to learn Swedish.
First things first, I'm not going to teach you how to speak Swedish like an expert in six months. Some companies say it's easy to learn a language quickly, but in reality it takes years of hard work.
But there is good news: it will take you a lot less time to be able to hold a conversation.
Conversational fluency means being able to talk with native speakers about everyday things at a normal conversational pace. And this is what you need to get to know the local people, learn about their culture, and easily fit into their country.
So, unless being able to speak like a native speaker is essential for your job (like being a sworn translator, for example), you should focus on being able to have a normal conversation.
In 6 to 12 months, you will be able to have a decent conversation in Swedish. And this guide will help you do it.
The quickest way to learn Swedish vocabulary
Building a large bank of vocabulary early on is one of the best ways to learn Swedish fast. The thought of having to remember thousands of new words can be too much for some people. But there are methods that can help you start talking to people quickly.
- Learn the words you will use most often. Like in all other languages, most of the Swedish spoken language is made up of a group of most commonly used words. You can find lists of these popular words online, which brings me to my next point.
- Make use of flashcards. These help you remember Swedish words faster by using a spaced repetition method. You can even find flashcard packs on Langua that have the 1,500 most popular words on them. You'll be able to talk and understand Swedish faster if you learn these.
- Get to know the words that are important to you. Pay attention to things that are important (and interesting) for you. These words will help you a lot more. It will be easier to remember the words, and you'll be more likely to use them in real life.
- Study cognates. There are a lot of Swedish words that are very similar to English words. As an example, the Swedish word hus means the same thing as the English word house. Often, only part of the word changes. To quickly learn these words, all you have to do is learn how they change, like how sister becomes syster and brother becomes bror.
Establish habits to keep you going
To begin with, it might be easy to practise regularly. We all know, though, that it's harder to keep it up over time. However, regular practice is key to learning Swedish quickly. To give yourself the best chance of practising daily for a long time, what should you do?
Establish habits. When you want to change your behaviour, habits are very helpful because they make it easier for you to stick to doing something regularly.
Cues and rewards help people form habits. An action starts when the cue is given. For Swedish, the cue could be as easy as putting a note in your calendar every day to remind you to practise. The best reward is the feeling of accomplishment that comes from getting better and having fun while practising.
If this isn't enough for you, you could reward yourself with something like a weekend break to a place where people speak Swedish.
Telling your friends that you're going to study every day is another way to keep yourself going. We all want to keep our promises, so telling other people may help you keep going.
The best resources for learning Swedish fast
As you read through this list of resources and pick some to try out, keep in mind that the ones you pick should help you reach your goals. If you want to know how to speak Swedish fast, you should spend most of your practice time talking and listening to people in Swedish. You will also find that speaking practice is better than writing practice because writing a statement takes longer than saying it!
Now let's talk about some of the best resources and how to use them:
Podcasts
Once every couple of days, listen to a Swedish podcast. This will help you quickly learn Swedish as it's spoken by native speakers. If you don't have much time, listen while you do the housework or drive to work.
There are a lot of free podcasts that can help you learn Swedish. On Langua, we have a selection of Swedish podcasts categorised by level.
To get the most out of your time, frequently try to repeat what the hosts are saying. This will help you remember words and pronounce them correctly. You can also use the live transcripts on Langua. These move along with the audio and let you translate words simply by clicking on them.
News and Netflix
If you already know some Swedish, follow the news about world events in Swedish instead of English. There's a lot of everyday language in the news, and you probably already know some of the stories, which will help you understand it better. Svenska YLE and 8-sidor, are some news sources that you can use to get news in Swedish.
What’s more, if you have Netflix, you can watch a lot of shows in Swedish. Modus, Young Wallander, The Unlikely Murderer, Thunder in My Heart, Love & Anarchy, and Anxious People are some of the many shows available to watch. Don't use English subtitles, however; you'll read them rather than paying attention to the Swedish, so be sure to turn on Swedish subtitles instead.
Getting speaking practice
How to speak Swedish fast? You can learn Swedish in three main ways: through language exchanges, taking classes, or practising with AI.
If you live in a city and already speak some Swedish, you might want to check out language exchanges. These are events where people speak different languages, like English and Swedish, in order to improve their spoken fluency and comprehension in the target language - in our case Swedish.
It's fun to meet new people and practise in a safe environment at these events. Since everyone there is learning a language, people are usually very helpful and encouraging, which makes you feel like you can speak without being too concerned about making mistakes.
But attending a language exchange isn't the best way to learn Swedish quickly because you have to travel to get to the meetup and then perhaps end up spending half of your time helping other people in your mother tongue. Because of this, they are good practice, but they aren't the fastest way to learn Swedish.
The fastest way to learn Swedish is taking one-on-one lessons that are built around your needs. Tutors should ensure you're actively speaking Swedish for the majority of each lesson, creating a supportive environment and providing constructive feedback on your pronunciation and grammar.
You can find a teachers from around $20/h (about €18 or £15) if you take the lessons online. Here are some online Swedish teachers that you can check out if you want to learn Swedish as fast as possible.
An additional option has surfaced in the last year or so: Swedish speaking practice driven by artificial intelligence (AI).
One site offering this is Langua. There you may talk about your hobbies, your life, or rehearse playing out real-life scenarios via role plays. The AI will ask you plenty of questions in order to get you talking, and it will correct you and explain any language questions you may have. Learning Swedish with AI is perfect if you want to practise for 5-10 minutes whenever you get a moment. Check out Langua here.
Common mistakes people make when they want to learn Swedish quickly
Now you know some of the best ways to learn Swedish fast and where to find the best resources. But if you want to improve your chances of success, you should stay away from making these mistakes:
- Getting stuck on the grammar. It's good to know the basics, but you don't need to be fluent to be understood. It's also okay if you find grammar tasks dull. You'll pick up a lot of language automatically when you talk, read, or listen to Swedish. Consider the rules of your mother tongue. Do you use them without thinking because you studied them over and over? Or did you learn them naturally by using them over and over?
- Not talking or avoiding mistakes. You should start talking early on if your goal is to be able to speak in Swedish. Even though you might be scared, you need to get used to messing up from time to time. It's faster to learn from your mistakes and you can actually get better the more you make.
- Spending too much time on language apps. When you're just starting to learn a language, apps like Duolingo can help you learn the basics of grammar and vocabulary. But, if you want to be able to converse in Swedish, answering multiple choice questions on an app is not the fastest way to get there. You do this by practising talking and listening with other people.
- Telling yourself you don't have time. In fact, all you need is 15 minutes a day to make progress. Take your daily commute to work as an example. Thanks to technology, you can use this time to listen to Swedish podcasts or review the most commonly used words. Do you watch TV and films a lot? Instead, watch something in Swedish and switch on Swedish subtitles on Netflix.
Learning Swedish fast is possible, no matter what your budget is.
This guide provides you with everything you need to know in answer to the question how to learn Swedish quickly, even if you don't have a lot of money. Do something today with what you've learned if you're feeling inspired. Get into the habit of learning every day. Write down some of the resources I’ve listed and give them a try. Also, draw up a rough plan like the one below and start today:
Day 1: Listen to a Swedish podcast and read the script that goes with it.
Day 2: Find a Swedish tutor and try a one-on-one class.
Day 3: Go through 100 of the most used Swedish words.
Day 4: Watch a Swedish show on a streaming service, with Swedish subtitles.
Day 5: Practise speaking Swedish with AI.
Day 6: Use what you've learned by going to a language exchange!
Lycka till! (Good luck!)
