Random list of Swedish Language Resources
https://www.youtube.com/@swedishforyou/shorts
A Russian immigrant to Sweden who teaches new immigrants. She still has a little bit of a Russian accent, but her pronunciation is very clear (and correct!); she explains well, and since she has gone through the difficulties of learning Swedish (and becoming a Swedish language teacher), she knows what she's doing. She has about 300 shorts on her YT, many of which consist of variations on a theme. (e.g., I have a matchbox, I take out a match, I light a match, I blow out the match.)
The shorts aren't enough to learn the language's structure, but they're a good supplement for vocabulary and pronunciation. (She also sells full courses on her website, but they're pricey and more suited for adult learners.)
A Russian immigrant to Sweden who teaches new immigrants. She still has a little bit of a Russian accent, but her pronunciation is very clear (and correct!); she explains well, and since she has gone through the difficulties of learning Swedish (and becoming a Swedish language teacher), she knows what she's doing. She has about 300 shorts on her YT, many of which consist of variations on a theme. (e.g., I have a matchbox, I take out a match, I light a match, I blow out the match.)
The shorts aren't enough to learn the language's structure, but they're a good supplement for vocabulary and pronunciation. (She also sells full courses on her website, but they're pricey and more suited for adult learners.)
A somewhat "boring" but very organized series of 34 lessons for beginners. Mostly vocabulary with basic grammar. My children would not have been able to endure this until middle school, but YMMV…
A playlist for beginners with the most common pronunciation rules that make reading Swedish much easier. And a bit of other really basic Swedish.
And a newer compilation from the same channel with more on Swedish pronunciation.
This is one of the few YouTubers using English to explain the Swedish language. (Most use Swedish only, as we have many immigrants in Sweden, many of whom don't know any English.) Now, this is a comprehensive playlist on Swedish pronunciation, and as she uses English to explain how to pronounce the Swedish vowels, it is very helpful if you don't have access to a native speaker. (For most beginners, the hardest part about Swedish is the vowel sounds!)
The YouTuber also has playlists on grammar and vocabulary, as well as a cute list of Swedish Christmas customs. At https://www.funswedish.com/, she offers courses that seem good but are also more expensive than other options.
The YouTuber also has playlists on grammar and vocabulary, as well as a cute list of Swedish Christmas customs. At https://www.funswedish.com/, she offers courses that seem good but are also more expensive than other options.
A playlist with Swedish nursery rhymes. The animation isn't the most exciting, but the singing is very clear, and the lyrics are in both the video and the description below the video. (Copy the lyric in the description and let Google translate it to help with comprehension.)
A playlist from the same account as above, mostly featuring Christmas and Lucia songs.
A linguist's take on basic Swedish, especially the vowels. (Helpful for parents and high school students!) This channel also offers a playlist with Swedish pop music with Swedish lyrics. (Yes, a lot of Swedish pop music has English lyrics…) Modesty rules are very different between mainstream Sweden and American homeschoolers – consider yourself warned and preview before showing your kiddos.
A playlist with a few videos of Swedish words from InformationSverige.se made for immigrants to Sweden.
The platform outschool.com usually has at least some classes in Swedish. I have never used them, but the current teacher, Jessika O'Sullivan, has good reviews.
https://www.theswedishschool.org/ offers online Swedish classes, but unfortunately only for adults.
Serie of short animated videos teaching basic Swedish everyday language. Beneath each episode, there is "Pedagogiskt material" with a description of the episode, a link to "Lärarhandledning" (the "teacher's material", most helpful for homeschoolers would be the "Begreppslista" (List of Concepts or New Vocabulary) that is in bold print at the beginning of the teaching notes to each episode in the Lärarhandledning. The series was made for adult immigrants in Sweden but is gentle enough for children as well. It assumes that the teacher knows Swedish, but by running the "Manus" also available in the Lärarhandledning through Google Translate, it should be pretty easy to use the series to practice hearing everyday Swedish that is very slowly and clearly spoken, and while the grammar is correct, it still has a very restricted vocabulary.
Unfortunately, the first season is only available online until December 31, 2026, and season 2 until May 7, 2027.
Unfortunately, the first season is only available online until December 31, 2026, and season 2 until May 7, 2027.
This is the most attractive option for combining YT videos with extra material. The YT channel has "fun" extra-vocabulary videos, and while they're not intended for children, most seem acceptable. (Remember that Swedes have somewhat different views on what is appropriate for children compared to most Americans…) Preview, preview, preview! Or just don't leave your young ones alone in front of a screen…)
The webpage offers audio lessons outside the paywall, but lesson scripts and extra vocabulary lists for building more sentences require a subscription (currently about 10 USD per month).
The webpage offers audio lessons outside the paywall, but lesson scripts and extra vocabulary lists for building more sentences require a subscription (currently about 10 USD per month).
There's also a grammar book and workbook by the YouTuber Joakim Andersson: A Lagom Guide to Swedish: A Say it in Swedish book and A Lagom Workbook for Swedish, both available on Amazon.com.
At the bottom of the page: Swedish Made Easy, Day 1 – Comfortable in 6 days
A Swedish male teacher spent 30 hours sitting at a table, talking to a Canadian woman and teaching her the basics of Swedish over about 10 days. (The course is edited into six "days" of roughly five hours each.) The video course is free, but the corresponding PDF files are available on the teacher's Patreon page for any donation. The intro video suggests a minimum donation of 1USD.
The videos are quite chattery, so they might be hard to follow for younger students, but the price really can't be beat…
There are other video courses on Udemy.com. I don't have information on them, so I can't recommend a specific one. (Except for the Korean class my youngest son took some five years ago – It was really good!)
Some podcasts teach spoken Swedish (from English). One that starts from the very beginning of language learning is Sweasy Lessons. I found it on Spotify, but it might be available on other platforms as well. (Though not on YT.) The episodes are only around 5 minutes and build on each other in very small steps.
The videos are quite chattery, so they might be hard to follow for younger students, but the price really can't be beat…
There are other video courses on Udemy.com. I don't have information on them, so I can't recommend a specific one. (Except for the Korean class my youngest son took some five years ago – It was really good!)
Some podcasts teach spoken Swedish (from English). One that starts from the very beginning of language learning is Sweasy Lessons. I found it on Spotify, but it might be available on other platforms as well. (Though not on YT.) The episodes are only around 5 minutes and build on each other in very small steps.
When you've learned a little bit more Swedish, you can add the podcast Lätt svenska med Oskar. Every five-minute episode centers on a word or phrase. In the first, Oskar asks, "Where do you live?" and in the second, he is talking about "Coffee".
There are, of course, many books on Amazon claiming to teach Swedish, but I haven't found any that would be very suitable for kids, except for random vocabulary picture books. (I linked one below that has audio files on YT.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4mpXWeVI2Y&t=29s Video from the publisher with audio for the book Learn Swedish for kids (ISBN-13 979-8876000545)
For teenagers or older, I recommend "From English to Swedish 1: A basic Swedish textbook for English speaking students" and "From English to Swedish 2: An intermediate Swedish textbook for English speaking students", both by Bengt Hällgren and Carol Hällgren. The books are printed both in black & white and color editions. The color editions are much nicer in my opinion, but also a bit more expensive.
There is audio for the books on YouTube, not very engaging but very thorough.
The book follows an American girl who comes to Sweden as a high school exchange student. The first book tells of her adventures during the fall semester, and the second of the spring semester. She lives with a Swedish family and learns a lot about Swedish culture from them. The book is clearly written for exchange students who need to learn a lot of Swedish rather quickly. (The vocabulary lists for each chapter are long!) But if your students are motivated and you are okay with them learning that she's packing lots of sanitary pads in her suitcase because she doesn't know the Swedish word for pads, I guess you could use the book with younger children if you go a bit slowly. The books are good, and, unlike most other textbooks produced in Sweden, all explanations are in English.
For book 1:
For book 2
8sidor.se (8 pages) is a Swedish weekly newspaper for Swedes who, for some reason, struggle with reading. The newspaper has a web edition with speech synthesis. The voices aren't the best, but there's a lot of short text about current events to listen to and try to understand.
swedishpress.com is a monthly magazine for Swedish expats and their descendants, and sverige.se is a website by the Swedish Institute that presents Sweden to the rest of the world.
This last YouTube playlist might not be for beginners… But there are subtitles, if you turn them on, to help with understanding. The books she reads are among the most classic Swedish children's books from the 1900s. E.g., Elsa Beskow's books about Aunt Green, Aunt Brown, and Aunt Purple. Her diction is clear and a great example of how "singing" many Swedish dialects are. And the pictures are so pretty!
I hope this helps a little. Teaching a language that is foreign to both teacher and student is not easy. I tried to teach my Tae Kwon Do-enthusiast some Korean, but it was hard! The best luck we had was with the Udemy course I mentioned. And I believe the main reason why that class succeeded was the simple fact that my student and I did the lessons together.
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