Swedish learning & resource thread
The idea for this thread came to me a while ago when I was stuck at a few words when I was doing one of Jocke's translation posts, and chatting recently with .namnlös about Swedish learning put the idea back in my head.
So, the idea of the thread is to provide links and resources to those who are learning or who want to learn Swedish. These will be for learning websites, online resources, blogs, books, learning exchange sites, etc. I'd also like the thread to be 'interactive', in that if you're having trouble with a part of Swedish learning, or unable to find or translate a right word/ phrase, maybe one of the other forum members who know Swedish (and the Swedes are very welcome to join in too) can help with an answer.
We all might prefer different ways of learning, and forum member .namnlös has kindly given me a list of sites and resources that he has used (I've indicated below which ones came from him), and if you have any links you know which might help others learn Swedish, then either post them below, or PM me and I'll keep this top post updated so everything is much easier to find.
I did have a lot of links to various websites, but it turns out these were on my pc at my last job (and not here at home), so I've had to have a scout about the internet for those that I could remember.
Dictionaries (links to books are just for reference, I've not purchased them from these stores)
I use 2 paper dictionaries:
-Norstedts Engelska Fickordbok (pocket dictionary)
This is my quick look-up book and has been really helpful since I started learning. Perfect for the beginner, as it shows the gender of the word, and its plural ending, eg: hund (-en, -ar) dog.
-Norstedts Engleska Ordbok Student's Edition: (known as my 'big' dictionary!)
This is much more comprehensive than the Pocket edition, and often has additional phrases/ uses for words. Possibly a not needed for a beginner, but when you're a bit more advanced in your learning. I chose this one over others, because it shows the word gender/ plural ending like the pocket edition. I couldn't find this at the Norstedts website, so I'm wondering if it's now out of print. Maybe someone with the 'Stora Ordbok' version or another Swe-Eng dictionary can confirm if it shows the word gender/ plural endings.
Online dictionaries:
- Norstedts have a free & limited online search. Most words are here, but some are part of their pay monthly scheme, which I think is only available in Sweden.
- Lexin is a free online dictionary which is quite handy when the word isn't at the Norstedts site.
- Tyda is another online dictionary. Recommended by .namnlös, this one is new to me, and I have bookmarked it to try. I've noticed some words have a little 'speaker' icon which lets you hear how the word sounds. There's also an iPhone app too.
Teach yourself-type books
There is a lack of decent self learning books in the UK (not sure about elsewhere), and it's been a while since I looked in a bookshop here, as I'm passed the beginner stage. However, the book I started learning with was:
- Swedish in Three Months, by Hugo. This book is long out of print, but 2nd hand copies to pop up on Amazon and eBay occasionally. I found it really helpful and used it before I took lessons and still refer to it occasionally.
- Teach Yourself Swedish. This is a newer edition than the one I own. Although aimed at beginners, my version forgot about the basics! This jumped right in with an English family visiting a Swedish family and exercises were based around 'situations' and conversations between the 2 families. I don't recommend this for total beginners.
- Mål 1. I picked this up in a 2nd hand book shop, and is a beginners book of exercises. All are in Swedish, there's no English in the book, as I believe it's used in Swedish for Beginner's classes in Sweden. They have some online exercises you can do- I'll link further down to it.
Other useful books:
- Swedish Essentials of Grammar. I found this helpful explaining some of the more complicated grammar that I was struggling with. Not that expensive, either!
- 201 Swedish verbs. This has the most used verbs in Swedish fully written out for all the tenses- it also tells you which classification group (I-V) the verb is. At the back of the book there is also a long list of verbs with English translations, words in highlighted in bold are found in the book, the others give you the class, and as most are regular, and if you know the classification, you can work out the verb tenses. A grammar section at the beginning also explains the different uses and gives quick tips and rules for remembering Strong (irregular) verb spelling patterns.
Online language exchanges:
Essentially a cultural exchange between two (hopefully) likeminded individuals. Usually the Swede's level of English is much better than our level of Swedish, so it might be difficult finding someone willing to help with the basics. Can be worthwhile if you find someone wanting to practice their English on you, or willing to give you some basic Swedish to read in emails/online chats.
- Polyglot was the site I tried quite a few years ago. Free. I haven't used it for a while, although I did have an e-penpal through it. Not just Swedish, but all nationalities here looking to learn.
Used/ tried by .namnlös:
- Livemocha (nice idea to have courses, a bit fiddly interface though)
- Lingofriends (seemingly now dead!)
- iTalki (recently refreshed and better for it)
- My Language Exchange (paid, picked up a few contacts here, but again few Swedish learners)
Forums:
- How to learn any language
- Fluent in 3 months
Both are new to me, but browsed by .namnlös
Websites (reading/ listening):
- 8 Sidor is a news in 'lätt svenska' (simple Swedish). Quite helpful as it has news from Sweden (Inrikes) and around the world (Utrikes). Try reading a news story here and then see if you can find it on an English language site, and work out how much you have understood.
- Klartext on Sveriges Radio. Is again news in simple Swedish. There are stories to read, and a 10 minute broadcast everyday to listen to or download. (click on 'lyssna' or 'ladda ner' on the right hand side) They are read clearly and slowly.
- Svt is the Swedish state broadcaster and has a selection of news stories in their News section. More advanced Swedish than lätt svenska. They also have SVTPlay (like the BBC iPlayer), but only a few programmes are available to watch outside of Sweden
- SweDia 2000 Probably not for the beginner, but interesting none the less. The universities of Umeå, Stockholm and Lund undertook a project to record different Swedish dialects. It allows you to hear an older man (äldre man), an older woman (äldre kvinna), a younger man (yngre man) and a younger woman (yngre kvinna) speaking and has the text they spoke, and a phonetic transcription too. Click on different regions/ villages, and then the page will show 'välj talare' (choose speaker) and click on one of the 4 options mentioned above. This gives you a page with the text, and 2 listening options, mp3 or Wav.
Websites (blogs, other learning)
- Transparent Language has different languages and 'channels' of learning (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc). I follow them on Twitter where they post a 'Word of the day' (it can also be emailed) and links to their blog, which has interesting articles to help your learning.
- Swedish Made Easy is the blog is Dr Anneli Haake, who provides online lessons (paid) and a blog with articles about learning and Swedish culture. .namnlös has had lessons from her and said she was good.
- Memrise is a website and iPhone and Android app which uses community based learning. .namnlös uses this to learn. Direct link to Swedish here.
- Mål 1 (and Mål 2), the workbook I mentioned above, has a site (click on the 'Gratis 2013' boxes) where you can do some exercises online, such as: 'drag & drop' the words into the sentences, or pick the correct answer to a statement and see how many you get correct. Pick a chapter (kapital) and then a section, and then a topic from that section. (basically, keep clicking until you get some questions!) Again, like the books, this is ALL in Swedish. There is a help section in the top right corner (question mark) but it's in Swedish too!
- SFI (Svenska för invandrare) is a programme run in Sweden for beginner learners of Swedish (immigrants, not the natives!). I had a link to some online past test papers, but the link no longer works, and they now only provide some sample questions from their different test levels in this pdf
- Learn Swedish Online has basic words and phrases, beginner level and possibly useful for those visiting Sweden and wanting to learn a few words.
- Goethe-Verlag is a 'fill in the letters' type site. I haven't used this, but came across it whilst looking for another site.
Personal Interaction (online chatting/ lessons etc.)
One of the best ways to learn a language is to have others to converse with. The method that worked for me was taking lessons with a native Swedish speaker. I took lessons for 4 years with the same teacher at a University and the classes (adult learning, not part of the student curriculum) were always popular and nearly always fully booked (much to the University's surprise, who knew so many people in Glasgow wanted to learn Swedish!). However, lessons can be expensive, as a guide, this year Stage 1 at Glasgow Uni (with a different teacher) is £200 for 20, 2 hour lessons. The lessons were invaluable for giving me speaking/ writing/ listening practice and I met others who wanted to learn Swedish. It's worth checking you local college or uni to see if they offer lessons. I was able to get a grant to part-fund some of my course.
.namnlös uses Skype for interacting with Swedes online (not something I've tried), here's what he says about it:
I use this for chatting to the people I find something in common with. Normally it takes some time to do a voice chat as people get nervous, and also not everyone wants to spend each and every night online. One that can be either deathly dull or very good is the Swedish chat group I am in. I mostly "watch" this as I can't even type well enough to join the discussion. On an individual basis, if you can generally chat with someone in English here, you can pick up some things and most Swedes will answer any questions you have.
After my Swedish lessons finished, someone from the class set up a Meet Up group, where we could meet up and speak Swedish. It wasn't entirely sucessful for me, so I'm no longer in the group. Some of the problems was often there was no native Swedish speaker to keep us correct when chatting in Swedish, some people might only come once or twice and it was hard to keep connections, and often (because there was no Swedish lessons at the Uni for a couple of years) total beginners would join (not that they were unwelcome), but they were looking for us to teach them Swedish. One problem I found personally, was that the organiser wasn't particuarly organised and we often had no set topics to chat about, and there's only so many times you can ask a near stranger about their Christmas/ summer holiday/ job. It may work for others, but I ended up feeling frustrated and that it wasn't actually helping my Swedish.
There are other group possibilities with Facebook groups or Google Circles, neither of which .namnlös or I have tried.
On twitter:
https://twitter.com/swedishlanguage word a day, links to resources
https://twitter.com/learnswedish 10 Swedish words everyday
Again, if you have anything to add to the list, please post below, or PM (and I'll credit the link to you). I hope the thread might be helpful to any learners out there, and maybe if it's popular we might get it stickied! And feel free to post if you have any Swedish learning questions.
Svara med citat
I also have An Essential Swedish Grammar, Teach Yourself Swedish and a phrase book for learning phrases quickly.
Ursprungligen postat av .namnlös
