If you’re reading this, then you probably want to learn Swedish. Whether it’s to increase your chances of landing a job in the country after your studies, to read signs in Swedish on campus or in the city, or to better connect with people who speak the language, having some degree of proficiency in Swedish can be beneficial for an international student in Sweden. It takes a lot of time and effort especially if your native language is linguistically far from the North Germanic group, so you might as well have fun while learning it! I still have a long way to go before I reach fluency, but after a year and a half of learning the language, I can now at least hold a basic conversation in Swedish, understand announcements on the pendeltåg, and put elementary Swedish as one of my skills in my CV! Here are the top 5 ways I learned (and continue to learn) Swedish as an international student at Uppsala University:

  1. Attend Swedish classes at the university or SFI

When it comes to learning a new language, a good starting point is to receive structured, formal education on the basics of grammar, sentence structure, and phonetics of the language you are learning. It’s also a good way to make new friends in a new country since you meet a lot of people with whom you already share at least one common interest – learning Swedish.

Uppsala University (UU) offers Basic Swedish classes to exchange and international students enrolled at the university as well as Swedish for Academics courses for those employed at UU. Students from the EU and UU employees can participate in said courses for free, while international students who are not from the EU have to pay tuition to attend the class and be given the corresponding credits for it. It is, however, also an option for non-EU students to audit the course without paying fees. Although this means that they won’t receive credits for taking the Basic Swedish course, I still think that auditing the course to be able to actively learn the language is worth it, especially if your main objective at the end of the day is to achieve some degree of understanding of the basics. For more information, you can check out this page or contact basic@nordiska.uu.se if you have specific questions.

Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) is another option if you were not able to secure a spot at any of the courses offered by UU. For more information on SFI, you can check these pages for those living in Uppsala and Gotland.

  1. Use Duolingo and maintain friend streaks

I’ve heard a lot of people say that language learning apps are not effective ways to learn a new language. On their own, yes, it can be difficult to pick up the necessary concepts and you can’t expect to be fluent in a language solely by reaching a 100-day streak on Duolingo. However, if you use these apps not just as a daily habit, but alongside attending formal classes and using the language in your daily life, they actually help a lot with vocabulary retention and with working on your pronunciation. It’s important to also take your time while completing the lessons to properly take in new words and figure out unstated grammar rules instead of just breezing through the lessons for the sake of extending your streak (I’m sorry if you feel called out by this; I am also calling myself out!). If you have friends who are also learning a new language, you can even start friend streaks with each other to keep you motivated!

  1. Watch TV shows in Swedish

I ironically started watching Love is Blind Sweden last summer when all my Swedish labmates would talk about it over lunch. After one season, I actually do think it helped me learn the language faster. Think about it: watching with subtitles (and of course, audio), you get to efficiently train your Swedish reading and listening comprehension, and you do all this while getting entertained by interesting plot lines! Additionally, you also familiarize yourself more with Swedish slang or its use in informal contexts, which is equally important as learning the academic/professional form of the language. Another alternative is to watch series or movies you’ve seen before with Swedish subtitles. It’s also a great way to familiarize yourself with everyday expressions.

  1. Listen to Swedish music

Listening to songs in Swedish (and eventually singing along to them) is a good way to practice your listening skills and pronunciation. Music is also always a good conversation starter, so you can ask new Swedish friends for song/artist recommendations if you don’t know where to start. For me, these are some Swedish songs I currently have on repeat:

  • Gå för Glory (Axel Boman remix) – Håkan Hellström
  • Skriker Mitt Namn – Victor Leksell
  • Blåser Min Rök – Näääk, Nimo
  1. Use the language in daily life

A big part of accelerating the learning curve of developing proficiency in a language is integrating it into your daily life. A lot of people (myself included!) are scared of making grammar mistakes or pronouncing foreign words weirdly, but over time, I’ve found that it really isn’t as big of a deal as it seems if you mess up. After all, the best way to learn is to make mistakes and learn from them. Since then, I’ve started saying restaurant orders, asking questions, and texting a friend in Swedish. You could also join språkcafes (language cafes), which nations, university departments, and other institutions organize around the city. It’s a chill way to practice your Swedish skills while enjoying a fika!

It can take a lot to learn a new language, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have fun while doing so. I hope these tips help you on your Swedish journey. If you have any other fun and effective ways to improve your Swedish skills, I’d love to read them in the comments or through messages in the @studyatuu Instagram page!