Is swedish hard to learn?

Photo: Cecilia Larsson Lantz/Imagebank.sweden.se

One of the most common questions we get asked at Speak Swedish is: Is Swedish hard to learn? For this, you first have to know how much time you have to learn, how well you want to know the language, d.h. what you want to do with it, and what exactly is Swedish.

What is sweden exactly?

Swedish is a language that is mainly spoken in Sweden and partly in Finland. It is a small language, but still very important, because it can be used to communicate all over Scandinavia. It is one of the top 10 languages in which most books are printed, it is spoken in a region of the world with many good universities that is well ahead or on the rise with technology, medicine, film production, game production and music, Germany and Sweden has a good trade relationship and furthermore many want to either move or vacation in the north because of the open society or the beautiful nature. So Sweden is small but nice.

Why should I know Swedish?

If you learn Swedish, you will get along well in Norway, Denmark and Finland. The languages were once and still resemble dialects. Even on Iceland, Swedish can be used, as most people there speak a second Scandinavian language, besides Icelandic, which is basically unintelligible to mainland Scandinavians. In that sense, Swedish is not such a small language after all. You can communicate with over 20 million people.

The Baltic Sea region is becoming more and more important economically and those who come to Scandinavia should definitely learn one of the Scandinavian languages. Skandinaver, especially the Swedes, speak English so well that many think it is not necessary to learn Swedish. But if you want to understand the culture, English is not enough. In addition, it is true for every country that speaking the local language shows respect for the inhabitants. You come across more sympathetic to them right away and are not seen as a silly tourist. This also applies to business people, who would certainly get a better starting point for negotiations if they could at least chat a little in Swedish.

Is Swedish hard to learn??

For German speakers the answer is no! Swedish is similar to German in sentence structure and vocabulary as they are both Germanic languages. Also, there are many French and German loanwords in Swedish. That means: You can already say a lot!

With Speak Swedish you can learn directly from a native speaker. We are not a big company that has developed a one-size-fits-all concept. Here you are in good hands, you can always ask a native speaker for help and approach the learning as it suits you.

How do you like to learn?

Are you the one who prefers to listen to lessons on the road, or are you the one who practices a lot on the PC? Our product is designed for all types of learners. So the lessons are available as audio files or in text format to print out. Online there are word lists, exercises, learning games and the possibility to ask questions directly. There are also thematic word lists with audio, videos and this blog. Forget the expensive VHS course or the dusty learning material. Speak Swedish is constantly being developed and is always up to date.

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