15+ Top Swedish Online Courses

Have you seen the Midnight Sun in movies? It is when the sun stays above the horizon, and there is daylight for 24 hours. After watching it in movies, I always wanted to experience it in real life. Fortunately, I was able to do that by visiting Sweden. But before traveling there, I was determined to learn its official language, which is Swedish. If you also have a reason to travel to Sweden, trust me, you should also learn the language. It will help in communicating with the native speakers. But how to learn it is a big question. Thus, below, I have shared the best Swedish online courses that helped me interact with people living there.

Best Swedish Online Courses

If you are also traveling to Sweden for any reason, try to learn the language to communicate with each other properly. Below I have mentioned a few language resources, that helped me to learn Swedish-

1. Swedish Uncovered

It is one of the courses offered by the platform StoryLearning by BBC. Most of the language is taught in a storytelling format. There is a guided discovery method that has classes from native-status teachers. The teaching is done through fictional narratives and not through grammatical knowledge. It has a unique teaching style making the learners enjoy the lessons. At the end of each lesson, there are multiple exercises on it.

Benefits

• Interesting stories 
• Exercises to practice the language

Drawbacks

• Great for beginners.
• Less grammatical explanations.

2. LearningSwedish.se

I feel it is a resource that covers everything from verbal to writing skills. There are multiple exercises, videos, and flashcards that help to understand the language properly. This is a great place to learn the language as it provides online teacher sessions and modules to work through. However, the teaching sessions are very expensive. One thing that I like about it is how it is created. Swedish institute and some other partners together create this platform. Of course, it makes all sense to say there is a twilight good quality of the course. 

Benefits 

• Lot free of free content. 
• There are many interactive lessons and flash cards. 

Drawbacks

• The teaching accessions are a bit expensive. 
• Only the first module is available on the app.  

3. iTalki

iTalki is the cheaper version of the above platform. You can take the help of multiple tutors to learn the language from starting. It is for those who are looking for home tuition but are unable to find them. The best part of this platform is the filter option. I was literally able to find tutors from different regions based on my budget. Most of the teachers who have high experience charge more. In such a case it is hard for the students on a lower budget.

Thus, this platform gives them the option to choose tutors from professional or community groups. Professionals are the one which has high experience and pricing. Where is community tutors are the ones with less experience. However, it does not mean that the community tutors are not good at the job. I have tried both of them, and trust me some community tutors are better than the professionals. 

Benefits

• There is a pool of tutors to choose from. 
• Easy to schedule classes on it.
• Offer trial classes to see whether the teacher is a perfect choice for you. 
• Free community features to exchange thoughts with each other. 
• Teachers are friendly and helpful even outside the class.

Drawbacks 

• You may need to book in advance for the popular teachers. 
• Some teachers may not come online after you have booked proper classes with them. 
• The pricing system may be confusing as it is run through credits. 

4. FSI Swedish

Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is a place where diploma are trained to learn a new language with the help of government official body. There are many languages that are taught to them freely. It also offers audio recordings. I think this can be a great way of learning the language as it is from an official body. However, the content on this site has not been updated for long. It is old and may be outdated. If you are a fresher or a newbie in the language, taking help from it can be useful. It also provides a download option but the material is the photocopy of content written on typewriters.

Benefits

• As it is from the official government, there is no chance of wrong information on it.
• Free and easy to download 

Drawbacks 

• The downloaded PDF is just a photocopy of typewriter paper. 
• The content is too old. There has been no update from the past few years.

5. SwedishPod101

SwedishPod101 is one of my favorite podcasts to look at. Despite being a popular podcast, it has a full course that helps and learning the language easily. Mostly the courses that provide a lot of audio do not have video lessons on it. But this is the one which is the above both lessons. It has a great number of tools and flashcards making it a perfect choice to learn. The download option makes it the perfect learning tool to take along anywhere. There are many free lessons to choose from. 

Benefits 

• The podcast style of learning the language is very effective.
• Perfect for absolute beginners. 

Drawbacks 

• Less focus on written material. 

6. Duolingo

If you have ever used Duolingo, you will agree with me that it is the most engaging platform to learn the language. The courses follow a particular path which is divided into different sections. Each section is a set of units which further has multiple lessons in it. Duolingo is a resource that helps many language learners fulfill their dreams. It is a perfect tool for a learner like me. I believe learning the language means getting engaged with it. The exercises in each lesson are like a game. 

Benefits 

• Engaging lessons
• Free content
• Best for freshers
• Highly motivating

Drawbacks

• Not for advanced learners

7. Udemy

Udemy is a popular platform offering online courses to learn different skills. There are courses for every language including Swedish. The duration of the course will depend upon the one you have taken. Some courses can be completed in just one hour and for others, it may take 20 to 24 hours to complete.

I think the coolest feature of this platform is the availability of certificates with every course. Also, it has lifetime excess with some extra downloadable resources. I like the idea of this platform to provide language learners with resources that have both audio and video in it. In addition to that, it also has some written supplements making Udemy a perfect choice to learn it. 

Benefits 

• It offers lifetime access to you.
• Has multiple courses to from. 
• There is a money-back guarantee on the platform. 

Drawbacks 

• Some courses are costly. 
• The teaching style of every tutor is different. Therefore it is hard to know how the courses are created. 

8. Babbel

Babbel is one of the oldest language-learning platforms. I really enjoy this platform because it helps in improving my writing, listening, and reading skills. It is like a place where you can start your language learning journey immediately without any period of experience. Again, just like Duolingo, there is very little content for advanced learners. Also, there is not much verbal practice. You will need some other platforms to improve it. 

Benefits 

• All the lessons are interrelated to each other.
• Multiple exercises are there to practice. 
• The cost you pay is affordable. 

Drawbacks 

• Very little content for advanced learners. 
• Look for additional resources to practice conversations. 

9. Pimsleur 

No doubt listening to Swedish podcasts helps in improving language skills. Pimsleur is a platform that works like podcasts and is an excellent tool for understanding how native speakers talk. There are audio-based lessons to help you learn the language. The lessons feature both female and male speakers, guiding you to different accents and styles of conversation.

Benefits

• All the lessons are structured properly. 
• Audio of men and women are included. 
• It is easy to navigate through different exercises. 
• The platform helps me to learn the language rather than understanding the concepts. 
• Many lessons are based on cultural knowledge. 

Drawbacks 

• The platform is a little expensive. 
• There are some unmanageable courses. 
• Repetition of phrases making it boring.

10. Memrise

Memrise is a platform that is developed for learning different words and phrases. It follows a specific path to teach the learners new vocabulary. Earlier it offers a community to make their own set of decks. But with the recent update, you are no longer allowed to make the sets. Even the previous sets updated by real people have been removed. The main reason for the recent update is the wrong information in most of the decks. 

Benefits 

• There is a huge vocabulary to learn.
• Multiple themes to practice 
• Give the best Phrasebook

Drawbacks

• Community text for removal from this website. 
• There are no writing exercises on the platform.

11. Busuu

Busuu is a platform that specializes in only 11 languages including Swedish. The interface of this platform is very interesting and friendly. I enjoyed this platform as it has multiple features including feedback from others. There are multiple interactive exercises including the audio of native speakers. It is the perfect place to practice a variety of Swedish skills even at lower rates. 

Benefits 

• The layout is easy to use. 
• Conversation lessons are very useful.
• Get feedback from real native speakers.

Drawbacks

• There are very less grammatical explanations.

12. Anki

Anki is another great tool to learn Swedish vocabulary. The app is free to use but not for iOS users. It follows a spaced repetition system which is useful to remember the words. There are multiple flashcards to teach the language. I see SRS to be the perfect way of learning the language. This is because it helps to memorize the words in the mind. It also offers a close deletion feature. This feature allows you to block the parts of the cards and create the fill-in-the-blank exercises. It could be a different way to practice the language on this platform. 

Benefits 

• There are multiple features on it.
• The progress is safe even if you are switching the device. 

Drawbacks 

• The interface of this platform may not be cool for beginners. 

13. Preply

Preply is a life-teaching platform to teach multiple languages. It is a perfect alternative for iTalki. At present, there are only 41 tutors for the Swedish language. The booking session is very easy on this platform. I could check various deals for each tutor on the booking page itself. It was easy for me to choose the tutor on the details added. One thing that I noticed was some tutors were having less active students. At first, I thought they were not good at teaching. However, I thought to try their classes for once. So I decided to choose one and to my surprise, it was very nice lost. 

Benefits 

• There are multiple tutors to choose from.
• Easy booking sessions.
• A free trial is available for everyone.

Drawbacks

• Some tutors may not match your learning style.

14. Clozemaster

Do you know what cloze means? According to Wikipedia, it means:

An exercise, test, or assessment in which a portion of text is masked and the participant is asked to fill in the masked portion of text. 

In short, it is an exercise that is more like fill-in-the-blanks. As the meaning of Cloze and the name of the platform suggests, it is a platform that helps in language with the help of fill-ups. There are sentences with missing words and options below them. You have to choose the correct option that fits the lessons. The sentences are introduced in different contexts. It helps to understand how to use the word and meaning of it.

Benefits 

• It teaches languages in all the contexts possible.
• It has more than 10000 words to take. 
• The course is fully free.

Drawbacks

• You may find the interface to be boring. 
• It is not for beginners. 
• There is no writing exercise. 
• No features for improving pronunciation. 

15. uTalk

Most of the learners find it easy to learn with the help of visuals. This is a perfect platform for those learners. There are multiple pictures on the screen with audio in it. Listen to them and take part in different exercises which are more like games. Playing different games is so engaging and helpful to remember the words. Thus, this platform is full of such activities. I love how the platform is created. You can select the topic and learn vocabulary from it. It has a huge game menu like phrase practices and easy and speaking games. Speaking exercises are a combination of two features-

Benefits 

• There are recordings of native speakers.
• Content is designed for beginners. 

Drawbacks

• Less grammatical rules. 
• Phrasebook is a paid feature.

16. Glossika

Glossika helps me to learn some new words in Swedish. There are repetitions of exercises to learn the harder words. It gave me a set of themes and topics, to choose from. The platform has different features that help to learn the language. Different practice sessions help to learn the language including recording yourself and writing exercises. It has a great library of different features like Collections, Favourites, and Recordings. 

Benefits

• Has a great library of resources. 
• There are more than 60 languages on it. 
• Helps in improving speaking skills. 
• Helps to stay motivated. 
• You can get a subscription freely with the help of multiple challenges on it. 

Drawbacks 

• The placement level is not very effective. 
• Over prized
• Bad writing practice 
• No content for beginners

17. Swedish made easy

One thing that I always ask for in my language learning journey is a platform that is completely in the target language. Therefore, I was looking for a platform that also follows the same structure. Eventually, I landed on a platform named Swedish Made Easy. It is the one that has a wide range of online courses and a great library. In the courses, I got unique videos with guidance and practice.

I was able to learn 18 vowels and 25 constant sounds. The videos were mostly in Swedish but had English and Swedish subtitles. In addition to that, there were 100 Swedish adjectives and different idiomatic expressions to learn. What else to expect? But there is one more thing that I truly enjoyed, live support. There were question-answer exercises, exclusive online activities, etc.

Benefits 

• The lessons are easy to understand. 
• Best flashcards 
• Active and passive listening 
• Availability of all vowel and constant sounds. 
• Downloadable PDF for learning offline. 

Drawbacks

• The cost to pay may be high for you. 

Conclusion 

Learning a new language is never an easy task. When I was learning Swedish, it was hard for me to learn the language. To help myself, I tried finding different platforms to learn the language. There are many useful tools to learn it, but it is also true that nothing is perfect. So, I never rely on a single platform. I know choosing a platform from a pool of thousands of resources is very hard. Therefore, I have discussed the list above to help you learn the language.