Swedish language resources – Language Links Database

Swedish – is a North Germanic language, spoken natively by about 9 million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, where it has equal legal standing with Finnish. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish. Along with the other North Germanic languages, Swedish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. It is currently the largest of the North Germanic languages by number of speakers.

More information: Wikipedia

Native speakers: c. 9 million (2012)

Official language in: Sweden, Finland, European Union, Nordic Council


Swedish Grammar and Pronunciation



  • Hhs.se - Introduction to Swedish by Stockholm School of Economics
  • FSI Languages Courses - Textbook (pdf) and 16 audio lessons (mp3)
  • Onlineswedish.com - Swedish course (also in Polish, German, Greek, French, Rusian, Dutch and Spanish)
  • IeLanguages - Swedish Tutorials Index: Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and Grammar
  • Wikiversity - Introduction to Swedish
  • Personal.psu.edu - Introduction to Swedish
  • Lysator.liu.se - The grammar written by Leif Stensson
  • Swedishlesson.com - Free Language Course and Lessons Online
  • Digitalasparet.se - Language lessons (with audio)
  • Learn101 - All the lessons contain audio and are all offered for free. We will learn the alphabet together. We will also review some simple grammar rules, practice common phrases, and we will have fun memorizing many important vocabulary lists.
  • MyLanguages - Check courses about adjectives, adverbs, articles, gender (feminine, masculine…), negation, nouns, numbers, phrases, plural, prepositions, pronouns, questions, verbs, vocabulary, excercises
  • Sweol.com - “We produce Swedish language courses for immigrants to Sweden since 2003. Our courses are used at SFI* schools all over Sweden. As the interest is large for studying as privateers we also provide our courses to students all over the world.”
  • Omniglot - Alphabet and pronunciation guide
  • ILanguages - This site is designed to teach you and help you learn Swedish for free through vocabulary, phrases, grammar and flashcards (vocabulary trainer)
  • Verbix - Online verb conjugator
  • Nordiska.su.se - Swedish course
  • SpeakSwedish.co.uk - A wide range of materials to help you learn Swedish
  • Hum.uit.no - (this site does not exist anymore) 
  • Onlineswedish.com - Swedish course


Digitized Grammar Books



  • Google Books Swedish: A Comprehensive Grammar by Philip Holmes,Ian Hinchliffe (2013)(view only)
  • Google Books Beginner’s Swedish by Scott A. Mellor (2006)(view only)
  • Google Books Say It in Swedish by Kerstin Norris(1979)(view only)
  • Google Books Swedish: An Elementary Grammar-Reader by Gladys Hird(1980)(view only)
  • Google Books Essential Swedish Grammar by Julian Granberry (2012)(view only)
  • Achive.org A New, Practical and Easy Method of Learning the Swedish Language: Including … (1908)
  • Archive.org Elementary Swedish grammar, combined with exercises, reading lessons and conversations (1911)
  • Archive.org A simplified grammar of the Swedish language(1902)
  • Archive.org Modern Swedish grammar (1923)
  • Archive.org Swedish phonology (1915)
  • Archive.org First Swedish book – grammar (1923)
  • Archive.org A brief Swedish grammar (1914)
  • Archive.org Swedish self-taught, with phonetic pronunciation : containing vocabularies, elementary grammar, idiomatic phrases and dialogues, travel talk, photography, cycling, fishing, shooting (19–)
  • Archive.org A practical grammar of the Swedish language; with reading and writing exercises (1904)
  • Google Books An Introduction to Swedish Grammar, Adapted for the Use of Englishmen, with Exercises by Gustavus Brunnmark, J. P. Wåhlin (1825)
  • Eric.ed.gov Beginning Swedish Individualized Program: Svenskt uttal (Swedish Pronunciation), 51 pages (PDF pending restoration)
  • Eric.ed.gov Beginning Swedish Individualized Program: En bostad (At Home), 55 pages


Swedish Vocabulary




Vocabulary-related (and digitized) E-books



  • Oecd.org Glossary of Key Terms in Evaluation and Results Based Management, 60 pages (pdf)
  • Tvrl.lth.se English -Swedish vocabulary, Hydraulics and Hydrology terms, 10 pages (pdf) - this site does not exist anymore


Swedish Reading Materials




Swedish Dictionaries




Digitized Dictionaries



  • Members.chello.nl English-Swedish dictionary, 1167 pages
  • Archive.org Swedish dictionary, by Olaf Östergren (1915)
  • Google Books Ordbok öfver svenska spraket by Anders Fredrik Dalin (1850)
  • Google Books Svenska språkets synonymer by Anders Fredrik Dalin (1870)
  • Archive.org Engelsk-svensk ordbok (1919)
  • Archive.org Svenska etymologier (1897)
  • Runeberg.org Biblical dictionary by Erik Nyström (1896)
  • Archive.org Burt’s Swedish-English dictionary in two parts: Swedish-English, English-Swedish (1900)
  • Archive.org A New pocket dictionary of the English and Swedish languages (1890)


Swedish Listening and Video Resources



PODCASTS / AUDIOBOOKS



  • SverigesrRadio.se - News in easy-to-understand Swedish
  • Swac-collections.org - The Shtooka Project is a multilingual database of audio recordings of words and sentences. Recordings are free! You can listen to them, you can download collections and reuse them!
  • Forvo - Over 56000  words pronounced by native speakers
  • LingQSwedish
  • SwedishPod101 - 24 lessons
  • Swedish: Introductory Course by Centre for Languages and Literature - The podcasts aim to give you some elementary understanding of the basic grammatical structures of the Swedish language. 
  • SBS Swedish podcast - featuring homeland news, music and features
  • ITunes Learn with Gabriella and Mark - In this podcast you’ll be learning just enough Swedish to get by on a holiday or business trip to Sweden or Swedish-speaking Finland
  • SurvivalPhrases is an innovative and fun way of learning the Swedish language and culture at your own convenience and pace. Our language training system consists of free podcast audio lessons, accompanying PDF guides, and a vibrant user community. 16 lessons.


TV / VIDEO / MOVIES



  • YouTube GoSwedish YT channel – Lessons with the most beautiful voice in the world! - this channel does not exsist anymore
  • YouTube Professor Paul Language lessons
  • YouTube - A list of YT video lessons
  • SquidTV - A list of over 20 TV stations
  • Reddit - A list of over 40 movies (with links and subtitles)
  • MyEasyTV - A list of over 20 TV stations
  • Imdb - A list of Swedish movies
  • Lib.berkeley.edu - A list of Swedish movies


RADIO




MUSIC




Forums




Swedish In Other Languages



  • Ordbok.lagom.nl Swedish-Dutch dictionary
  • Archive.org Tysk-Svensk ordbok. German-Swedish dictionary. (1904)
  • Archive.org Svensk-fransk ordbok. Swedish-French dictionary
  • Runeberg.org French-Swedish vocabulary by topics by Gotthard Gullberg (1885) 
  • Archive.org Svenskt-Finskt lexikon : Ruotsalais-Suomalainen sanakirja (1865)
  • Runeberg.org Swedish-Latin dictionary by Christian Cavallin (1876)
  • Archive.org Svenskt-grekiskt lexikon. Swedish-Greek lexicon(1862)

If you want to help with expanding this list of resources, please send me your suggestions here.