Swedish is a North Germanic language that has around 10 million speakers.
Although the Swedish language is closely related to its neighboring languages, Danish, Norwegian and German, it shares some similarities with Germanic languages like Dutch, German, and English.
However, does this make it easier for English speakers to learn Swedish?
Well.
Like any language, learning Swedish fluency takes patience and time. Although the pronunciation is not easy, grammar and vocabulary are relatively simple. Swedish is one of the simple languages to learn for English speakers. It’s something you can learn over time.
This is a simplified answer. It is essential to consider many factors, including the learner’s education and linguistic background, learning style, and the amount of work put in to learn Swedish. We must also consider the Swedish language and its comparison to other languages.
When it comes to learning Swedish, your background is essential.
It doesn’t matter who you are or your background if you want to learn Swedish.
You already have an advantage if you speak English. Swedish may seem strange and challenging to a Swede if you talk in Korean, Arabic, or another exotic language.
Fortunately, this article is in English.
Is English your only language, or do you have some experience learning other languages? When learning Swedish, the more languages you know (or have tried to learn), the easier it will be for you.
Why? Learning a foreign language requires open-mindedness to see the world from a new perspective. It will be easier to learn a foreign language if you have already experienced other communication methods.
Your educational background is also essential when learning Swedish.
While I don’t think you need a master’s in linguistics, it is a good idea. You will benefit from someone who only knows a little about academics if you are used to taking notes and learning.
How you approach learning Swedish can make or break your language learning progress.
What can you do to learn Swedish?
Do you plan to sign up for a class, enroll in a course, use Duolingo to buy a book, listen to audio lessons, or purchase a book?
There are many ways to learn Swedish. There are many ways to learn Swedish. Many people swear by one method or another. In reality, it all depends on your learning style and preferences.
However, if your method of learning Swedish is slow or inefficient, you will have difficulty becoming fluent.
Many language courses focus on the wrong aspects of languages and could be faster-paced.
There are also many programs, courses, and apps that could be better.
These offers are always successful in asking for a lot of money.
It is the best way to learn languages to plan out a self-examine routine that is both varied and focuses on what works. It’s easier to learn vocabulary and grammar in context than memorizing them. Online courses Glossika and LingQ both emphasize this.
Learning Swedish the right way will be easier than taking ineffective language classes.
What about the Swedish Language? Is it difficult (or easy)?
Some aspects of the Swedish language are simple, and others can be challenging.
Swedish is a simple language compared to many other languages around the world. The grammar is simple, the vocabulary is similar to English, and the pronunciation is almost effortless.
One thing that could be a problem is the fact that nouns in Swedish have gender. To correctly decline a noun, you must know its gender.
There are many irregular verbs in it (like English), so you will need to know a lot about verb conjugations. The rules don’t apply.
Also, Swedish is known for combining words into complex words, much like German. “Realisationsvinstbeskattning” means “capital gains taxation.”
These things can seem complicated at first, but they are okay once you start to make some progress.
As you move, you will learn the gender of each noun. Even though there are many irregular verbs, they don’t have many forms or conjugation, so they’re easy to remember. Compound words are individual words with no spaces between them.
Is Swedish Difficult To Learn According To Linguists?
We’ve discussed your background, learning style, and the Swedish language. What do experts have to say?
The Foreign Service Institute (FSI), an American government institution, teaches foreign languages to diplomats and envoys who travel to foreign countries.
They have a lot of experience teaching a wide range of languages.
The FSI approach to teaching is to offer intensive courses in a classroom setting and aim for fluency. The numbers they cite may differ from your methods and goals for learning Swedish.
Instead of taking a course, I recommend you learn Swedish independently. It would help if you aimed to attain a higher intermediate or lower level of Swedish than the FSI’s “High Professional Working Proficiency.” This will help you get there quicker and allow you to learn and improve your Swedish language skills while learning it.
The FSI numbers are still interesting and can be compared to other languages. You might also find the time required to achieve fluency a helpful indicator of how much you will need.
The first group is for languages close to English that are considered easy. Here you will find Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Dutch, French, Spanish, French, Spanish, and other languages. These languages require approximately 5-600 hours of classroom time to master, according to the FSI.
The second category is for more complex or exotic languages, like Swahili and Indonesian. These languages take approximately 900 hours to learn.
The third group is where we see complex languages such as Hindi, Thai, and Thai. These require approximately 1100 hours of classroom time.
Finally, we have group four, which includes the complicated languages of Arabic, Korean and Japanese, which can take up to 2200 hours each!
Let’s go back to Swedish. 5-600 hours…
Swedish may be among the easiest languages, possibly alongside Dutch. Let’s say that 500 hours of intensive classroom time could get you to an advanced level in Swedish. If you were to learn by yourself, that’s about 1 hour per day.
If you wanted to target a lower level than professional fluency, if you were to aim lower than professional fluency, then you could learn Swedish within a year!
Let’s remember: Is it hard to learn Swedish?
It is easy to learn Swedish, but I do not think so. It is easy to understand by yourself in less than a year. However, I haven’t covered everything you need to know to reach your goal.
It takes patience, perseverance, motivation, and willpower. Swedish can be difficult to learn if you lack these qualities.
You will only be able to learn Swedish if you have the willpower and perseverance to keep it up for at least one year.
This is the most challenging thing about learning Swedish.
