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What are good ways to find Swedes to practice speaking Swedish with in Stockholm?

  • One of the notorious difficulties to learning Swedish is that Swedes are so good at English. Given that I have a pretty minimal social base at the moment, what are good ways to find people to practice my Swedish with, outside of Swedish class?

  • Answer:

    I've only been to Stockholm once (not counting trips in and out of the airport), so I feel a little guilty about posting this as its own answer, but may I suggest an addition? Get a library card. Sweden has some excellent libraries (Stockholm's is pictured below), where you will find a wealth of resources, including books. You can start with the kid's books. I've enjoyed Alfons Ã…berg, Mamma Mu and Castor (who is a busy beaver) on my own, and a few more advanced books and stories with help from . (My own photo, cc-by, http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvortygirl/6826101869/ ) You'll find language-related stuff in and around the F section. The shelf pictured below is origins of place names. (My own photo, cc-by, http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvortygirl/6810327313/)  You will also find people and programs. Ask the librarians there. They should, at the very least, show you to the language section, and any separate sections for language learning, audio books, etc. (Do see if you can find the book Vi dricker te och lär oss e, if you haven't yet. Even if you don't need a refresher on the alphabet, get it for the design and the story in it.) While you're talking, ask if they can also point you to programs, classes, bulletin boards, language exchanges, and whatever else. You are not the first person in Sweden to want to learn Swedish. If you don't mind looking online, you might also try conversation exchange websites or local bulletin boards. You may find someone local who would like help practicing English, or who doesn't mind getting together for the occasional chat. Or you may find someone several towns over who doesn't mind meeting by Skype.

Betsy Megas at Quora Visit the source

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From personal experience (18 years in Sweden, became fluent in written and spoken Swedish) - the biggest barrier for me in learning Swedish was the way Swedes switch into English after three sentences. So I looked for and joined an intensive class in Svenska för Invandrare (9 am to 2 pm, 5 days a week). Went to work for evening shift straight after class. Kept it up for 10 weeks. I was exhausted but nobody switched back into English any longer. Later, I met an English guy who done the same thing - but struggled for 6 years before he did it. In any language there is a cliff to climb to get to where people will actually talk to you. The sooner you climb it, the sooner you become fluent.

Tim Elliot

The best way to practice Swedish as a second language is to hang out with others who speak Swedish as a second language--but don't speak English. 

Anders Stigsson

1. Write down a sentence that you want to be able to say in Swedish. 2. Get a native Swede to translate it and record the Swedish. 3. Listen and repeat the Swedish over and over and over. Break it up into small bits if it is a long statement. Your Swedish will be without a foreign accent if you do this right.

Tom Kershaw

You can visit the church, don't worry the church in Sweden is like nowhere else in the world, check out your closest church they have "practice your Swedish" days. :)

Dax Balladares

I've seen a couple of threads about it on the couchsurfing-community: https://www.couchsurfing.org/n/places/stockholm-stockholm-county-sweden/search?q=speak+swedish

Joel Larsson

Join any kind of group with a shared interest, be it sports, cars, science, books, knitting, beer or whatever. Ask the people you get to know there to talk to you in simple Swedish so you may practice.  I'm sure most will be willing to help.

Daniel Lindsäth

In addidtion, There are many in the USA, who would love a chance to practice their Swedish. Ex-pats, their children, Americans who have lived in Sweden, and others. Check websites that cater to Swedish immigrants and Swedophiles.

Johan Erik Kahlstrom

Most libraries and municipalities have some sort of laguage café where you can practice your Swedish in a group of people. Also Sweden has a strong civil society with lots of clubs and associations, so i recomend that you join a club of your intrest.

Linus Nilsson

Finding natives to speak Swedish to is tricky, as you've seen in the other answers. Going outside Stockholm does help. But within Stockholm you can always find Persian /Iraqi /Somali immigrants with passable Swedish to practise on when you take a taxi or get your hair cut. Special bonus: Most of these people speak good Swedish and no English at all.

Steve Rapaport

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