Forming new habits and practice speaking Swedish outside the classroom can prove to be very difficult in a country where people gladly speak English. “Speaking English is just so convenient” or “even if I start speaking Swedish people always switch to English anyways” are things we often hear from our students. These are of course things we say to let ourselves off the hook. The simple truth is though that if you want to improve your Swedish you have to put in the work!
We have gathered our best tips for helping you speaking more Swedish in your every day life!
- Download the app Memrise and start adding in new and relevant vocabulary you want to learn. Commit to study whenever you are commuting.
- Select a few Swedish speakers in the office or in your group of friends and give them a topic each in Swedish that they will speak with you about whenever they see you. It could be a question like “Vad tycker du om vädret idag?”, “Hur många minuter har du pluggat svenska idag?” or “Hur mår du?” etc. Practice asking and answering the questions.
- Have one meeting a week in Swedish. (Depending on your current language knowledge answer or comment in English.)
- Make it a habit to always let people know when you don’t understand. It is very difficult for other people to know when you are following or not. It’s going to help you a lot when practicing.
- Dedicate 30 minutes every day (perhaps lunch time) to only speaking Swedish.
The key is to let all your colleagues and friends know that your goal is to speak more Swedish and ask them to help you out by not speaking English all the time with you. Keep reminding them if they forget. Remember they will have to form new habits in this process as well.
If you are interested in improving your Swedish with us, let us know by registering here!
