Even though Sweden is a relatively small country, the Swedish language is one of the most important ones in Europe and the world. Without a doubt, being fluent in it can open a series of doors in terms of education and work. For that reason, many people want to know what the best online Swedish course is. With that in mind, this article will go over the best five options available right now, listing their pros and cons while providing useful information about them.
1. Learning Swedish by the Swedish Institute
Self-reliant and independent learners that want to know the basics of the Swedish language may want to give this course a try. Considered the best online Swedish course by many, it provides written material and videos. It was developed by the Swedish Institute and its partners, a fact that guarantees its high quality.
Advantages
- It offers students the opportunity to speak Swedish with native speakers via Skype.
- In addition to teaching the language, the course offers insight into Swedish society and its culture.
Disadvantages
- Unfortunately, Learning Swedish does not have any advanced courses at the moment.
Website: LearningSwedish.se.
Certificate: This course offers certificates granted by the Sweden Sverige and the Swedish Institute.
Exam: Learning Swedish requires its students to take quizzes after each learning module.
Cost: Learning Swedish is completely free in its basic instances. However, its PLUS membership offers additional features for $311.14.
2. Learn Swedish by Duolingo
Featuring a series of gamified lessons, Duolingo is often referred to as the best online Swedish course app. Various studies confirm its effectivity, highlighting how it can teach Swedish (and other languages) to basically anyone by being used for only five minutes a day.
Advantages
- Duolingo offers personalized learning by adapting its lessons to your learning style.
- Duolingo’s bite-sized lessons are not only fun but rewarding as they offer prizes and bonuses to students that complete challenges.
- Duolingo is backed by research that validates its effectivity.
Disadvantages
- It can only be used as a smartphone app.
Website: Duolingo.com.
Certificate: Duolingo offers online and printable diplomas that certify the student’s development learning the Swedish language.
Exam: Through its Test Center, Duolingo offers various different exams that aim at corroborating and validating the student’s progress learning the Swedish language.
Cost: Amazingly, Duolingo is completely free.
3. Learn Swedish Verbalplanet
Using Skype as its main platform for person-to-person lessons, Verbalplanet teaches its users how to speak Swedish in a casual, modern and culturally-effective manner. Much like a physically-based school, it provides students with live lessons from qualified teachers from around the world.
Advantages
- Its system creates powerful connections between students and teachers despite of nationality and location.
- Unlike most of the best online Swedish course options, it offers potential students free trial lessons.
Disadvantages
- Payments are only conducted through PayPal.
Website: Verbalplanet.com.
Certificate: Verbalplanet does not offer certificates at this point.
Exam: Verbalplanet does not require its students to take exams. However, it allows its teachers to state their particular requirements.
Cost: The program has various prices for its different courses. However, it has an average rate of $22 for each 45-minute lesson.
4. Swedish Language Course by SwedishLesson.com
Those who are looking for a straightforward, web-based resource to learn Swedish will be glad to know about SwedishLesson.com. This is a complete and comprehensive compendium of lessons that range from beginner to advanced levels. Its category-based curriculum makes it one of the best online Swedish course options that are completely free of charge.
Advantages
- The course provides audio for every Swedish phrase that students learn, helping ensure pronunciation is correct.
- It’s completely free.
Disadvantages
- It does not offer certificates or diplomas of any kind.
Website: SwedishLesson.com.
Certificate: Being completely free and independent, this course does not offer certificates of any sort.
Exam: SwedishLesson.com offers its students the resources that will help them learn the language on their own. On that note, it does not require taking tests or exams.
Cost: This course is completely free. However, it does have a PayPal account you can donate to.
5. Learning Swedish Online by Babbel
English speakers that want to learn Swedish will find Babbel to be very interesting. Through web-based and app-based multimedia exercises, it provides students with culturally-relevant pieces of information that slowly but surely create a strong base for learning the language.
Advantages
- It features an integrated speech recognition tool that helps students correct their prununciation.
- It has well-structured courses that increase in difficulty very gradually.
Disadvantages
- Unfortunately, Babbel does not feature live lessons for learning Swedish.
Website: Babbel.com.
Certificate: Babbel offers a certificate for every completed course. Being available for printing, each certificate can be accessed through its main website.
Exam: Babbel tests its students progress through tests that are required after every lesson.
Cost: Babbel’s price ranges from $6.95 to $12.95 per month for each language. However, its costs go down if several months are paid at once.
Summing Up
After going through the five courses that are featured on this list, it can be concluded that there are plenty of good options for you to learn Swedish online. Even though all of them have small disadvantages, their convenience and high quality greatly outweigh those problems. Now, it’s up to you to evaluate them and decide which one is the best online Swedish course for your needs. Let us know which one you chose in the comments!