Fantastiska svenska YouTubers! Top 5 Swedish YouTubers to Learn the Language and Have Fun
Posted by Filed under Swedish
Learning Swedish can be a bit overwhelming. Elusive vowel sounds, flexible sentence structure and some very long words make this beautiful language daunting for most learners.
Fortunately, thanks to the power of the Internet, you can now learn Swedish by watching dynamic, highly entertaining videos. Swedish YouTubers provide a great opportunity to get hours of exposure to real samples of the language while having lots of fun.
Below, you’ll find the 5 top Swedish YouTubers for language lovers.
1. Eko Languages – 4,25 Million Subscribers – The Perfect Swedish YouTuber for Beginners
Do you like to take things slowly? Then you must check Eko Languages. Their videos are the most similar thing to a podcast you will find on YouTube. Their video “Learn Swedish When You Sleep” introduces essential phrases and expressions that every learner should learn if they want to get by in Sweden.
The curious thing about this video is that it’s exactly eight hours long, which makes it perfect to listen to while asleep. Though it may seem like a crazy thing to do, multiple studies have concluded that a basic form of learning, called conditioning, does happen during sleep.
Like a YouTube user commented: “Imagine you fall asleep listening to this and you wake up to find you forgot English entirely but can speak perfectly fluent Swedish!”
2. Katrin Berndt – 454k Subscribers – Perfect for Pre-Intermediate Learners
Would you like to learn Swedish while having fun with Swedish YouTubers? Enter Katrin Berndt.
Katrin is a Swedish YouTuber who posts about makeup, tattoos, and her personal life on her self-titled channel. She has been active since July 2011 and she is now followed by more than 400K people.
Though most of her posts are in English, she does have a few interesting videos aimed at learning Swedish.
In this one, for example, she teaches you the pronunciation of words and phrases related to body modification, such as töjda öron (stretched ears), tatuering (tattoo), and smärttröskel (pain threshold).
She also has some funny and very random-topic videos such as “Learn How to Curse in Swedish”, “Swedish Nursery Rhymes Sing Along”, and “Baking a Swedish Cake”.
3. Nackagubben – 12.6K Subscribers – Perfect for Intermediate Learners
One of the most charismatic Swedish Youtubers out there, Nackagubben introduces himself on his channel as “a Swede who loves languages, games and other things that are… um.. fun?”
What his introduction doesn’t say is that he loves Scandinavia and he’s constantly making videos about cultural differences between Scandinavian countries. Posts like “What Swedes Think of Danes”, or “Weird Things Swedes Do” are great for language lovers who also love to learn about the culture from the perspective of a local.
Of course, you can also watch some of Nackagubben’s videos to learn Swedish. In “Can I Really Speak Swedish?”, he guides you through a language quiz. In “Guessing Swedish Dialects”, he listens to samples of people speaking in different varieties of Swedish and tries to guess which they are.
If you’re looking for Swedish YouTubers to learn both about Swedish and Scandinavian culture, go with Nackagubben!
4. Linn Ahlborg – 476K Subscribers – Perfect for Advanced Learners
Linn owns one of Sweden’s largest YouTube channels. Unlike most Swedish YouTubers, all her vlogs are entirely spoken in Swedish, which makes her the perfect Internet celebrity for advanced students who want to boost their listening skills by hearing someone talk about different topics in Swedish rather than listening to a language lesson.
Linn’s eclectic channel includes things like a game of “Never have I ever” with her Mum and Dad (see the video above), eating and fitness tips, vlogs about her ex-partner, and reaction videos. Though her effervescent personality might not be for everyone, Linn is a great YouTuber for learners looking for unscripted, spontaneous Swedish content.
5. Alexander Skarsgård for Vanity Fair – Perfect for All Levels
Don’t worry, the star of Big Little Lies hasn’t quit acting to become a YouTube personality. But he does have a nice video in which he teaches audiences about Swedish slang. Fika, for example, means meeting your friends for coffee, while a sockergris (pig sugar) is someone who loves candy and sugary foods.
If you want to learn Swedish as spoken by real people, it’s always good to devote some time to learning slang. Very often, advanced students of Swedish sound foreign not because their speaking skills are not strong enough, but because they sound too formal. Learning slang with Swedish YouTubers (and movie stars!) is a fantastic way to complement your formal studies with colloquial expressions.
Are you serious about learning Swedish? Then you may want to consider spending some time in Sweden. That way, you would be forced to use the language all the time to do the shopping, socialise, and even work!
But not so fast. Before you book your flight, read our tips to prepare for your move to Sweden.
Did you enjoy our little list of Swedish YouTubers? We sure hope you have.
If you want to delve deeper into the language, make sure you explore our tailor-made courses taught by native Swedish teachers. Whether you opt for group or individual lessons, we can promise you’ll have the best learning experience ever!