How Swedish TV can motivate your kids to learn more Swedish

We all know that too much screen time isn’t good for our kids. But did you know that screen time spent watching something in Swedish doesn’t really count? Just kidding! BUT here’s how I approach it in our family.

We allow our little boy some screen time. Not a lot, but some. And when he watches TV I think it’s sensible if at least half of that time is spent watching something in Swedish.

Some parents are more strict and say that all screentime should be spent in Swedish, but I’m a softie and I don’t want my boy to associate Swedish with something he has to do.

Anyway - my point is that although simply watching TV won’t teach your kids Swedish - it will certainly help to build their vocabulary and keep them motivated, thinking that the Swedish language is fun to know.

How to watch Swedish TV abroad

It’s possible to watch Swedish TV online and via apps through SVT play and TV4 Play, but you can also find some good Swedish speaking children’s shows on Netflix, and even Youtube. Also check out Utbildningsradion, I've found lots of fun educational children's shows there (look for their 'barn' section).

SVT restricts some shows abroad due to copyright laws, but there are quite a few shows available for us to watch from abroad without going through the effort of hiding the IP address of our computers. You can find out more info about what's available to watch abroad on SVT here. You can find out more about how to find and download their apps here.

We use Netflix and I’ve set up a separate profile with Swedish as the main language setting. And although not all shows are available in Swedish (you have to check in the languages setting for each show) – some of our current favourites including Daniel Tiger and Sanna i Regnbågslandet have taught my little boy a lot of Swedish while I was busy cooking dinner.

That's it for this time - look out for our upcoming posts!

Ha det gott,

Linda