How to make learning Swedish fun for your kids

If you’re anything like me, then you probably wish you had some more Swedish people nearby to help your child learn Swedish.

Even if you start with the best of intentions, I know what it’s like on those days when you’re sleep-deprived, and your brain doesn’t quite want to switch between languages and you end up speaking Swenglish :-)

Or, when there are other people around and you don’t quite get a chance to speak as much Swedish with your kids as you might like.

And on the days when you do speak Swedish with them, and you know they understand every word - but they refuse to speak their minority language. Sound familiar?

So, what can you do to help support your kids’ Swedish language learning when you’re the only adult speaking the language at home? How can you make it so much fun for the kids that they want to learn?

In this blog, I'll be sharing my best tips for keeping Swedish a 'living language' that your kids will want to learn - wherever your home might be.

Talk Swedish Every Day

Let's start off with the most important tip of all - actually speaking Swedish with your kids. The more Swedish your kids are exposed to through conversation, the quicker they’ll learn the language, so don’t wait around - get chatting! It's never too late to start learning a new language, although as you probably already know, it's always better to start as early as possible.

I started teaching my son Swedish when he was about two years old, and because he already spoke English but no Swedish at that point I didn't want to go cold turkey and just talk a new language to him. Instead, I said everything in both languages for a few months until I could tell that he started to understand Swedish. Yes, it was a little bit exhausting to begin with, but it did the trick.

Meet other kids who speak Swedish

To get as much exposure to the Swedish language as possible, try and be creative. If your kids regularly meet other kids who also understand and speak the language - they’re more likely to want to learn. ​

If you live in, or near a big city, chances are good there might be a Swedish School or kids group near you. Search on Facebook for ‘svenska skolan i X’ or ‘svenska föräldrar i x’ or 'svenskar i x'. Sometimes Svenska kyrkan organises children's activities too.

Swedish friends and family - your secret language weapon

When you're visiting Swedish friends and family, or when they come and visit you - try and make sure that you get a little Swedish quality time where you only speak Swedish with the kids are around. I know it can be hard sometimes, especially if your partner doesn't speak the language, but try and be inventive.

My little boy literally soaks up the language whenever we spend a prolonged time with our Swedish family - and my Dutch husband doesn't mind a little bit of peace and quiet while the grandparents hang out with our boy :-)

Also, be sure to use technology to Skype chat with your Swedish friends and family with your kids around. For example, my little boy loves chatting with his mormor over Facebook Messenger with one of those fun video filters that add bunny ears to both of their images! If your kids are bouncing around instead of sitting still for long video calls, then check out my best tips for video calls with kids - I’ve made you a fun scavenger hunt template that your kids will love!

What if they refuse to speak Swedish?

Nomatter whether your kids reply in Swedish or not, keep talking as much as possible. They're building their understanding of the language and with a bit of persistence they might choose to speak Swedish later. If nothing else, you're giving them an excellent foundation for learning more Swedish later in life - perhaps if/when you move back to Sweden, or if they want to study in Sweden, or go travelling on their own when they're older.

I'll see you in the next post!

Ha det gott!

Linda