Radio Sverige produces lots of great material aimed at recent immigrants to Sweden who need to learn Swedish. This material is made available as part of a concerted initiative in Sweden known as SFI (Svenska för invandrare - Swedish for immigrants). We have regularly used news items på lätt svenska (in easy Swedish) aimed at this target group. These items are particularly useful because they all have accompanying audio that is read slowly and clearly.

Another SFI resource we have used frequently is a series of short videos available on YouTube entitled Hitta hem. This fictional series relates the experiences of recent immigrants to Sweden and their experiences learning the language, complete with culture shocks and comic misunderstandings!

An SFI teacher going by the name of Anastasia produces a great series of videos, again aimed at people starting off learning Swedish. Anastasia speaks slowly and clearly and we have particularly enjoyed her travel diaries and vlogs.

We have discovered a wide range of Swedish songs, including folk songs as well as pop songs by Lisa Nilsson and ABBA. We have enjoyed trying to work out the lyrics. Who knew that ABBA had written versions of some of their early songs in Swedish!

We have also used:

• Swedish crosswords
• Fun dialogues taken from a book at our level
• Grammar extracts and exercises from assorted textbooks

We plan to use a wide range of videos, subtitled in both Swedish and English, e.g. on the following topics:

• Things that are typically Swedish
• Linköping Castle
• A medieval Swedish battle
• Watercolour painting techniques
• The regions of Småland and Dalarna
• A Bronze Age sword
• Goats in Swedish myth and legend
• The historic town of Sigtuna
• Safety on the ice
• Viking body art …