Online Swedish lessons
Swedish is one of the fastest languages for an English speaker to learn, and the classroom SFI route is often too slow. One-to-one lessons move at the pace you can actually take.
Exam preparation
Each exam below has its own page, its own format and its own way of failing candidates. Start from the certificate your employer, university or visa office named — not from the level you feel you are at.
Why learn here
SFI classes are free and they are also large, mixed-level and slow if you learn quickly. Private lessons either run alongside SFI to accelerate you through the levels, or replace it if you are not eligible or cannot fit the timetable.
Swedish distinguishes words by pitch, and English speakers do not hear it without being shown what to listen for. Ignoring it is why fluent-sounding learners are still asked to repeat themselves. It is trainable and we train it early.
TISUS assesses whether you can study at a Swedish university — reading dense source texts, writing structured argument, and speaking in a seminar. Preparation is closer to academic skills coaching than to a conversation course, and it is taught that way.
English and Swedish share a large amount of core vocabulary and sentence structure. A good tutor exploits that from the first lesson so you are producing sentences immediately, then spends the saved time on the parts that genuinely differ.
Levels we teach
Swedish is spoken by about 10 million people. These are the CEFR levels we teach it at, and what each one actually lets you do.
First sentences
Greetings, numbers, introductions, present tense, and the pronunciation work that pays off later. Progress here is usually fast.
Everyday Swedish
Housing, work, health and transport. Roughly the level SFI course C aims at, and enough to handle routine errands in Swedish.
Independent use
Unprepared conversation, structured short writing, and following normal-speed speech. Swedex sits at this level and above.
Working in Swedish
Meetings, professional correspondence and abstract discussion. The level most Swedish workplaces expect of a non-native colleague.
TISUS and academic study
Dense reading, extended argumentative writing, and the seminar register a Swedish degree assumes.
What students say
No Swedish reviews are published here yet. We would rather show you nothing than write our own. Once students leave verifiable reviews on Trustpilot or Google, they appear on this page with a link back to the original.
SFI, Svenska för invandrare, is free municipal Swedish tuition for residents. It is a good deal and it is also a mixed-level classroom that moves at the pace of the group. Many learners use SFI for the entitlement and a private tutor for speed, particularly if they need a specific level by a specific date for work or study. If SFI alone is working for you, keep going — we will say so.
Swedex is an international proficiency certificate offered at A2, B1 and B2, useful for employers and general proof of level. TISUS is the entrance test for Swedish universities, sits at roughly C1, and covers reading, writing and oral proficiency at an academic standard. If you want to study a degree in Swedish you almost certainly need TISUS; for most other purposes Swedex is the relevant one.
Swedish is in the fastest group for English speakers — the US Foreign Service Institute estimates around 600 to 750 hours to professional working proficiency. In practice, two lessons a week with homework gets most people to a comfortable B1 inside a year, faster if you are living in Sweden and using it daily.
Requirements have been changing, so check the current rule with Migrationsverket rather than taking any website's word for it, including ours. Proposals to add a language and civics requirement for permanent residence and citizenship have been in progress for some time. If a test becomes required, it will sit at around A2 to B1, which is what our courses already target.
Mostly, but expect surprises. Standard Swedish is what you will read, hear on national broadcasts and be examined on, and it is the right thing to learn first. Skåne, Gotland and parts of Norrland sound noticeably different, and Finland Swedish differs again. Your tutor will play you regional speech so it is a curiosity rather than a shock.
Who teaches you
No tutor profile is published for Swedish yet. We will not put up a card with a stock photograph and a first name — if you are going to hand someone your Tuesday evenings, you should be able to see their name, their face and the body that issued their qualification.
Lessons are running. Message us on WhatsApp and we will tell you who is currently teaching Swedish, what they are qualified in, and when they are free. You will find a Swedish tutor listed here as soon as their paperwork is verified.
You meet the tutor, they work out where you actually are, and you both decide whether to carry on. If we are not the right fit, we will say so.
