A quick and sure way to learn Swedish is to listen to it. A lot.
By listening, you can absorb a lot of the language like a sponge, without studying.
A great way to get your listening practice, but at a level that works for you, is by listening to Swedish podcasts.
There are many Swedish podcasts out there and some are specifically created to make it easier for learners to comprehend and understand Swedish.
Don’t worry if you don't know where to start or where to find which Swedish podcasts to listen to. In this post, I'll recommend the best Swedish podcasts for Swedish learners.
The podcasts will vary in difficulty and content so most of the podcasts on this list will work for anyone, regardless of how far you’ve come in your learning and what you're interested in. Let's get to it!
Pro Tip
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Use the table of contents below to skip straight to the podcast that interests you most. Or keep reading to discover all of the Swedish podcasts for learners in this list.
Table of Contents
1. One Minute Swedish
One Minute Swedish is a great Swedish podcast for beginners who have just started to learn Swedish and don’t have the basics down yet.
The podcast is available as short-form content on YouTube as well as on this website. The length of the videos is not quite 1 minute, but around 2-3 minutes per video which makes it a great tool to use on the go.
In the videos one person will, in English, guide the lesson and explain what's being said. Then another person will say the words in Swedish multiple times. And you'll have the opportunity to repeat them.
This is a great method for absolute beginners who haven’t had a lot of exposure to the Swedish language. And it serves as an excellent introduction to some of the most common and useful phrases in Swedish.
Another clever thing is that the videos come with spellings of the used words as well, which makes it even easier for beginners to repeat the word.
2. Coffee Break Swedish
Coffee Break Swedish is made by Radio Lingua, the same company that created “One Minute Swedish”.
So this makes Coffee Break Swedish a perfect podcast to transition to after you're done with the first one.
“Coffee Break Swedish” is a bit more difficult, but also more comprehensive than “One Minute Swedish”.
Just like the former podcast, the Coffee Break episodes start with an introduction in English and then the speakers guide you through the rest of the episode.
This makes it easier to keep up with and understand the content, even if you're a beginner in Swedish.
The episodes are each around 20-30 minutes long and they're available both on YouTube and on podcast sites.
The great thing about the length is that they are just like coffee breaks, which means that this is a podcast you can listen to when having a coffee/tea break – or a fika in Swedish – at your job.
Each video touches on a new subject in the Swedish language, like the definite article, phrases about travelling or question structure. And the discussions are like a podcast with two people chatting to each other.
One of them is a teacher and the other is a student. The teacher often goes deeper into a particular subject and explains how it works and things to look out for.
The student also asks questions and makes mistakes, the same as you might do, which the teacher corrects. This is a great way to learn and improve your knowledge of Swedish and common mistakes.
Another great thing about this podcast is that the content is always relevant and interesting from a cultural perspective. The teacher shares cultural aspects of Sweden. This helps you build cultural knowledge as well, and not just linguistic competence.
3. Say It In Swedish
Another great Swedish podcast for beginners that has a similar format to the two previous podcasts is Say it in Swedish.
Here, just a single person is speaking though, so instead of the podcast being a discussion, it's a monologue.
The person explains the lesson content and guides the speaker through the lessons in English but uses Swedish sentences and words as examples.
The podcast is primarily intended for absolute beginners, beginners and intermediate learners and each lesson will have the difficulty level in the title.
However, some lessons are more advanced and touch on Swedish pronunciation. The pronunciation episodes are in English, as usual, but they go a bit deeper into how to pronounce certain words and sounds.
The Slow Swedish episodes differ from the previous ones as they are entirely in Swedish, so the speaker won’t use English at all.
These types of videos are great for more advanced learners who have come further in their Swedish journey and can understand some spoken Swedish, or want to get some tips on how to up their pronunciation game.
The podcast is available on podcast sites, and the same creator has a website and a YouTube channel, but with slightly different content, as well. Definitely worth checking out if you want more practice!
4. Swedish Podcast For Beginners (Lätt Svenska Med Oskar)
Lätt Svenska med Oskar is advertised as a Swedish podcast for beginners, but beginner to intermediate is perhaps a more accurate term.
The podcast episodes are completely in Swedish. So if you're a beginner it might be a bit hard to completely follow and understand everything.
If you already have some basic knowledge of Swedish, are used to listening to spoken Swedish and are familiar with some common phrases, then this podcast will probably work well for you.
The speaker speaks slowly and often repeats certain phrases, but with different variations, and uses many common phrases.
He also speaks about relevant and interesting subjects that you will have use for in your daily life.
It’s a great podcast for repetition and comprehension in Swedish. But you'll probably find some episodes harder than others, depending on what kind of vocabulary you already possess.
I would recommend going through and practising words that are tied to the subject he speaks about before listening to the episode. This will probably make it easier for you to understand the content a bit better.
The podcast is available on podcast sites and you can also find the transcription on the podcasters' Patreon.
5. Easy Swedish With Viktoria
Easy Swedish with Viktoria is another podcast that works well for learners who already understand a bit of spoken Swedish.
The episodes are entirely in Swedish, except for when Viktoria has a disclaimer in English. Each episode starts with a cute little signature melody.
The difficulty levels of these episodes vary, with most of them being beginner or intermediate.
If the difficulty level is advanced, she begins with a disclaimer in English which gives you an idea of the level required to understand the episode.
The podcast is spoken in slower and clearer Swedish which makes it easier to comprehend. And the content is also very fun and engaging because she invites her friends and family to tell personal anecdotes and fun stories
It's available on podcast sites, but she also has a Swedish YouTube channel for learners where she uploads the podcast episodes and a few other videos.
A few of these videos exist in two versions, where one of them is the version used on podcast sites and the other one is a version with the same content, but spoken in even easier Swedish. The transcripts of the episodes can be found on Viktoria's Patreon.
6. Swedish Pod101
Swedish Pod101 have episodes of varying length on podcast sites and additional information and transcripts can be found on the Swedish Pod101 site.
The podcast is in English but with words and examples in Swedish.
There is lots of content to absorb and at varying degrees of difficulty. Some are for beginners and absolute beginners, while some episodes are more advanced.
There are also a few episodes with useful phrases that you would need when visiting Sweden.
The good thing about the podcast is that it incorporates cultural and current issues, which keeps the content relevant and informative, both linguistically and culturally. This also makes it useful for more advanced speakers that can learn new things about Sweden.
7. Simple Swedish Podcast
The Simple Swedish Podcast is more advanced than the beginner level but easier to understand than native content.
It’s a podcast spoken entirely in Swedish and created by the Swedish Linguist. He speaks naturally, but slower and with simpler vocabulary.
This makes the podcast especially great for learners who understand spoken Swedish well, but when it’s spoken at a slower pace.
There are over 200 episodes in this podcast, which is more than any podcast on this list so far. And that means that there's a lot of content for you to immerse yourself in.
The Swedish Linguist touches on plenty of different subjects and you'll probably find something that you find interesting to listen to. He speaks both about Swedish itself and different concepts of learning, but also general subjects like owning a boat etc.
The broad range of content makes it easy for most to find something relevant and interesting to listen to. The podcaster also has a website called the Swedish Linguist and a Patreon with more content and courses that you can use. Transcripts of the episodes are also available.
One bonus point I must mention is that the Swedish Linguist speaks very clearly. In fact, I would say he speaks the most clearly out of everyone on this list.
8. Morgonstund – En Kopp Svenska
Another Simple Swedish podcast is Morgonstund – en kopp svenska with Joakim.
It's a podcast spoken in easier Swedish and Joakim speaks both slower and more clearly than commonly spoken Swedish.
The content is fun and varied and he touches on linguistic questions, for example: using de/dem/dom (they/them), and other subjects, like the Royal Family.
The podcast episodes are between 5 to 20 minutes long and are perfect to tune into while eating breakfast or getting ready in the morning.
One great thing about his podcast is that it targets not only beginners but also intermediate and advanced learners.
The level “easy” or “intermediate” is indicated in the title. The podcast is available on podcast sites and he also has both transcripts and a word list on his “buy me a coffee” page.
9. Radio Sweden På Lätt Svenska
Radio Sweden på lätt svenska is a project by SR (Sveriges Radio) to make it easier for immigrants to listen to the news.
It isn’t a podcast per se, but still pretty useful to listen to. It’s spoken in slower and clearer Swedish, which makes it easier to understand what is being said.
It's also about news in Sweden which might be relevant even if you aren’t an immigrant. This is a way to keep up with what's happening in Sweden at the moment.
There might be a few difficult words and sentences, but if you're an intermediate or advanced learner this podcast will probably be of value for you.
A new 8 to 10-minute episode is released every weekday and it consists of the most important news of that day. Might be worth giving it a listen to see what’s hot in Sweden at the moment! The podcast is available on Sveriges Radio’s website
10. Livet På Lätt Svenska
Livet på lätt svenska is a podcast entirely spoken in Swedish and it's spoken as a discussion between two people.
One of them is a student learning Swedish and the other is an SFI teacher (svenska för invandrare (Swedish for immigrants)).
They speak in simple Swedish and discuss life in Sweden, culture and personal experiences.
They discuss both concepts about the language as well as other topics like taxation!
This podcast is relevant for everyone who wants to not only be more knowledgeable about Swedish, but also learn how certain things actually work in Sweden like traffic or Valborg, a traditional spring celebration in Sweden.
This makes it perfect for learners who are at the intermediate or advanced level and want to listen to a podcast where two people speak to each other about Sweden and Swedish. It’s available on podcast sites.
11. 8 Sidor
8 Sidor is a newspaper founded in 1984 and it was the first easy-to-read newspaper to ever be published in Swedish.
8 Sidor means “8 pages” in English and the goal of the newspaper was to publish easy-to-read news articles in an 8-page long newspaper.
It's still used and published today, so if you want to get some reading comprehension in Swedish as well as listening, their newspaper and website are a great way to start.
Exciting news for podcast fans though – there's a newly launched podcast format of the newspaper.
Every weekday they publish a 5-10 minute long episode of a few important news items for the day. And you can find them on podcast sites, their website and YouTube.
The content is for both intermediate and advanced learners, depending on which news is being presented in the episode you are listening to. They speak slowly, but some words could be difficult to understand depending on how advanced you vocabulary is.
12. Språket
Språket (The Language) is very different from the rest of the Swedish podcasts in this list.
While the other podcasts are Swedish learning podcasts, this podcast is made for native Swedes.
In “Språket”, host Emmy Rasper invites new guests to each episode who are experts in a particular subject.
It might be commonly learned (but incorrect) Swedish grammar rules, the impact of anglicisms impact on Swedish, if the language can reveal if you are a murderer (!) and much more.
In general, the podcast has less information about the language itself and more about myths and fun facts surrounding it. It's very advanced because they speak as native Swedes do, without Swedish learners in mind.
It’s perfect for learners who have come very far and are almost bilingual in Swedish and find it fun to learn interesting new tidbits about Swedish and other languages.
You can find it on the Sveriges Radio website, along with lots of other exciting Swedish podcasts that might be more to your taste!
13. Bonus: Frågar Åt En Kompis
This last Swedish podcast is a personal favourite of a Swedish friend of mine, which she listened to a lot when it was first released back in 2017.
Frågar år en kompis (Asking for a Friend) is a podcast that started with the premise: How many bizarre questions can be hidden behind the expression “just asking for a friend”.
- Is breast milk vegan?
- Can cats be allergic to humans?
- And what can you take from an apartment showing?
In this podcast friends, Hampus and Keyyo discuss this and more in a fun and engaging way. If you understand spoken Swedish well, this podcast will probably be for you and you can find it at podcast sites.
FAQs About Swedish Podcasts
What are the best Swedish podcasts for Swedish learners?
1. One Minute Swedish
2. Coffee Break Swedish
3. Say it in Swedish
4. Swedish Podcast for Beginners (Lätt Svenska med Oskar)
5. Easy Swedish with Viktoria
6. Swedish Pod101
7. Simple Swedish Podcast
8. Morgonstund – en kopp svenska
9. Radio Sweden på lätt svenska
10. Livet på lätt svenska
11. 8 Sidor
12. Språket
13. Frågar åt en kompis
Learn Swedish With Swedish Podcasts
There are many useful things you gain by listening to Swedish podcasts. First of all, you improve your listening comprehension and understanding of the spoken Swedish language.
But you also improve your cultural knowledge and understanding of Sweden and, hopefully, you will find a learning community that you can join.
Many of these podcasts come with a Patreon site and members usually have a discord together. That could be a sureproof way to improve your Swedish – by learning with others.
Podcasts are also great as a pronunciation guide and you can hear how native Swedes pronounce these different sounds. Many podcasts also use relevant language with phrases and examples that are commonly used in Swedish.
So go to a podcast website or download the app and start listening to some Swedish podcasts! And if you want even more Swedish to listen to, don't forget to listen to short stories in Swedish.