As a permanent resident in Sweden, I am lucky to recieve free SFI lessons in Swedish.
The school is lacking in funds and instructors, and in the 4 months I have been attending I have had 9 different instructors.
SFI might help you learn Swedish but it will certainly not be enough or the only source of your education.
here are some quick tips to learning Swedish on your own.
1)Set clear goals.
Like anything else in life, it helps to know what you want to achieve in order to achieve it.
Do you want to converse, read or simply have daily conversation in Swedish? How many words do you want to know and learn daily?
2)Do your research
There are dozens of free Swedish language resources available online. Check the famous Swedish Pirate bay - hint hint-
I cannot recommend any book as all Swedish language resources are outdated from what I have gleamed in the exciting world of applicational lingustics.
Svenska Utifran is not bad.
But go ahead and download books here-
http://uztranslations.net.ru/?category=swedish
I will do a review of electronic language resources, in the meantime, here is a quick list of links.Gogle for more resources!
Picture dictionary Swedish
http://lexin.nada.kth.se/lang/bildteman/
SAFIR
http://www.integra-ab.se/Filer/SAFIR/safir/startsida.htm
LEXIN
http://lexin.nada.kth.se/lexin-en.html
3)Do not be afraid to fail.
Every time I have a chance to talk to someone in Swedish, I take it. Anti-EU rally? Talk to the people handing out materials.
Trains not running on time on Sunday?- Talk to the conductor. Sales person offers help at a store? Take it!
Dont be afraid to look foolish- go out there, say "today I will be an Idiot Foreigner speaking broken Swedish! "
Do not admit you speak fluent English, have a slight accent to your English if you can. Do not admit you are from an English-native country. Otherwise everyone will just speak to you in English. Better use English for help with words you do not understand, but insist on learning Swedish by speaking it only.
4)Practice every day
30 minutes every day is better than one whole day once a week.
If you found this entry useful, please make sure to link to my project, www.EcoHouseFilm.com
about building an ecological house in Sweden!