Stories, audio, and videos can all help you learn Swedish when you can follow what they mean. That is the idea behind comprehensible input: learning from Swedish you can mostly understand. Easy Swedish is not hard to find, because a government agency, the Swedish Agency for Accessible Media, publishes news and books in easy-to-read Swedish, and people learning Swedish are one of the groups it writes for.
These apps help you find Swedish at your level, or add meanings to the Swedish you choose. For courses, speaking practice, and tutors, see our Swedish app comparison.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
Learn Swedish with a path made just for you. Start with your level, what you like, and why you want to learn. Your path grows as you learn, with new lessons that fit you. Bubblegum also has news and stories, so you can read and listen to a mix of Swedish about music, food, family, or daily life.
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes each lesson for your level, interests, and goals. If a sentence is hard to follow, just ask her to explain it.
The trade-off is that Bubblegum can't help you read or watch Swedish you found yourself. For a show, a book, or an article you already picked, the apps in Read and Watch Swedish You Choose are the better fit.
- Read and listen to lessons, news, and stories about things you like.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading instead of using flashcards.
- Ask Poppy for help as you read.
- Lesson audio uses AI voices, not recordings of Swedish speakers.
- You cannot bring in your own books, shows, or articles.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Read and Listen to Easy Swedish News
8 Sidor
8 Sidor is a newspaper in easy Swedish that has explained the news since 1984. Each story says what happened, where it happened, and why. It suits learners who can read simple sentences and want to keep up with life in Sweden.
- New stories every weekday, free to read without an account.
- Short sentences with no hard or unusual words.
- On most weekdays, tap Listen to hear the news read aloud.
- Test yourself each week with eight questions about the news.
MobileWeb
Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio is Sweden's public radio. Its app and website have three shows in easy Swedish, and Radio Sweden på lätt svenska has made a news episode every weekday since 2016. When a learner on Reddit said their reading was strong but they could not follow spoken Swedish, the top reply was to listen to this news.
- Radio Sweden på lätt svenska reads the news in easy Swedish for people new to Sweden, every weekday.
- Klartext reads the news with simple words in a calmer way, in about five minutes.
- På ett lättare sätt remakes other Sveriges Radio shows in easier Swedish at a slower pace.
MobileWeb
Watch Swedish TV With Swedish Subtitles
SVT Play
SVT Play is the streaming service of Sveriges Television, Sweden's public TV, and learners on Reddit often recommend it. It suits learners who want to hear everyday Swedish and read along at the same time.
- Watch Swedish series, documentaries, news, and children's shows.
- Almost every program has Swedish subtitles, so you can read what you hear.
MobileWeb
Read and Watch Swedish You Choose
These tools help you learn from Swedish articles, shows, videos, and books you pick yourself. They suit learners who already know what they want to read or watch.
Språkkraft Reading Coach
Språkkraft Reading Coach comes from Språkkraft, a nonprofit in Stockholm that helps people new to Sweden learn Swedish through Swedish media. It turns real articles and videos into practice, with short exercises for the words you should learn next. Beginners can start with SpråkSTART, a module of videos and exercises made for the first steps.
- Choose articles, books, videos, and podcasts from Swedish media that fit your level.
- Tap a word to see its meaning in one of 32 languages.
- Words turn green, yellow, or red to show what you know, what to learn now, and what to leave for later.
- Free, with no ads.
Mobile
Language Reactor
Language Reactor shows Swedish subtitles beside a translation while you watch a Swedish series. It also works on YouTube, so you can use it with the learner channels below.
- See Swedish subtitles beside a translation on Netflix and YouTube.
- Look up words in a pop-up dictionary.
- Pause and replay one line when it goes too fast.
Browser extension
LingQ
LingQ lets you read and listen to Swedish from its library or bring in videos, books, and articles. Its Swedish library starts with Mini Stories, a beginner course of 62 lessons, and also has stories by Selma Lagerlöf and Slow Swedish with Katrin Berndt.
- Read and listen to Swedish from a library, or import your own.
- New words and words you are learning are highlighted, and words you know are left plain.
- Review words with flashcards.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Free Podcasts, Videos, and Books
Swedish has many free podcasts for learners. Lätt svenska med Oskar has more than 400 short episodes for beginners. Simple Swedish Podcast uses natural Swedish that is a little slower and simpler, for learners who find beginner podcasts too easy, and learners on Reddit suggest reading its transcripts as you listen. Both shows give transcripts to paying supporters. On Livet på lätt svenska, a Swedish author who teaches SFI and an American student in Stockholm talk about life in Sweden in simple Swedish.
On YouTube, Katrin Berndt teaches everyday spoken Swedish slowly on Slow Swedish with Katrin, and several learners on Reddit suggest it. On Learn Swedish with Marie, Marie Rödemark, a teacher since 1989, speaks slowly and clearly, from word videos for beginners to whole Swedish books read aloud. Svenska med Anastasia comes from a teacher of Swedish as a second language, who speaks slowly in her videos about everyday topics. Peter SFI teaches in Swedish and reads texts and dialogues aloud, so he suits learners who already understand some Swedish.
Finland's public broadcaster, Yle, also reads the news in easy Swedish in Yle Nyheter på lätt svenska, and you can read each news story when you open an episode.
For books, LL-förlaget and Nypon och Vilja publish lättläst books for adults, and Nypon och Vilja has a page of books made for people learning Swedish. A Swedish library can help you find one at your level. Olly Richards' Short Stories in Swedish for Beginners has eight stories for levels A1 to B1, and it also comes as an audiobook.
Learn Swedish in Your Language
These counts cover menu-language choices, including script variants. Other apps’ counts and full lists come from their iPhone listings, except Language Reactor (Chrome Web Store). Språkkraft Reading Coach's list comes from Sweden's App Store. 8 Sidor, Sveriges Radio, and SVT Play are in Swedish. Word meanings, lesson explanations, and other platforms may differ.
| App | Supported Display Languages | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| Språkkraft Reading Coach | 11 | Full list |
| Language Reactor | 27 | Full list |
| LingQ | 17 | Full list |
Other Apps We Looked At (10)
- NÖVAA few of today's real news stories retold in simple Swedish, at about level B1, with a tutor who talks with you about each one. It is new and growing.
- News in Easy SwedishA short news podcast from Lingopie that reads world news in slow, clear Swedish. It is new and growing.
- Duostories48 free Swedish stories with audio and short questions, translated by volunteers from Duolingo's stories, with Duolingo's permission.
- BeelinguappSwedish stories, news, and songs beside a language you know, with audio that lights up each line as you listen.
- ReadlangA web reader where you tap a word or phrase in a Swedish text to see its meaning, then review the words with flashcards.
- Coffee Break SwedishFree podcast lessons for beginners, 15 to 20 minutes each, where a teacher explains Swedish to a fellow learner.
- SwedishPod101Short audio and video lessons that walk you through real Swedish conversations.
- ErlaShort Swedish stories you can read sentence by sentence, plus listening practice and chats with an AI tutor. It is new and growing.
- Storytel, BookBeat, and NextorySwedish audiobook and e-book apps with large libraries in Swedish, for learners ready to read and listen to the same book.
- UR PlayPrograms from Sweden's educational broadcaster, with documentaries, lectures, and children's shows, all without ads.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I watch SVT's news in easy Swedish outside Sweden?
No. SVT Play now marks Nyheter på lätt svenska as watchable only in Sweden, and from other countries its page says episodes were last available on July 17, 2026. Learners abroad noticed the change on Reddit this summer. Klartext and Radio Sweden på lätt svenska are podcasts, so you can still hear the news in easy Swedish from anywhere.
What does lättläst mean?
Lättläst means easy to read. LL-förlaget sorts its lättläst books for adults into six levels. At the first level, each page has one or two short sentences with everyday words, and at the sixth, books use longer and less common words.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Swedish Agency for Accessible Media (MTM): Easy-read Swedish, books and news (2026)
- LL-förlaget: In English
- LL-förlaget: Våra lättlästnivåer
- r/learnswedish: My reading is good, but I can't understand spoken Swedish
- r/learnswedish: What's the fastest way to learn Swedish?
- r/learnswedish: Learning Swedish to communicate with bf and his family
- r/learnswedish: Swedish Youtubers?
- r/Svenska: Favorite YouTube channels, TV shows, musicians to learn Swedish from
- StoryLearning: Learn Swedish on YouTube, the 11 best channels
- r/Svenska: SVT, a free resource for watching Swedish TV shows
- SVT Play: Nyheter på lätt svenska
- Lätt svenska med Oskar
- Swedish Linguist: Simple Swedish Podcast
- Livet på lätt svenska
- Slow Swedish with Katrin on YouTube
- Learn Swedish with Marie on YouTube
- Svenska med Anastasia on YouTube
- Peter SFI on YouTube
- r/Svenska: a learner asks about a dialogue Peter SFI read
- Yle Arenan: Yle Nyheter på lätt svenska
- Nypon och Vilja förlag: Lättläst för sfi
- Hachette: Short Stories in Swedish for Beginners by Olly Richards
- Bubblegum
- 8 Sidor
- Sveriges Radio
- SVT Play
- Språkkraft Reading Coach
- Language Reactor
- LingQ
Checked on October 8, 2026 against each app's own pages.
