Swedish is the mother tongue for 90% of Sweden’s 9 million people. It is also spoken by 300 000 Finnish Swedes. Additionally, one estimates that a few hundred thousand people in different parts of the world also speak Swedish.

Up until the 800s, the language in the Nordic countries was a rather homogenous Forn Nordic. Later, during the time of the Vikings (800-1050), Swedish, Danish and Norwegian became more distinctive and separate languages. 

Swedish has always been open to receiving words from abroad. With Christianity a host of Latin and Greek word were adopted and during the Middle Ages the greatest influence was German.  In the 17th and 18th centuries, the main influence came from France and from the time of industrialization, the 19th century, English arrived and continues to this day to influence the Swedish language.

The vast majority of Swedes are fluent English speakers and they are happy to do so. Nevertheless, in order to understand the Swedish soul and be able to partake in the rich cultural and linguistic traditions, only the study of Swedish will provide the perfect tool.