Swedish Language Blog

In Sweden there are special channels which are funded by the state, making the accessible to everybody. These channels are also not supposed to have any commercials either.

Amongst the programs on these channels there is a special children’s program called “Bolibompa”. This is in Swedish the program which is called Barn Program. This program is also funded by the state and has been around for years and years, ever since it started in 1987 when it was actually just called Barnprogram.

Barnprogram is shown both in the morning from 05.30-07.00 and in the evening between 18.00-18.45 (19.00).

Over the years there have been TV shows like these have been very popular. Mainly made to help children learn the basics of letters, numbers, common sense etc. in a fun and interesting way.

Fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter

Björnes Magasin

Doris och Gösta

Anki och Pytte

Myror i Brallan

All these children’s programs I think could be very good practice for your Swedish. And a great way to understand some culture aspects as well. Hope you enjoy!!

The Bolibompa site for the show nowadays is modern but still focusses on educational programs for younger kids.  They have online episodes so you can watch them online if you’ve missed any episode.

The Official Bolibompa site

From the 70’s onward the concept of everybody having the right to learn, to go to school and more importantly; go back to school become national. Folk High schools, distance learning, learning online and further developing of skills through work are all common for adults in Sweden. There is no disgrace in going back to university, changing professions or even just going back because you find it leisurely.

Many older people, a surprisingly large number of retired people, go on different courses, either day-time ones or evening courses to learn how to use computers or type for example. It is generally the case that Swedes want to keep intellectually active throughout their whole life. Many people choose, when they get more time in their lives for example after having children etc. to learn new languages, learn how to cook or learn how to play an instrument. This is something they take great pride in.

The Swedish government subsidizes these courses quite a lot so that they are available to almost anybody who wants to go. The idea that anybody should be disadvantaged when it comes to learning is completely unacceptable, so a lot of  energy, time and money is put into different types of projects to keep people interested for life-long learning.

This is one of the things that makes me very proud over my country and the way it works.

The fantastic, free and hot school lunches of Sweden. It is true that they are hot, free and most often healthy, since it is mainly “Husmanskost” (the Swedish whole food). But depending on who you ask the “fantastic” part is debatable.

Ever since the 70’s complaining about the school food has been “cool” amongst young people. Apart from giving you something to talk about during lunch, any time of day actually, it is sort of an ice-breaker. You always know where people stand, and so you basically can’t say anything wrong.

But the fact of the matter is, many if not all of the kids just don’t know how lucky they are. The lunches are warm, they kids do not have to pay, or clean the dishes, they are allowed to eat as much as they want, and the food is healthy. On top of that, if you are a vegetarian you get special vegetarian food. If you have allergies then they prepare food to fit those needs as well. If you can’t eat pork out of religious reasons you are treated just the same, all kids have the right to eat food at school.

When kids get to the high school stage some schools don’t have cafeterias, and so the schools have agreements with nearby restaurants or places like Subway (sandwich place). Other kids who have their school close to the university eat there. So no kids in the Swedish school system have to bring packed lunches to school. Except for on special day trips. This makes bringing a packed lunch extremely special, turning into a great cause for excitement for little kids.

The typical school lunch always consists of a salad bar, hard bread and butter and milk or water. Many schools even offer several dishes per day, if they know for example that one of the dishes is disliked by many students. Desserts are not served, as well as soft drinks etc. Many schools have a little café which is open during special hours of the day where you can by candy, soft drinks, fruit, snacks or sandwiches etc. to keep you going during the day.

Schools have even in recent years removed certain meals from the lunches because they are just too unhealthy, Pizza being one of them. No deep-fried food is served at all. The school kitchens have also tried to become as environmentally friendly as possible by trying to waste as little food as possible.

Another recent development is that many schools now offer vegetarian food to all students, so they can choose between meat or vegetarian alternatives.