I am not technically inclined. When in technical doubt, I turn to my brother. He knows what he’s doing. So what I am about to write comes from absolutely no technical background. Take that for what it is worth.  It does however come from a Swedish language standpoint.  And I am excited to see that Svenska Akademien has created a mobile app that is available completely free.

I suppose first we need to know what Svenska Akademien is exactly.  Founded hundreds of years ago, Svenska Akademien attempts to kmaintain the style and taste of the Swedish language. That might sound familiar, Svenska Akademien follows the lead set by Académie française. Both attempt to preserve their respective languages. It just seems that the Swedes are a bit less hoity-toity about it. I kid, I kid. French is a beautiful language and one that should be preserved. In fact, we’ve got a wonderful French language blog from Transparent that is well-written and incredibly helpful.

But back to Swedish.  How exactly does this tie in with an app for iPhones and Android? Well, because Svenska Akademien is also the organization which tends to be the end-all be-all when it comes to Swedish spelling and declensions.  Will it teach you Swedish? Absolutely not (for that be sure to check out Transparent’s Swedish software). But once you get that base going, this app is a great way to check all those pesky little grammatical forms you’ve been working so hard at.

Like plural forms. Or en or ett. Or definites. Or possessive. It’s a beautiful technological world we live in.  It’s important to note that this will not translate for you. It is solely in Swedish. It does not give you definitions either. Only declensions and spelling.

This first go-round has approximately 125,000 words and a couple of exciting features which should be mentioned. One, perfect for beginners (or poor spellers like me) is a function that gives you suggestions for misspelled words.  It works quite well.

And, if you are a cross-word nerd. And a Swedish one at that, this app has a function that allows you to plug in a few letters and asterisks for the missing letters, and suddenly several suggestions pop up. Some might call that cheating. I won’t. Not if you’re doing this in Swedish. There’s plenty more that is exciting, a list of new words, a list of abbreviations, etc. But some things are best discovered on your own.

I’ll be honest, I was skeptical when I first heard they were going to release an app. Mostly because I think their website is overwhelming and weighty. But I love the new possibilities offered by SAOL.  So if you’re looking for just a little bit of help for your Swedish skills, it is well worth checking out SAOL’s mobile app.