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How to get better at Swedish after SFI D

After SFI D you are at B1. The next step comes from daily life: talk at a språkcafé, listen and read every day, write real texts and get feedback.

  • 6 min read
  • Updated October 27, 2026
Three people talking and laughing around a table with coffee and notebooks at a language café
Photo: fauxels / Pexels
Contents
  1. Introduction
  2. What does B1 mean, and what is the next step?
  3. Talk: a språkcafé in your town
  4. Listen and read every day
  5. Write and get feedback
  6. Work, internships and clubs
  7. Citizenship and the language requirement
  8. Our honest take
  9. Common questions
  10. Related articles

You improve your Swedish after SFI by using the language every day in real situations, getting feedback on what you write and say, and talking to people. SFI D puts you at about level B1. That is a good base. You reach B1+ and B2 by using the language. You do not need another school course for that.

What does B1 mean, and what is the next step?

B1 means you can handle daily life in Swedish. You understand the main points of a conversation about familiar topics. You can talk about your job, your family and your plans. SFI course D is roughly B1 on the European scale (CEFR). The comparison is approximate, because Skolverket does not link the SFI courses to fixed levels. All the courses and their levels are in our guide to SFI levels.

The next step is B1+ and B2. In everyday terms it means: you follow a meeting at work without losing the thread. You understand the news at normal speed. You write to your landlord or Försäkringskassan without help. You say what you think, and you can disagree politely.

SFI assesses five skills: listening, reading, talking with others, telling and explaining, and writing. They do not grow at the same speed. Many people who pass D understand well but speak little. Ask yourself: which of the five is your weakest? Start there.

Talk: a språkcafé in your town

A språkcafé (language café) is a free meeting where you speak Swedish with other people. Volunteers lead the conversation. Usually you do not need to register. Nobody gives grades. Most are at libraries and are for adults.

Here are the official lists in the biggest cities:

Do you live somewhere else? Go to your kommun's library page and search for "språkcafé". Röda Korset (the Swedish Red Cross) runs Träna svenska in many municipalities. Svenska kyrkan (the Church of Sweden) has språkcaféer in many parishes. Study associations such as Studieförbundet Vuxenskolan organise språkcaféer together with libraries.

One tip: go three times before you decide. The first time you are nervous. The third time you recognise people, and that is when the real conversations start.

Listen and read every day

Ten minutes every day gives more than two hours on Sunday. Choose Swedish that you almost understand. It should feel a little hard. If you understand most of it, the level is right.

  • 8 Sidor is a newspaper in easy Swedish.
  • Klartext is news in easy Swedish on Sveriges Radio. It is also a podcast.
  • Nyheter på lätt svenska on SVT Play is short news clips with clear speech. Turn on Swedish subtitles and read at the same time.
  • Lättläst (easy-to-read): most libraries have a shelf of easy-to-read books. Borrow one and read ten minutes a day.
  • Lexin is a free dictionary with translations into many languages.

After a few weeks with Klartext, try the normal news on SVT or P4. You will not understand everything. That is the point.

Write and get feedback

It is when you write that your grammar settles. Write short, real texts instead of essays.

  • An e-mail to your landlord about something that is broken.
  • A message to your child's school saying the child is ill.
  • A short message to a colleague: "Kan du ta mitt pass på fredag?"

The important part is that someone corrects you. Without feedback, the mistakes stay for years. Ask a friend, a colleague or a neighbour who speaks Swedish well. Say: "Kan du rätta det här? Jag vill lära mig." Most people say yes.

If nobody around you has time to correct you, you can practise on Beyond SFI (beyond-sfi.se). It is a free place to keep practising Swedish for real situations after SFI: at the doctor, with your landlord, at work, at your child's school. The course Everyday Swedish B1+ has ten chapters of everyday situations, a final exam and a free certificate. It follows Skolverket's SFI syllabus and is for you if you finished SFI D or are at about B1, with or without SFI. If you finished SFI C or are at about A2, start with Everyday Swedish A2 instead. Both courses are free. AI feedback on what you write and say, and chats with an AI partner, are part of Plus. Plus costs money, because running AI costs money.

Work, internships and clubs

Work is the best classroom, if you use it. Speak Swedish in the fikarum (break room), even when English is easier. Ask a colleague for the words you use in your trade.

No job yet? An internship (praktik) gives you Swedish every day plus contacts. Ask Arbetsförmedlingen or your kommun about praktik or arbetsträning (work training).

Clubs are another way. Sweden has a förening (association) for almost everything: football, chess, gardening, choir, running. Doing something together gives you Swedish without it feeling like a lesson. You can also volunteer, for example with Röda Korset or a local club. Then you speak Swedish the whole time.

Citizenship and the language requirement

From 6 June 2026, new rules apply for Swedish citizenship. Applicants aged 16 to 66 must show knowledge of Swedish and of Swedish society. A passing grade in SFI course D is one of the proofs of Swedish that Migrationsverket accepts. Other proofs are grades from grundskola or gymnasium, or studies at komvux or folkhögskola.

The test about society starts in August 2026. A test in Swedish is planned for later, but it does not exist yet. So if you have none of the proofs above, you cannot show Swedish with a test today. The residence requirement also rises, from five to eight years as the main rule.

We include this because it is a rule that gives your SFI D grade a concrete value. Rules can change, so always read the current information at Migrationsverket.

Our honest take

There is no shortcut from B1 to B2. What there is, is time with the language. Someone who speaks Swedish for twenty minutes a day, in real conversations, gets further in a year than someone who reads grammar every evening. If you want grades, for example for university, svenska som andraspråk (SAS) at komvux is the right road. But for daily life, work and family, it is enough to use the language every day and get feedback.

Common questions

Facts checked: October 2026. Beyond SFI is independent and not affiliated with Skolverket or Migrationsverket.

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