This is giving me The Sims 1 / TS1 vibes

I'll be talking about my comprehensible input journey a bit but if you want to go straight to the series and Youtube channel recommendations, just scroll down.

I have been learning Spanish for 2 years through Memrise and Duolingo and I feel like I've wasted time. When I am on the app, I pick up the right answers but in real life, I can't come up with basic words on my own. Losing streaks on Duolingo and reviews piling up on Memrise was also becoming stressful for me so I have been looking for a "painless" way to learn languages. That's when I came across the Youtube channel 'Dreaming Spanish'. Pablo (he started Dreaming Spanish) is highly discouraging things like looking up words in the dictionary, watching subtitles in your native language and reading in your target language (not until you reach an advanced level).

I wanted to try learning another language from scratch using this approach (I ended up choosing Swedish). But it was hard to find an extensive resource for comprehensible input with complete beginners in mind. Disregarding some rules from Dreaming Spanish, I looked up common words and tried to learn them first before watching videos but I still found most videos challenging for me. To be honest, even some shows that are for kids were hard for me to understand especially if there isn't enough for me to go on (how the scene is set, the characters actions and expressions etc.) but here are some that I found that was ok for my level:

Tjejer / Killar (SVT)

https://www.svtplay.se/tjejer

https://www.svtplay.se/killar

This is one of my favorites because of how easy it is to understand. The actors are kids so they tend to speak a little slower. This show confirmed my suspicions that my ass could never be a parent. These kids were stressing me out big time by being bratty and annoying but it was still entertaining to watch. There is a bit of continuity with some of the episodes so it's best to watch it in order. For some reason, it doesn't play in order on the SVT Barn website (it goes from last to first) so I recommend watching on the main SVT website or app.

Svenska Med Anastasia (Youtube)

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SvenskamedAnastasia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/svenska_med_anastasia/

You can also find SFI grammar lessons on her Youtube channel but I find her videos about everyday life very helpful in learning vocabulary that I actually need. Most of her shorts / reels is also on her instagram page but some of the longer videos (like going on vacations, going to the supermarket etc.) are on Youtube.

Greta Gris / Peppa Pig (Youtube / SVT)

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@gretagris-officiellakanal1050

Their Youtube channel is a bit annoying because they upload the same episodes over and over but this is one of the easiest material for beginners. I tried watching other cartoons that were on SVT (like Paddington etc.) but I found them difficult to understand. With Greta Gris, you could get a grasp of what's happening without knowing much words. They also tend to repeat words and phrases a lot. You can also watch Greta Gris on SVT Play but you need a VPN

Bolibompa Baby (SVT)

Fun fact, Bolibompa is older than Barney! Not so fun fact, SVT has retired Bolibompa this 2023 (the videos are still up on SVT but I don't think they are doing more videos). I haven't actually watched a lot of Bolibompa videos because it was a bit overwhelming where to start. Also, not everyone can stand watching videos made for toddlers. At the very least, I recommend listening to nursery rhymes, especially those that are somewhat handy to learn (like små grodorna).

Klassen (SVT)

https://www.svtplay.se/klassen

I've only watched season 1 and season 2 so far (you need a VPN to view season 2) but they have a different cast for the other seasons. It's kind of a mixed bag, some episodes I know exactly what's going on and sometimes I have no idea what just happened. It's a light show centering around teens. Personally, it was interesting for me to get a glimpse of what their school life is like because it's a lot different from what I grew up with.

Otajmat (SVT)

https://www.svtplay.se/otajmat

The cast is around the same age as in Klassen, but since this is more of a comedy show it was surprisingly easy to understand. They play really good music in each episode too.

A little note on SVT Play:

Some of the shows can only be accessed with an ip address based in Sweden. When Drag Race Sverige was ongoing, I purchased NordVPN so I can watch it. Personally, I would wait for my Swedish to improve before I invest regularly in a VPN subscription so I can maximize it. Most of the series I've mentioned above are just readily available on the website or app. They have a lot of other shows for kids too but didn't really enjoyed watching some of them but you might find something else you like!

Some other Youtube channels:

Beas Liv

https://www.youtube.com/@beasliv

I have LITERALLY browsed more than 20 Swedish vloggers on Youtube and most of the time there isn't much going on for me to pick up context clues or the content isn't to my liking. This channel is one of the first that I've seen with videos that I could understand (especially the Tinder experiement ones or videos where she tests foods from Walmart, Mcdonald's Dubai etc)

Louise Jorge

https://www.youtube.com/@louisejorges

I've just recently started watching her videos. I began from her coming back to New York vlog where she switched the language back to Svenska (some older videos are in English). Even if the speed of her talking is normal (meaning FAST), I feel like there's actually a lot going on in the vlogs for me to get a gist of what's happening.

Peter SFI

https://www.youtube.com/@petersfi6089

Some say that you should avoid comprehensible input videos that teaches grammar but I like watching Peter SFI. Somehow it's understandable despite me not knowing much words. The words are also pronounced slowly and are enunciated clearly.

Fun Swedish

https://www.youtube.com/@FunSwedish

Their videos are in English but they make a lot of interesting videos on various subjects (vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, culture, pop culture etc.). I actually discovered SVT Play through this channel because they've mentioned Julkalender (the first one I've watched was Kronprinsen som försvann 2022 and Mysteriet på Greveholm 1996).

Slow Swedish with Katrin Berndt

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@KatrinBerndtSWE

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/slowswedish_

This channel has been on hiatus but luckily, Katrin has started to make Youtube videos again with a lot of really helpful content on Instagram.

Swedish with Cova

Youtube

https://m.youtube.com/@swedishwithcova

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/SwedishWithCova

There isn't a lot on her Youtube channel but there are more videos on Instagram. She also frequently does mini quizzes through IG stories

Agaton Linguistics / vardagmedsvenska

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@agatonlinguisticssvenskala1663

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/vardagmedsvenska

Again, there isn't a lot of videos on Youtube and Instagram but it's one of the channels / IG pages that I wish there was more content.

List of other Youtube channels in Swedish

I don't really watch these - either it's hard for me to understand or it's not my cup of tea although I admit I did kinda just glazed over the channels in this list. Some of the vlogs below are popular and I frequently see recommended elsewhere so I might try watching again in the future:

Slice of Life (???)

Felicia Bergström

https://youtube.com/@FELLSIS

Kammi

https://youtube.com/@KammiRosenskjold

Amanda Lundgren

https://youtube.com/@AmandaLundgrens

LAKI

https://youtube.com/@lakidoris

Alexandra Nilsson

https://youtube.com/@AlexandraNilsson

Wilma Holmqvist