Academic Year CalendarNewsAbout SMULContact Us
a
Swedish Language InstructionMultilingualismThe SMUL Blog
M
Our courses
StudierådgivningTeaching ModelsEducational conceptPrivatundervisningQuestions and Answers - Swedish InstructionAcademic Year Calendar
Explore all our courses
Complementary Swedish 6-20 years
Mittemellansvenska 12-16 years
Beginner Swedish 7-18 years
Advanced courses
Foundation Course A – Supplementary Swedish for children aged 6–7Foundation Course B – Supplementary Swedish for Primary School, 7-8 years oldBasic Course C – Supplementary Swedish for Primary School, 8-9 years oldFoundation Course D – Complementary Swedish for Lower/Middle Primary, Ages 9-10Foundation Course E in Supplementary Swedish for Lower Secondary (Years 4–6), ages 10–11Basic Course F – Supplementary Swedish for Middle School, ages 11-12Basic Course G – Supplementary Swedish for Middle/Junior High School, 12-13 years oldFoundation Course H – Complementary Swedish for Secondary School, Ages 13–14Foundation Course I – Supplementary Swedish for Lower Secondary School, ages 14–15Foundation Course J – Complementary Swedish for Upper Secondary School, 16-18 years oldBeginner Swedish Course – Elementary School, ages 7-9Beginner Course in Swedish – Middle School, Ages 10–12Beginner Swedish Course – Junior High and High School, Ages 13–18
!

Our courses

StudierådgivningTeaching ModelsEducational conceptPrivatundervisningQuestions and Answers - Swedish InstructionAcademic Year Calendar
MultilingualismNewsThe SMUL BlogAbout SMULContact Us

Preserving Swedish in a Growing Family in Germany

Multilingualism in the family, SMUL studies in practice, Swedish Abroad

Do you live with your family outside of Sweden or are you considering moving? You may sometimes find yourself wondering how things will work out for your children and the Swedish language as the influence of the language of the country where you live grows stronger as the children get older.

If there is no Swedish international school nearby where you live, there is a good alternative called SMUL Academy.

We are a family of six: myself (Peter), my wife, and our four children Michelle 8, Maik 6, Mirella 4, and Mary 0 (born in March this year and our first child born abroad). We moved to Germany a few years ago when my wife received a job offer here, and we live in a small, pleasant town with 30,000 inhabitants—the town is already 1,120 years old. Our Swedish friends and relatives sometimes joke that we live “typically German” because we are practically neighbors with a brewery and a beer museum. The brewery restaurant is the children’s favorite. There is much to discover in Germany, and being centrally located on the continent, everything feels close.

Our children speak German at preschool and at school. At home, I speak Swedish with them. My wife’s Swedish is quite good, but her native language is English, so she speaks English with the children. She does not focus much on language otherwise, as the children will begin learning English in grade 3 here, so she can relax while I, on the other hand, began thinking about what I could do to preserve the Swedish language. I thought about this often before the move, and after a year here in Germany, I heard about SMUL Academy. We decided to give it a try, and Michelle began studying Swedish through distance learning in Basic Course A. Today, Michelle is in Basic Course C and her brother Maik is in Basic Course A. It is wonderful to see their progress!

So to all of you wondering if it is worth it: Yes, it is! Our children really enjoy SMUL Academy. Of course, there are days when they are more motivated and other days when homework goes a bit slowly. When we have visitors from Sweden, you can tell that the children’s motivation is at its peak—they proudly talk about SMUL online instruction and how it works.