AEE 2454: 3 Reasons Swedish People Speak Amazing English with Alastair Budge

Summary

All Ears English Podcast: Episode AEE 2454 Summary

Title: 3 Reasons Swedish People Speak Amazing English with Alastair Budge
Release Date: August 4, 2025
Hosts: Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan
Guest: Alastair Budge, Host of English Learning for Curious Minds

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Introduction

In Episode AEE 2454 of the All Ears English Podcast, hosts Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan delve into a fascinating topic: why Swedish people are exceptionally proficient in English. The episode features Alastair Budge, host of the English Learning for Curious Minds podcast, who provides insightful analysis and practical tips for English learners worldwide.

Defining Proficient English

Lindsey McMahon opens the discussion by posing a common observation: the high level of English proficiency among Swedes. Alastair Budge elaborates on this by explaining that proficiency can be gauged both through personal interactions and international proficiency rankings. “In almost all of those [proficiency] charts and reports, Sweden is up at the top or near the top,” Alastair notes (04:14). This sets the stage for exploring the underlying factors contributing to Sweden's English-speaking excellence.

Three Reasons Swedish People Speak Excellent English

1. Small Country, Global Mindset

Sweden's population of approximately 10 million creates a unique linguistic environment. Alastair explains that in such a small country, relying solely on Swedish would lead to isolation, making the acquisition of English not just beneficial but essential. “It’s a small country and you can’t get by just speaking Swedish,” he states (06:23). This necessity fosters a global mindset, where English becomes a critical tool for personal and professional advancement.

2. Early and Consistent Exposure to English Media

Unlike many other non-English-speaking countries, Sweden typically does not dub foreign media into Swedish. Instead, English-language films and TV shows are presented with Swedish or English subtitles. Alastair emphasizes that this consistent exposure from a young age helps Swedes integrate English seamlessly into their daily lives. “They are just thinking of it as an enjoyable series to watch,” he explains when discussing how Swedish people perceive English media (15:38). This immersion accelerates language acquisition by making English a natural part of entertainment and education.

3. Heavy Investment in Education

Sweden's commitment to education is profound, with the country allocating 7.2% of its GDP to education—a figure significantly higher than many other nations (10:01). This substantial investment ensures that English education is comprehensive and effective. Alastair highlights that Swedish schools prioritize communication and practical usage over rote learning. “The way of teaching English in Sweden is very much about kind of communication and how to actually use this as a tool,” he remarks (10:59). This approach not only builds proficiency but also encourages students to use English confidently in real-world scenarios.

Practical Strategies for English Learners

Drawing from Sweden's success, Alastair offers actionable strategies for listeners aiming to enhance their English skills:

1. Adopt a Global Mindset

Embrace the idea that mastering English can significantly expand your opportunities globally. This mental shift aligns with the Swedish mentality of viewing English as a necessary tool for broader engagement.

2. Surround Yourself with English Content

Increase your exposure to English by consuming media in its original language. Alastair advises, “The more you can surround yourself with English, the better your English will get” (14:50). This includes watching English films, listening to English podcasts, and engaging with English literature to build familiarity and comprehension.

3. Invest Time and Effort

Success in language learning demands dedication. Alastair emphasizes that reaching a high level of proficiency is a result of sustained effort and time investment rather than financial expenditure. “Reaching those levels of proficiency is not the sort of thing that you... really does take time and education. Time and dedication,” he advises (19:15).

4. Build Confidence to Speak

Overcome the fear of making mistakes by adopting a confident approach to speaking English. Alastair shares, “Just have the confidence of a Swede and you'll go a long way,” encouraging learners to engage in conversations without hesitation (21:35).

Conclusion and Final Tips

As the episode wraps up, Alastair reinforces the importance of a supportive learning environment and a positive attitude towards language acquisition. He highlights that the Swedish community's collective effort and societal expectations play a crucial role in fostering English proficiency. “People are so appreciative of you trying and so just have the confidence,” he concludes (21:35).

Listeners are left with a comprehensive understanding of how Sweden’s educational policies, cultural attitudes, and media consumption patterns contribute to their exceptional English skills. By adopting similar strategies—embracing a global mindset, immersing oneself in English, dedicating time and effort, and building confidence—learners can significantly improve their English proficiency.

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Notable Quotes:

• Alastair Budge on Small Country Necessity:
  “It is a small country and you can’t get by just speaking Swedish.” (06:23)

• On Media Exposure:
  “They are just thinking of it as an enjoyable series to watch.” (15:38)

• On Educational Investment:
  “The way of teaching English in Sweden is very much about kind of communication and how to actually use this as a tool.” (10:59)

• On Confidence in Speaking:
  “Just have the confidence of a Swede and you'll go a long way.” (21:35)

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Final Thoughts:

Alastair Budge's insights offer a valuable blueprint for English learners aiming to achieve fluency. By understanding and implementing the practices that make Swedish English speakers excel, listeners can enhance their language learning journey and connect more profoundly with the global community.

Transcript

[Lindsey McMahon]

This is an All Ears English podcast. Episode 24:54 Three reasons Swedish people Speak Amazing English with Alistair Budge. Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast. Downloaded more than 200 million times. We believe in connection, not perfection, with your American host, Lindsey McMahon and today's featured guest coming to you from Denver, Colorado, USA. To get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com subscribe have you ever been surprised to hear how well Swedish people speak English? Today we have a special guest on the show to break down three of the core reasons Swedes are so fluent in English and what you can do to learn like them. Listen in today.

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[Lindsey McMahon]

Hello, Alistair. Welcome to All Ears English. How are you today?

[Alistair Budge]

I am doing fantastically, Lindsay. Thank you for having me on.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, very excited to have you on. This might be the second or third time that we've had you on All Ears English over the last couple of years, so we're excited to hear your voice again. I'm going to take a minute to introduce you to our audience. So, listeners, today I have Alistair Budge on the show. Alistair is the host of English Learning for Curious Minds, a podcast for intermediate to advanced English learners which aims to teach you weird and wonderful things at the same time as improving your English. He's originally from England, but currently lives in Sweden with his wife and two young kids. Welcome again, Alistair. And I love your kind of tagline here, teaching you weird and wonderful things while learning English. That's very cool.

[Alistair Budge]

Thank you. That is. That is what the podcast aims to do. Keep it weird, wonderful and surprising.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. What are some of the. Just real quick, what are some of the weird topics that you've covered this month, just so we get an idea of what you talk about?

[Alistair Budge]

Oh, to be honest, I've been. I've got so far advanced in my scheduling that I can't remember exactly what has come out this month. There was one that came out, I think, last week where we talked about the history of the minimum wage, which is a sort of an interesting and also current topic. There was a mini series all about Egypt, modern Egypt. There's lots of unusual things. And quite often people tell me that they quite enjoy sort of waiting, waiting to see on their podcast app and think, you know, what's he going to talk about today?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, very. Again, weird and wonderful topics. I love it. Alistair. Well, today we're going to get into an interesting topic that I have often wondered about. It's this idea. So you're based in Sweden, right, Alistair There, just to confirm exactly this idea that why is it that Swedish people actually speak very well in English? Their English is very good, well above the average of what we see for global English and to inspire our listeners as to what they can learn from Swedish people in terms of methods to learn English. First of all, alster, why, why, how are we defining good or speaking English? Well, what are we talking about here exactly?

[Alistair Budge]

Well, I think to a certain extent, anyone, when they. They meet someone for the first time and if they speak in English, you have a general sense of, you know, is this person speaking well, is there. Are they having some. Some trouble expressing what they're. They're talking about?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes.

[Alistair Budge]

But we can also look at all of these kind of charts and reports that are always done on different levels of English by country. And in almost all of those, Sweden is up at the top or near the top, together with other countries in the Nordic region, so Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands. And today I will be talking specifically about Sweden, but I think a lot of what I will say will probably apply to the other countries as well.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Absolutely. And living in Sweden, have you kind of witnessed this? Maybe travelers being surprised or have you seen evidence of this? Just kind of the interaction? Maybe people didn't expect it and they saw the English level and they were surprised. Any anecdotes there?

[Alistair Budge]

I think, I think lots of people sort of know that people in Sweden will speak pretty good English. The one sort of anecdote that I. That always makes me smile, they want experience. That always makes me smile, is if there is someone. If I'm trying to say something and I. I can't say it properly in Swedish because I'm also learning Swedish and I ask that person if they speak any English. Sometimes they will say, oh, just a little bit. And then they will proceed to speak in complete. Fluent. Yeah. Fluent English.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah.

[Alistair Budge]

Many listeners of this podcast would, you know, would be very envious of.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Right.

[Alistair Budge]

So they're pretty humble with Swedes, right?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes. And maybe they come up with the phrase that you're looking for. Right. The very nuanced, specific phrase in English that you're looking for. I love that.

[Alistair Budge]

Exactly.

[Lindsey McMahon]

So let's, let's get into what's going on here. Again, it's a common curiosity for people around the world why the English is so good in Scandinavia. What are just high level, Alistair. What are the three reasons why you think it is good? And then we'll go into each one and see what our listeners can do do to actually leverage some of this and, and use a similar method to get better themselves.

[Alistair Budge]

So I think the first thing to, to talk about is that Sweden is just such a small country. There's 10 million people in Sweden. That's essentially the, the world's Swedish speaking population.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah.

[Alistair Budge]

And so if they were only speaking Swedish and if they couldn't speak any other languages, then they'll be incredibly isolated. So there's a very large incentive to be able to speak another language and in particular, you know, the, the world's lingua franca. English.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. That's remarkable. That's just a side point to give a little context. That is 2 million more people than the city of New York. The population of New York City is 8 million. So yeah, we're talking about a very small population, right, Alistair?

[Alistair Budge]

Exactly. And so there is this mentality and this requirement that you just, you need it. Right. It is a small country and you can't get by just, just speaking Swedish.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Okay.

[Alistair Budge]

So people need English to, to get ahead. So it's really the first reason I wanted to talk about is just a requirement. Right.

[Lindsey McMahon]

For sure. What would be the second reason? And then again, we'll come back in just a minute back to this of what the tip is for our listeners. But what is the second reason why the English is so good in sw?

[Alistair Budge]

So I think the, the second reason is that you are forced even in Sweden to deal with stuff in English. For example, when people watch shows on TV or go to go to the movies, if there is a British or American film, a film in English, then it will not typically be dubbed into Swedish. It will be shown on the, the screen with perhaps with Swedish subtitles or perhaps even with, with English subtitles. So from a very young age people are hearing English. They're getting accustomed to, to English being a part of their life in a way that someone in countries that typically dub their, their movies. Places like Italy or France or Spain.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Right.

[Alistair Budge]

They just are not interesting.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. And you've also lived elsewhere in the world. Where else have you lived, Alistair?

[Alistair Budge]

Quite a few places. I've lived in Italy, I've lived in France, I've lived in Malta. I've Lived in China. Wow. Yeah.

[Lindsey McMahon]

And so did you see dubbing in all of these. You saw dubbing in all of these places? Pretty much. For the movies. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a big difference. Right. Because we want to understand the movies completely, so they're getting that firsthand knowledge of the language in a. In a more intimate way. In a sense, it sounds like.

[Alistair Budge]

Exactly. And every time you're watching a movie, every time you binge a Netflix series, you know, you, You're. You're exposing yourself to 5, 6, 10 hours of English, whereas if you're watching that dubbed, you're exposing yourself to zero English.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, I love that. That's a great one. So let's go into the third reason and then we'll. We'll cycle back and talk about strategies for our listeners. What would be the third reason? The English is so good.

[Alistair Budge]

So I think that this. The, the first two reasons are things that people probably knew already or perhaps have heard or could have. Could have guessed. The, the third reason. I just wanted to bring some statistics to this to explain just how much Sweden invests in education. So Sweden, I just looked this up before the, before we, we got on air.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah.

[Alistair Budge]

Sweden spends 7.2% of its GDP on education. Yeah. That is 85 more as a percentage of GDP than. Than Italy. And on a per capita basis, it's a. Almost twice, so almost three times as much. So there's just a huge amount of investment going into the education system. And this doesn't apply just to English, but English is, Is a big part of the Swedish school system. And my, My experience is that the, the way of teaching English in Sweden is very much about kind of communication and how to actually use this as a tool to get ahead in your professional and personal life, rather than just a series of, you know, grammar and vocabulary drills.

[Lindsey McMahon]

And that's, that's very profound. Right. Because there are other parts of the world where it remains kind of an academic exercise. The. For mem. For ro. WR rehearsal, that kind of thing. And we become very separated from it. But it sounds like they use a very practical approach in Sweden.

[Alistair Budge]

Yeah, they do. And of course, Sweden has the. Has the luxury of being a relatively rich country, so it can afford to spend quite a lot of money on education.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes.

[Alistair Budge]

But the, you know, the results speak for themselves.

[Lindsey McMahon]

All right, let's cycle back real quick to small country. All right, so Sweden is a small country. So this is something that obviously our listeners can't control. The size of their country. Countries. What can we take away for our own learning in terms of methodologies, strategies, tips. What can we learn from Swedish people about learning English here?

[Alistair Budge]

Well, in terms of the first point, I think this is more of a mentality shift and one that perhaps your listeners are already doing, which is really to have this global mindset and to kind of raise, realize, appreciate and understand how much their kind of surface area of opportunities can expand if their English expands too.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes.

[Alistair Budge]

So thinking about job opportunities, travel opportunities, opportunities for new friendships, and all those kinds of things, if you, you know, if you're able to communicate as fluently in English as many Swedish people can, then your opportunity for those jobs, to meet those people, all that kind of stuff, it just improves vastly.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes. I love that. So kind of throwing out the idea of bear of borders and barriers and thinking of yourself as a member of the global community. Is that what we're saying here, Alistair?

[Alistair Budge]

I think, I think so, yeah.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, I love that. It's true. I mean, I was just telling my, my dad I was on a call with him that yesterday I was on a call with a Scottish person living in Thailand and a Canadian person living in, I think, Vietnam. I mean, it's just amazing the way with Zoom and the Internet, all the connections that we can make globally and what that opens up for us that what didn't exist 20 years ago.

[Alistair Budge]

Indeed.

[Lindsey McMahon]

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[Alistair Budge]

I think this is the the easiest one in terms of just practical things you can do is that the more you can surround yourself with English, the more, the more of the. All these English podcasts you can listen to, the more films you can watch in English and the more you can. The more you try to consume and engage with that content in the original version. In English. Yeah, the. Well, firstly, the better your English will get and secondly, I think the more you'll start to enj. Actually doing these things. So to the average person in Sweden when they, you know, watch a Netflix series, they, they're not thinking, oh, this is such a chore because it's in English. They, you know, they're just thinking of it as an enjoyable series to watch.

[Lindsey McMahon]

It's just entertainment. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Alistair Budge]

So it's a kind of self fulfilling prophecy really. The, the easier you. You find it to understand, the more you'll enjoy it. So you'll watch it more and your, your English level will continue to improve. So I would. My kind of takeaway from that is just do as much as you can to expose yourself to English like many listeners to this are already doing, and the results will, will come.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I do have a question about this, Alistair. What are your thoughts? I, as a Spanish learner, I have been gifted books in Spanish that were on topics that I was truly interested in or I've been exposed to movies in Spanish, but I didn't quite reach the level where I knew I could go into that movie and get it all and get all the nuances, all the idioms and fully enjoy the piece of entertainment. So how do you suggest we get to that point? Should we take chunks and, and keep them as kind of exercises until we get to that point where we can fully enjoy the movie? Or should we just go all in and try to get what we can and then gradually build up our skills?

[Alistair Budge]

So that's a great question and it's one I hear, hear a lot as well. My opinion on this is also based on my experience learning languages and now now focusing on Swedish, is that, you know, there's not, there's no such thing as just the standard film. Right? There's different levels of language colloquialisms and so on. So someone watching an old Disney cartoon in English will probably find that a lot easier to understand than someone who tries to watch Trainspotting, which is a film about a lot of drug addicts in. In Edinburgh. Because the accent is completely different, the subject matter is different, there's a lot of things that even some native speakers would probably not understand. My My wife speaks excellent English and we watch the Wire together, and she had a lot of trouble trying to understand what was going on there.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes.

[Alistair Budge]

And. And she didn't enjoy it as much because she couldn't, of course, you know, because it was so difficult. So my recommendation is just to, you know, to start with things that you can understand. Yeah. And not to kind of dive in to more complicated films that you have such trouble with. Otherwise you'll just end up disheartened.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I love it. That's great advice. So choose the kind of entertainment. I know a lot of our listeners like the show Friends. Friends is getting a little dated now, but it's still kind of fun, you know, Friends living in New York City. So choose. Pick and choose your entertainment wisely. Good idea, Alistair. We're running out of time, but let's go through our final tip. Sweden invests in education heavily. What can we learn and what can we do if we don't live in Sweden?

[Alistair Budge]

So when I. When I was thinking about the takeaway from this, it would be too simple to say, spend a lot of money on English courses.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. Because.

[Alistair Budge]

And that's not what I think people should take away from this. I think the takeaway is, you know, take your English education really seriously. People in Sweden start learning English typically around the age of kind of seven or eight, and it's. It's more than just, you know, watching a few nursery rhymes or kind of saying hello. It's. It's really serious stuff and they have to work hard at it. It might say. It might sound like, from everything I've said before, that people in Sweden just kind of automatically get Swedish. Get English for free.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Right.

[Alistair Budge]

But there is a lot of hard work and study that goes into it. You know, reaching those levels of proficiency is not the sort of thing that you. You'll typically get after, you know, three months of hard study or. Or just going and living in London or. Or New York for a few months. It really does take time and educate. Time and dedication. Not necessarily money at all. So think about the investment more as. More as a kind of investment of your own time and energy into something. You don't have to spend any money at all.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, exactly. There are a lot of ways we can invest. Quote, unquote. It's our heart, it's our soul, it's our intention, it's our dreams, it's what. It's where our mind goes when we're idle. Right. Thinking in English, going to English. The other piece that came to mind here, that's probably a factor is the social aspect in Sweden. Everyone else has those expectations that you're learning and they're learning and it creates kind of a social community around. Around speaking English or being able to see speak, I would imagine.

[Alistair Budge]

Yeah, exactly. And I think it's, you know, it's cool to speak English. People.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Sure. Yeah.

[Alistair Budge]

It's. Some people want to do. It'll be strange for someone to not be able to do it.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Love it. So, Aliser, we're out of time for today, but what are. What would be your final piece of advice? This has been really enlightening. I love learning from successful situations or success stories and I think Sweden is a success story when it comes to English. What would be your final piece of advice as our listeners design their learning plans.

[Alistair Budge]

So I'll. I'll bring it back to Sweden again. And it's more to do with the Swedish kind of Swedish people's mentality. And obviously you can't group 10 million people into one bucket and say that everyone is the same. But in my experience, Swedes tend to be pretty kind of happy to try and not embarrassed if they, if they make mistakes, which doesn't happen so regularly. But some people from other language backgrounds, other cultures are just a lot more hesitant. So my final, kind of passing. My final tip. Sorry, I've got a little bit of a cold.

[Lindsey McMahon]

That's okay.

[Alistair Budge]

To, to just have that confidence that it doesn't really matter if you make a mistake. People are so appreciative of you trying and so just have the, have the confidence of a, of a suite and you'll go a long way.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I love it. Fantastic. Very inspiring to finish off our episode for today. Alistair, thanks for coming in and coming onto the show and letting us know your tips about Swede English in Sweden and what we can all learn to take our English to the next level. Have a good day. I hope to see you back on the show again soon.

[Alistair Budge]

All right, thank you so much, Lindsay.

[Lindsey McMahon]

All right, you take care. Bye bye. Thanks for listening to Allears English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two minute quiz, go to allearsenglish.com forward/fluencyscore. And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.

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