American or British? Professor says Sweden needs its own English

7:05 min

American English, once looked down upon by Sweden's education establishment, has firmly usurped British English among schoolchildren learning the language and a new generation of teachers.

Marko Modiano, a professor of English at Gävle University, tells Radio Sweden why standard British English was first taught in Swedish schools and how American English is now the language of choice among students and younger teachers.

"The students are using fewer and fewer British lexical items and less pronunciation and using more and more American each day that goes by," he says. 

However, Marko Modiano would like to see Swedes have their own variety of English that they claim as their own.