English in Year 8: what Lärkompis practises
In Year 8 of Swedish school (around age 14), Lärkompis practises 9 skills in English, linked to 9 of 16 items in the core content of Lgr22, the Swedish national curriculum, for Years 7–9. The areas are speaking, writing and conversation – production and interaction; listening and reading – reception; and communication content. Each skill has five difficulty levels, and the skills are practised in 5 mini-games, including Glosjakt (Vocab Hunt), Rätta roboten (Fix the Robot) and Vändspelet (The Flip Game).
Lgr22 sets out core content for each stage (Years 7–9), not for each year. So Lärkompis spreads the skills across the years using its own time windows, and these are estimates. For Year 8, this means that 5 skills start this year and 4 skills started earlier and are still being practised. The figure 9 of 16 counts the items in the core content from Skolverket (the Swedish National Agency for Education) that at least one skill links to; it does not mean the whole item is covered.
What Lärkompis practises in Year 8
The 9 skills in English in Year 8 are grouped into 3 areas following Skolverket's syllabus. Under each skill you can see the first and the last difficulty level, so you know how far the exercises go.
Speaking, writing and conversation – production and interaction
- Comparatives and superlatives (already starts in Year 7) Level 1: Short adjectives: “taller”. Level 5: Writes the form on their own.
- Modal verbs: advice, obligation, prohibition and possibility Level 1: Chooses from three options, with Swedish as support. Level 5: Mixed examples.
- Present, continuous, past and perfect tenses Level 1: Chooses the right tense for what is happening now. Level 5: Mixed tenses.
- Past tense (past simple), irregular verbs and past participles (already starts in Year 7) Level 1: Regular verbs with -ed (“played”). Level 5: Past tense and past participles after “have/has” (“gone”, “seen”).
Listening and reading – reception
- Reading comprehension of longer texts, including reading between the lines Level 1: Finds answers stated directly in the text. Level 5: Mixed questions on all the texts.
- Linking words that tie a text together Level 1: “so”, “because”, “but”. Level 5: Mixed linking words.
Communication content
- English words that look like Swedish words but mean something else Level 1: Three options: the right meaning, the false one and one other. Level 5: All the false friends, mixed.
- Common phrasal verbs (“give up”, “look for”, “turn off” …) Level 1: Recognises “give up”, “turn on”, “wake up”. Level 5: Writes the phrasal verb on their own.
- Vocabulary: society, opinions and useful verbs (already starts in Year 7) Level 1: Recognises “environment”, “advice” and “improve”. Level 5: Writes the word on their own.
What the syllabus says, in short
The Lgr22 core content for Years 7–9 in English, summarised in our own words for the parts Lärkompis practises in Year 8. Read the full text in Skolverket's English translation of Lgr22.
- Current and familiar subject areas, plus opinions, feelings, experiences, future plans and ethical questions.
- Living conditions, traditions and cultural features in places where English is used, also compared with the pupils’ own experiences.
- Spoken English with regional variation, and texts that inform, tell a story, argue and discuss.
- Fiction and other fictional works, including on film, plus songs and poems.
- Strategies for contributing to a conversation, for example by showing they are following and asking follow-up questions, plus reworking their own work.
How to help at home with English in Year 8
Year 8 is the middle of the last stage, with end-of-term grades every term. Agree together on a fixed time and place for homework, and let your child tell you what needs practising before the next test. Let English be part of everyday life: songs, TV programmes with subtitles and short conversations. Do not correct everything; respond to what your child says, so that they dare to speak.
- A series or podcast in English. Watch a series with English subtitles or listen to a podcast in English. Ask them to tell you what the episode was about. Talk about words that are new. When reading: about 20 minutes.
- Write a short review. Ask your teenager to write a short review of a film or a game in English, with an opinion and two reasons. Read it together and ask where they could make it clearer. Don’t correct everything. As a conversation: about 15 minutes.
- Change the language on their phone. Let your teenager switch something they use (a game, an app, a music playlist) to English. Small daily encounters with the language do more than the occasional big session. Works in everyday life: about 5 minutes.
- When speaking English feels embarrassing. Offer to practise at home where nobody else can hear. Record a voice memo and listen to it together. Remind them it is normal: most people find it strange to speak a foreign language. When it is hard going: about 10 minutes.
How you can tell it has clicked in Year 8
- Linking words that tie a text together: Knows the difference between “because” and “so”.
- Modal verbs: advice, obligation, prohibition and possibility: Your child knows the difference between “mustn’t” and “don’t have to”.
- Present, continuous, past and perfect tenses: Your child knows the difference between “I live here since 2019” and “I have lived here since 2019”.
- Reading comprehension of longer texts, including reading between the lines: Your child can summarise an English text in two sentences.
Common pitfalls in Year 8
- Vocabulary: society, opinions and useful verbs: Uses “experience” to mean “experiment”.
- Linking words that tie a text together: Uses “because” and “so” the wrong way round.
- Modal verbs: advice, obligation, prohibition and possibility: Thinks “mustn’t” means “behöver inte” (don’t have to).
- Present, continuous, past and perfect tenses: Mixes up “for” and “since”.
If English practice in Year 8 often ends in tears or takes far too long, stop for the day and write a few lines to the teacher about what was hard. That is useful information for the school, not a failure.
Games that practise it
In Year 8 English, Lärkompis uses 5 mini-games. In these games, playing is the practice, so your child learns while they play. There are no points or streaks, and no ads.
Glosjakt (Vocab Hunt)
Creatures carry words, and your child catches the right creature or matches words with their translations. In Year 8, the game practises 4 skills: past tense (past simple), irregular verbs and past participles; English words that look like Swedish words but mean something else; common phrasal verbs (“give up”, “look for”, “turn off” …); and vocabulary: society, opinions and useful verbs.
Rätta roboten (Fix the Robot)
Knut has made a mistake and your child teaches him the right way. Explaining the mistake is the skill. In Year 8, the game practises 4 skills: comparatives and superlatives; modal verbs: advice, obligation, prohibition and possibility; present, continuous, past and perfect tenses; and reading comprehension of longer texts, including reading between the lines.
Vändspelet (The Flip Game)
A memory game where two cards that go together stay face up, for example 3 + 4 and 7. In Year 8, the game practises 2 skills: common phrasal verbs (“give up”, “look for”, “turn off” …); and vocabulary: society, opinions and useful verbs.
Kunskapsjakten (Knowledge Hunt)
A quiz show in a TV studio, where Vera leads the questions up a ladder. There are lifelines but no points: the ladder fills up with the questions your child has worked through. In Year 8, the game practises 1 skill: linking words that tie a text together.
Minikorsordet (Mini Crossword)
A small crossword made from the skill’s own words, with pictures or meanings as clues. The crossing letters show whether the spelling is right. In Year 8, the game practises 1 skill: vocabulary: society, opinions and useful verbs.
Questions about English in Year 8
What does Lärkompis practise in English in Year 8?
Lärkompis has 9 skills in English in Year 8, for example “Comparatives and superlatives”; “Modal verbs: advice, obligation, prohibition and possibility”; “Present, continuous, past and perfect tenses”; “Past tense (past simple), irregular verbs and past participles”; and “Reading comprehension of longer texts, including reading between the lines”. Each skill has five levels. In “Comparatives and superlatives”, for example, level 1 is “Short adjectives: ‘taller’” and level 5 is “Writes the form on their own”. The app adjusts the level to how your child is doing.
What comes after Year 8 in English?
In Year 9, Lärkompis practises 7 skills in English, and new that year are “The future with ‘will’ and ‘going to’, the first conditional”; and “Linking words that tie a text together”. Most of it builds on what your child practised in Year 8.
Which mistakes are common in English in Year 8?
Common mistakes that Lärkompis covers include “Uses ‘experience’ to mean ‘experiment’” in “Vocabulary: society, opinions and useful verbs” and “Uses ‘because’ and ‘so’ the wrong way round” in “Linking words that tie a text together”. When an answer is wrong, the app shows how to think it through instead of just marking it wrong, and the parent panel shows what your child is practising right now.
Does Lärkompis follow Lgr22 in English in Year 8?
Yes. Every exercise in English in Year 8 is linked to an item in the Lgr22 core content for Years 7–9; 9 of 16 items in English have at least one linked skill. Lärkompis is a complement at home and does not replace teaching.
How much does it cost to practise English in Year 8 with Lärkompis?
Lärkompis costs SEK 49, once, for all subjects and every child in the family, with future updates included. You can try English in Year 8 for free first, without an account.
More years and subjects
The same year in other subjects:
