Levels of Instruction
Finnish Language Classes
ASI offers a limited number of Finnish language courses each year. Check the current class schedule for availability.
INTRODUCTION TO SWEDISH
Introduction to Swedish is a one-time,two-hour class offered every other month. Students will receive a brief overview of the Swedish language with a bit of grammar and pronunciation. This class is a great option before beginning a full 9-week term of Beginning Swedish.
BEGINNING SWEDISH
Beginning Swedish courses use the second edition of the textbook series Rivstart A1 + A2. Each class level is built upon lessons taught in the prior level. These classes meet once a week for 90 minutes for nine weeks.
SWEDISH A101
Swedish A101 assumes little or no prior knowledge of Swedish. In this class, students will learn about the alphabet and numbers, how to introduce themselves, including where and how they live, how to ask someone how they are doing, how to introduce someone else, and how to use simple greeting and parting phrases.Themes include: health, countries, work, studies, family, languages, introductions, counting, and telling time. Grammar topics will include present tense verbs, word order, interrogatives, subject pronouns, negations, pronunciation, and singular indefinite form nouns.
SWEDISH A102
Swedish A102 assumes knowledge of the concepts learned in Swedish A101. Students will learn about numbers and time, how to talk and write about daily activities using simple sentences, how to make simple purchases, how to order something in a café, how to talk about their leisure time activities.Themes include a continuation of counting and time, address, phone number, age, daily shopping, food, leisure time, culture, and making plans and decisions. Grammar topics will include question words, word order, singular definite form nouns, imperative verbs, pronunciation, infinitive auxiliary verbs, demonstrative pronouns and nouns, plural indefinite form nouns, future tense verbs, adverbs for frequency, adjectives, and past tense verbs.
SWEDISH A103
Swedish A103 assumes knowledge of the concepts learned in Swedish A102. Students will learn how to describe their family, how to talk about their daily life in past tense, how to understand simple descriptive texts, how to manage straightforward situations in stores, how to read a simple text on the internet, how to find information in a simple advertisement and how to give simple descriptions of people and things.Themes include immediate and extended family, work, leisure time, shopping, clothes and colors. Grammar topics will include object pronouns, time adverbs and past tense, relative pronouns, possessive pronouns, adjectives that follow verbs, pronunciation, indefinite pronouns, colors as adjectives, comparative form adjectives, and definite plural form nouns.
SWEDISH A104
Swedish A104 assumes knowledge of the concepts learned in Swedish A103. Students will learn how to speak about what they have done and experienced, how to plan a trip, to read and write a simple e-mail, how to ask for information while traveling, how to give and understand simple travel directions, how to understand simple expository texts, how to understand and write personal text messages, and how to explain that they know a little bit about Sweden.Themes include: tourism, weather, dates and planning, communicating, travel directions, facts about Sweden and geography. Grammar topics will include perfect tense verbs, ordinal numbers, perfect vs. past tense, adverbs, auxiliary verbs, pronunciation, the use of gå vs. åk (variations on “to go”), numbers as nouns, future tense verbs and time prepositions.
INTERMEDIATE SWEDISH
The Intermediate series assumes knowledge of concepts covered in Beginning Swedish, and continues in the second edition of the textbook series Rivstart A1 + A2. Each class level is built upon lessons taught in the prior level. These classes meet once a week for 90 minutes for nine weeks.
SWEDISH A201
Swedish A201 assumes knowledge of the concepts learned in Swedish A104. In this class, students will learn how to read diagrams and tables, how to agree or disagree in a conversation, how to understand the most important computer commands, how to write simple, personal messages, how to fill out personal information on a form, and how to order food and drink.Themes will include things unique to Sweden, dating, computers and the internet, and Swedish food. Grammar topics will include conjunctions, the use of indefinite and definite forms of nouns, pronunciation, subordinate clauses, the use of tror vs. tycker (I believe/I’m of the opinion), and nationality adjectives.
SWEDISH A202
Swedish A202 assumes knowledge of the concepts learned in Swedish A201. In this class, students will learn how to explain what they like and don’t like, how to talk about their current or most recent employment, how to understand when others talk about their day at work, how to write a short letter with the help of a dictionary, how to write a simple invitation, how to give thanks and apologies, and how to ask for things and give things that others ask for. Themes will include eating at a restaurant, work environments, careers, work tasks, job searching, the countryside, invitations, and etiquette. Grammar topics will include the verbs for sitting/lying/standing, pronunciation, position adverbs, verbs for speaking/writing in the past tense, now/then adverbs, the time preposition i, infinitive verbs, phrase emphasis, indirect speech, relative clauses, and subordinate conjunctions.
SWEDISH A203
Swedish A203 assumes knowledge of the concepts learned in Swedish A203. In this class, students will learn how to talk about what they know about Swedish lifestyle and traditions, how to read diagrams and talk about the information in them, how to read simple expository texts, how to describe activities using simple language, how to talk about the Swedish education system, how to give their opinion, how to read simple interviews, how to talk about their future plans, and how to describe their education.Themes include Swedish customs and etiquette, Swedish climate, education and employment. Grammar topics will include exclamations, pronunciation, reflexive possessive pronouns, independent pronouns, subordinate conjunctions, relative clauses with sentence adverbs, future tense, and time.
SWEDISH A204
Swedish A204 assumes knowledge of the concepts learned in Swedish A203. In this class, students learn how to explain where and how they live, how to participate in a simple discussion, how to read housing advertisements, how to describe and compare things, how to participate in small talk, how to participate in a telephone conversation, how to take notes, how to understand simple technological instructions, how to talk about how they’re feeling and understand when someone gives them advice, how to discern the main events in a news report, and how to describe an event using simple sentences.Themes include everyday occurrences at work, small talk, phone conversations, technical gadgets at work, health, body parts, mass media, and the news. Grammar topics will include definitive form adjectives, pronunciation, quick answers, time prepositions denoting frequency, and adverbs.
UPPER INTERMEDIATE SWEDISH
The Intermediate series assumes knowledge of concepts covered in the Beginning and Intermediate Swedish series. Each class level is built upon lessons taught in the prior level. These classes meet once a week for 90 minutes for nine weeks.We are in the process of developing thorough descriptions of the courses at this level.
ADVANCED SWEDISH
Advanced Swedish courses are for those students who have completed the Beginning, Intermediate, and Upper Intermediate Swedish series, or are at an equivalent level, and are held primarily in Swedish. These textbook-based courses cover reading, writing, listening comprehension and speaking at a semi-fluent level through the use of the assigned textbook(s) and other resources.
LITERATURE-BASED SWEDISH COURSES
Literature-based Swedish courses are held primarily in Swedish, with some English for clarification. They are intended for students who are studying at an Intermediate, Upper Intermediate or Advanced level of Swedish. These courses use a literary work as the basis for developing reading, writing, listening comprehension and speaking skills, and include discussions of relevant culture, customs and grammar topics as they relate to the piece.
ACCELERATED ADVANCED SWEDISH
The Accelerated Swedish course is held entirely in Swedish, and is for students with advanced language skills who want to increase proficiency. Often centered on a specific text or novel, students in this fast-paced class will develop their vocabulary, work on advanced grammar, and discuss Swedish media events. To facilitate listening comprehension, students will also listen to short media clips or radio programs.
**If you are a new student joining our language classes and have questions regarding placement, please contactplease contact Chelsea Bowen, Educational Programs Coordinator, .