Swedish as a Second Language for Elementary Students are courses for children 7-9 years. They are created for students of Swedish heritage, who have never studied Swedish and have no previous knowledge of the language. The instruction languages are English or French.
This course is based on 30 online lessons that take place throughout the school year. It is planned and conducted by a teacher with formal education in Swedish as a second language. The lessons take place on Zoom, where teacher and students meet and the students are introduced to basic Swedish. In between lessons, the students are expected to do homework for 30 minutes.
The lessons have different themes and the study exercises help the students build up their Swedish vocabulary, verbal comprehension, and grammar.
Swedish as a Second Language is a program at the SMUL Academy, which is a part of the Canadian not-for-profit organisation Association of Swedish Beyond Borders – SMUL.
Curriculum
Teaching material and book
There are two course levels for elementary studies: step 1 and step 2.
In the step 1 course, the students will work with our in-house material, developed by our teacher Maria Diemar and Canadian illustrator Ella Quesnel. Since most books available are written for new immigrants living in Sweden, we will instead approach the subject matter from our own angle and have created our in-house material to support this.
In the step 2 course, the students work with regular material for children who are at at elementary school in Sweden. They approach the material a different way with more support and scaffolding.
The teachers use modern digital media throughout the course to encourage participation and motivation. The teacher will also use other material to motivate and teach the students such as cross puzzles and games. We also encourage students to build their Swedish vocabulary with the app Duolingo in parallel with the course work.
Teaching languages will be Swedish and English or French. The lessons are planned and conducted by a teacher with formal training in Swedish as a Second Language. The teacher runs the class on Zoom once per week. The students are expected to do 30 minutes of homework in between classes. Parents are encouraged to support the student with the homework.
We accept 5-8 students into this class. Class size is small to make the learning effective.
Time requirement & Schedule
The spring course entails a lesson plan with 30 lessons that take place throughout the school year with lessons of 60 minutes each time. Home work will add another 30 minutes per week.
We have the following classes during next year:
STEP 1 – NEW BEGINNERS
Class NYB-LÅG IA Europe (in English): Mondays 16.30 London / 17.30 Stockholm (8 students). Teacher: Annika Lindh Cully.
Class NYB-LÅG IB North & South America (in English): Mondays 15.15 LA PT / 17.15 Dallas CT / 18.15 NYC ET (8 students). Teacher: Annika Lindh Cully.
Class NYB-LÅG IC Europe (in English): Tuesdays 14.00 London / 15.00 Stockholm / 17.00 Dubai (8 students). Teacher: Maria Diemar.
Class NYB-LÅG ID North & South Aamerica (in English): Thursdays 18.00 LA PT / 20.00 Dallas CT / 21.00 NYC ET (8 students). Teacher: Maria Diemar.
Class NYB-LÅG IE Europe and North & South America (in English): Sundays 14.30 London / 15.30 Stockholm / 19.30 Dubai / 08.30 Dallas CT / 09.30 NYC ET (8 students). Teacher: Eva Cimino.
STEP 2 – RETURNING BEGINNER STUDENTS
Class NYB-LÅG IIB, North and South America (in English): Tuesdays 15.00 LA PT / 17.00 Dallas CT / 18.00 NYC ET (max 8 students). Teacher: Maria Diemar.
Classes for students requesting French as support language will be scheduled together with teacher Eva Cimino depending on interest. You may indicate this request in the enrolment form.
We also have private lessons. If none of the classes and dates work for you above, and you want to explore that as an option, please contact us at info@svenskautomlands.org for a discussion; we will then contact you to explore your child’s academic needs.
Language Level
Swedish as a Second Language for Elementary Students is a course in beginner Swedish, corresponding to level A1/A2, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF) by the Council of Europe.
Read here what A1/A2 corresponds to in langauge level >>
This is a course for elementary students, 7-9 y, who can read and write in an age appriopriate way in their school language, but not in Swedish. There is no pre-requisite of previous Swedish knowledge; we welcome brand new beginners. The students needs to know English or French to participate in the course, since one of these will be the supporting class language.
If you are not sure if this course would work for your child, you are welcome to reach out by email for a discussion (info@svenskautomlands.org). There are diagnostic tests that we can offer to see what course would work the best for your child.
Teachers
Instruction in English: Maria Diemar is the teacher in the classes taught in English. She has formal education in Swedish as a Second Language from Sweden, and experience of teaching students at the Swedish School of Plano, Texas and Melbourne in Australia. She has also taught adult immigrants in Sweden.
Instruction in French: Eva Cimino is the teacher in the classes taught in French. She is formally trained as a pre-school teacher and Montessori teacher. She has taught students of all ages at Swedish School of Paris for many years.
Course Coordinator
Louise Sverud works as the school administrator at the SMUL Academy and is the one who coordinates everything for these courses.
Credits and Diploma
Finished course work and homework gives the student an informal report card. This course gives 50 points at the SMUL academy.
Cost
The cost is CAD$849.00 (ca 6 682 SEK / USD$627 /580 Euro)** and includes:
- 30 online lessons with a Swedish teacher
- Digital or printed material
- The digital platform Pratstart, where the student practise their Swedish in between classes
- Access to an online classroom on Zoom with 5-8 students
- Written instructions about course content
- Home work in PDF format to be printed at home.
Please note that an shipping is not included and will be added to the price.
** Exchange rate as from 1 April 2024
Registration
Registration for 2024/2025 is now open and closes Sep 1, 2024. You find the registration form HERE >>
Registration to private tutoring is available throughout the school year. If you have questions, we welcome you to contact us at info@svenskautomlands.org for a discussion. We also have study advice with Louise Sverud via Zoom which you can find HERE >>