Swedish B1: get by at work and in society

Every week of B1

The weeks and lessons in the order the course takes them. Lessons about real situations have a speech-bubble icon; grammar lessons have a diagram.

1. Week 1 Berätta mer

   Telling more: the pluperfect, reported speech and anecdotes

   • PluskvamperfektUse hade plus the supine for what had already happened before another past event.
   • S-verb: hoppas, trivas, finnas, träffas, sesUse the verbs whose every form ends in -s, and know which of them mean each other.
   • Indirekt talReport what someone said or asked, with the tense and the pronouns shifted.
   • Sin/sitt/sina — svåra fallHandle sin in subordinate clauses, after verbs of ordering and with several subjects.
   • Berätta anekdoterTell a short funny or surprising story the way Swedes tell them.

2. Week 2 Bisatser 2

   Subordinate clauses 2

   • innan, medan, tills, fast, även om, trots attUse the subjunctions of time and concession, and tell fast from trots att and även om.
   • Satsadverbial i bisats med hjälpverbPlace inte and the other sentence adverbs before both verbs in a subordinate clause.
   • Indirekta frågor — om, var, vad, vad somAsk a question inside a sentence with om, a question word, or vad som and vem som.
   • Relativsatser 2 — vilket, vars, där; preposition sistUse vilket, vars and där, and put the preposition at the end of a som-clause.
   • Bisats i bisatsBuild a sentence where one subordinate clause sits inside another.

3. Week 3 Betoning i sats och ljud

   Emphasis in the sentence and in the sound

   • Fundament och informationsstrukturChoose what goes first in a sentence so a text flows the way a Swedish reader expects.
   • Utbrytning och presentering — Det var Anna som… / Det sitter en man…Single one element out with det var ... som, and introduce something new with det plus a position verb.
   • Uttal 6: ordaccent och satsmelodiHear the two word accents and shape the melody of a Swedish sentence.

4. Week 4 Ordbildning och ordförråd

   Word formation and vocabulary

   • Sammansatta ordRead and build compound words from their parts.
   • Prefix, suffix och att gissa betydelseRecognise the common prefixes and suffixes, and guess a new word from its parts and its context.
   • Vanliga kollokationerUse the word pairs that go together in Swedish, and avoid the ones translated from your own language.

5. Week 5 Partikelverb och prepositionsverb

   Particle verbs and verbs with a fixed preposition

   • Partikelverb 1: betoning och betydelseskillnadHear the stressed particle and know how it changes the verb's meaning.
   • Partikelverb 2: vanliga lösa partiklarUse the everyday particle verbs of home, work and technology.
   • Verb med fast prepositionPair the verbs that take a fixed preposition with the right one.

6. Week 6 Particip och passiv

   Participles and the passive

   • Perfekt particip — stängd, stängt, stängdaForm the past participle from the supine and make it agree like an adjective.
   • s-passivForm the s-passive in every tense and say who did it with av.
   • bli-passiv och vara-passivChoose between the s-passive, bli plus participle and vara plus participle.
   • Aktiv eller passiv — i instruktioner och bruksanvisningarRead and write instructions, and choose active or passive on purpose.

7. Week 7 Medier och information

   Media and information

   • Nyhetsspråk och rubrikgrammatikRead the compressed grammar of headlines and the fixed verbs of news language.
   • Översiktsläsning och sökläsningSkim a text for what it is about and scan it for the one detail you need.
   • Sammanfatta med egna ordSummarize a text or a talk in your own words, short and in order.
   • KällkritikJudge whether a source can be trusted, and say why.

8. Week 8 Känslor och relationer

   Feelings and relationships

   • Känsloord och relationerTalk about how you feel and about the people in your life.
   • Hantera konflikt och missförståndSort out a misunderstanding and handle a conflict without making it worse.
   • Be om ursäkt, klaga och framföra önskemålApologize properly, make a complaint, and say what you would like instead.

9. Week 9 Studier och jobb

   Studies and work

   • Det svenska utbildningssystemetKnow how the Swedish education system is built and talk about your own path through it.
   • Strukturerat skrivande med sambandsordBind a text together with linking words that show addition, contrast, cause and order.
   • Formellt mejl till myndighet, skola och arbetsgivareWrite a formal mail that gets an answer from an authority, a school or an employer.
   • Anställningsintervju 1 — berätta om sig själv och sin erfarenhetPresent yourself and your experience in a job interview.
   • Muntlig presentationGive a short structured talk with a beginning, a middle and an end.

10. Week 10 Samhälle och rättigheter

    Society and rights

    • Det politiska systemet och valExplain how Sweden is governed and how elections work, and talk about them.
    • VälfärdssystemetKnow what the welfare system gives and takes, and talk about it.
    • Rättigheter i arbetslivet, facket och kollektivavtalKnow your rights and duties at work and where to turn when they are not respected.
    • Förskola och skola 2 — utvecklingssamtalTake part in a school development talk about your child.
    • Hyreskontrakt och vardagsavtalRead a rental contract and the everyday contracts for phone, gym and streaming, and know what you sign.

11. Week 11 Resor och natur

    Travel and nature, and a review of B1

    • Planera och boka en resaPlan a trip, book tickets and accommodation, and handle a change of plans.
    • Sveriges geografi och regionerTalk about Sweden's regions, landscapes and how they differ.
    • Allemansrätten och friluftslivKnow the right of public access and the outdoor culture that comes with it.
    • Repetition och nivåtest B1Review the rules that carry B1 and show that you can use them together before SFI kurs D and the national test.