Swedish B2: work, debate and the news in Swedish

Every week of B2

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 Grammatisk finslipning

   Grammatical fine-tuning

   • Prepositioner — idiomatisk precisionChoose the preposition a native speaker would, in the cases no rule predicts.
   • NominaliseringTurn verbs and adjectives into nouns to write in a formal, compact register.
   • Presens particip och participfraser — ett växande problemForm the present participle and use participle phrases to pack a sentence.
   • Konditionalis: skulle, hade kunnat, voreExpress conditions, hypotheticals and regrets with skulle, the pluperfect and vore.

2. Week 2 Stilnivå och register

   Style and register

   • Formellt och informellt språkRecognise the markers of formal and informal Swedish and choose the right level for the occasion.
   • Talspråk och skriftspråk — sa/sade, ska/skallKnow which spoken forms are accepted in writing and which never are.
   • Garderingar och artighet i yrkesspråkSoften, hedge and be polite the way Swedish workplaces expect.
   • Skriva om en text till en annan stilnivåRewrite a text up or down the register scale, step by step.

3. Week 3 Svenska i arbetslivet

   Swedish at work

   • Mejlkonventioner i arbetslivetWrite and answer work mails with the conventions Swedish colleagues expect.
   • Möten: dagordning, turtagning, avbrottTake part in a Swedish meeting: follow the agenda, take the floor, interrupt politely and land decisions.
   • Presentationer med bildstödGive a presentation with slides that carries an audience through an argument.
   • Anställningsintervju 2 — svåra frågor, löneanspråk, egna frågorHandle the hard questions of a job interview, name a salary, and ask sharp questions of your own.

4. Week 4 Argumentation

   Argumentation

   • Strukturera en argumenterande textBuild an argumentative text with a thesis, supported arguments and a conclusion.
   • Avancerade sambandsord och textbindningBind an argument together with the connectors of formal written Swedish.
   • Motargument och medgivandeConcede a point and then counter it, so the argument sounds fair and wins anyway.
   • Skriva en debattartikelWrite an opinion piece with a headline, a hook and a call to action.

5. Week 5 Att lyssna i naturligt tempo

   Listening at natural speed

   • Reduktioner i snabbt talHear the reductions and assimilations of fast natural speech and map them back to the words.
   • Poddar och radioFind and follow Swedish podcasts and radio, and talk about what you heard.
   • Film, tv och ungdomsspråkFollow Swedish film and television and understand the slang of the young.
   • Anteckna från föreläsningar och mötenTake notes from a lecture or a meeting fast enough to keep up and clear enough to use.

6. Week 6 Idiom och nyans

   Idiom and nuance

   • Vanliga idiomatiska uttryckUse the idioms Swedes actually use, in the right situation and register.
   • Humor, ironi och kulturella referenserCatch Swedish irony and understatement, and the shared references behind the jokes.
   • Nyansskillnader mellan närliggande ordChoose between near-synonyms by degree, register and what they are used about.

7. Week 7 Specialiserade områden

   Specialised fields

   • Myndighetssvenska och juridiskt språkRead a decision from an authority and the language of law, and act on it.
   • Ekonomi och avtalHandle the language of money and agreements at work and at home.
   • Strategier för fackspråkWork out a technical or professional text with the strategies that transfer between fields.
   • Fördjupad vårdsvenskaManage a healthcare conversation in depth, as a patient or as a relative.

8. Week 8 Samtidsfrågor

   Current issues, and a review of B2

   • Miljö och hållbarhetDiscuss the environment and sustainability with the vocabulary of the Swedish debate.
   • Migration och integrationDiscuss migration and integration constructively, from your own experience and from the debate.
   • JämställdhetDiscuss gender equality in Sweden and compare it with what you know from elsewhere.
   • Repetition och nivåtest B2Review the tools that carry B2 and show that you can use them together.