Swedish Intensive Course in Berlin

For learners with no prior knowledge of Swedish

In this course you start from scratch and build the foundations of the Swedish language. You learn the alphabet with its three extra letters å, ä and ö, introduce yourself and handle your first everyday dialogues. From the very beginning you practise the melodic rhythm and the core rule that the verb always comes second in a statement (V2 word order). A great advantage for beginners: Swedish verbs are not conjugated by person – ‚jag är, du är, hon är' stays the same throughout.

For learners with a solid A1 foundation

At this level you expand your vocabulary and cope with typical everyday situations such as shopping, housing and travel. You learn the Swedish peculiarity of attaching the definite article to the end of the word – ‚en bok' becomes ‚boken' and ‚ett hus' becomes ‚huset'. You form the past tense (preteritum) and master the various plural patterns. First subordinate clauses and adjective agreement (en röd bil, ett rött hus) are added as well.

For learners who can already get by in everyday situations

At the intermediate level you noticeably refine your pronunciation and sentence structure. You practise the musical Swedish pitch accent (Accent 1 and Accent 2), which distinguishes word pairs like ‚anden' (the duck) and ‚anden' (the spirit) by tone alone. In syntax you learn the BIFF rule: in a subordinate clause, ‚inte' comes before the finite verb. You also tackle the notorious Swedish ‚sje' sound in words like ‚sjö' and ‚station'.

For advanced learners with secure everyday communication

At this level you communicate fluently and in a differentiated way on more abstract topics. You master the many Swedish particle verbs (‚tycka om', ‚komma ihåg', ‚stänga av'), whose meaning only emerges together with the particle. The s-passive (‚dörren öppnas') and more complex clause structures become second nature. You also sharpen the distinction between the ‚sje' sound and the ‚tje' sound (‚kött', ‚tjugo').

For very advanced learners aiming for nuance and precision

At the advanced level you express yourself almost effortlessly and with stylistic precision. You command the fine difference between word pairs distinguished only by pitch accent (‚tomten' as the plot of land vs. ‚tomten' as the Christmas gnome) and consciously choose between formal and casual register. Idioms, set phrases and the typically Swedish understated tone become instinctive. You understand demanding texts and follow fast, nuanced conversations.

For learners aiming for near-native command

At the highest level you use Swedish almost like a native speaker – precise, idiomatic and stylistically flexible. You recognise regional varieties, from standard Swedish (rikssvenska) through the singing Scanian (skånska) to Finland Swedish, and adapt your prosody to the situation. Fine shades of meaning, wordplay and dry Swedish humour no longer pose any difficulty. You write and deliver publication-ready texts and talks on any subject.