It’s official! After 22 weeks in Swedish as a Second Language and Civics (Svenska som Andra Språk och Samhällskunskap), I’ve made it! – 18 weeks early and with the highest grade for the course (A)!
In January I wrote a short comparison of SAS and SFI (Here) and six months later here I am telling you about the end!
One thing that I learned is that there are two options for S.A.S: Komvux and Learnia, which are very different. My experience is based off of Kumvux, which I found to be much more rewarding. Learnia goes by much quicker (20 weeks) with less/no assignments, no tests, and hardly any teacher interaction.
S.A.S. typically takes 40 weeks, that’s ten weeks for every course (E, F, G, H which each include two chapters) but anyone can go faster or slower depending on how much work they do. Having class 12 hours a week and studying an additional 15 hours a week let me go through it quickly (hence my infrequent blog updates lately). There is a test at the end of each chapter, and a bunch of assignments in between ranging from simple questions to book reports and essays.
Even though there are less formal lessons from the teachers when compared to SFI, and more “egen arbete” (Own work) I felt I learned a lot because the teachers instead give more one on one time to review your tests and anything you write, focusing on your specific problems. My work had drastically improved by the time I got to the last course, even being excused from a whole chapter because the teacher thought my level was beyond it at 20 weeks into the program, which gave me more time to focus on my final assignment.
My last few assignments in the course included a seven minute speech and a power point presentation in Swedish on a topic of our own choosing without the use of notes (I spoke about the benefits of running), an in depth short story analysis, a research paper from a limited choice of topics (I wrote nine pages on Norse Mythology/Religion), and a final exam.
From my final research paper: “You have written a work that meets all the requirements on a ground level and a little extra. You have chosen relative facts, detailed facts, done comparisons, checked sources and structured the work in an easy to understand way. The reading was interesting! The language is fantastically good with a rich vocabulary and very good grammatical structure… simply a brilliantly good work that gets the highest grade: A. Good job!”
Now I get to enjoy my vacation, until I start my next step in August: SWEDISH HIGH SCHOOL. (Well, high school level work, anyway)
Upcoming updates:
Something Swedish in NYC
Video: Studenten (Swedish graduation)
Video: National Dag (Sweden’s National Day)
Video: Midsummer (Sweden’s most beloved holiday)