Online Intermediate Swedish at the University of Melbourne
Thank you for your enquiry about studying Swedish online at the University of
Melbourne. From 2008 both our intermediate level language subjects Swedish
Language and Culture 2A (semester 1, subject code: 126-064) and Swedish
Language and Culture 2B (semester 2, subject code 126-065) will be available
for online study as well as on campus. If you wish to complete either of these
subjects online you should contact the subject co-ordinator Catrin Norrby by
email catrinn@unimelb.edu.au prior to commencement of semester.
Prerequisites and time commitment
For enrolment in Swedish Language and Culture 2A you need to have completed
Beginners Swedish or equivalent (approx. 100 hrs of tuition and/or completion of
a beginners textbook and exercise book, such as: På svenska published by
Folkuniversitetes förlag, or Svenska utifrån published by The Swedish Institute).
For enrolment in Swedish Language and Culture 2B you need to have completed
Swedish Language and Culture 2A or equivalent. If you are unsure about your
level, please contact the subject coordinator.
Each subject is designed to equal four hours of language classes per week. In
addition to that you need to make some time for the completion of assignments
and participation in the Discussion Forum (our virtual classroom). As a general
guide, expect to spend 2-3 hours a week on such activities. However, learning is
an individual experience and people have varying language backgrounds so it is
difficult to give an exact number of hours you would spend per week. If you find
that you spend more than 8 hours per week, you should contact the subject
coordinator for advice.
Who can enrol in these subjects?
Swedish Language and Culture 2A and 2B can be included as elective subjects
in an Australian university degree through cross-institutional enrolment (subject
to approval from your home institution).
Both subjects are also available to the general public through CAP (Community
Access programme). If you enrol through CAP you pay an upfront fee. You have
the option of enrolling either as an assessed or non-assessed student. If you
choose to take it as non-assessed the fee is lower, but you don't get assessed of
course. For more information on enrolment procedures and CAP-fees for 2008,
please go to:http://www.arts.unimelb.edu.au/community/programs or phone +61
(0)3 8344 88 44. (The CAP fee in 2007 is $1075 per subject for the assessed
option and $556 for the non-assessed option.) If you belong to the Arts Alumni
you get a $100 reduction of fees per semester.
CAP students please note: You need to pay your fee and
complete your enrolment early enough to ensure that you will
be able to access the subject site from day one of the semester.
Materials
All material for each subject is provided online, so you don’t have to purchase
anything. It is however recommended that you purchase or borrow a basic
Swedish grammar (eg. Swedish: an essential grammar by Philip Holmes and Ian
Hinchcliffe. Routledge, 1997) and a dictionary (the best one for speakers of
English is: Swedish Dictionary. English-Swedish, Swedish-English, published by
Routledge).
Semester 1 subject contents – an overview
All materials and exercises will be available online to enrolled students. Semester
1 consists of 8 units, each structured around a certain theme (eg Travel, Food,
Traditions, Childhood, Sports and Leisure…). Each unit has the following
components:
TEXTS:
 An introductory text introduces the theme of the unit using basic and
familiar vocabulary.
 A focus text introduces new vocabulary and grammar and deals with the
theme in more depth.
 Both the introductory and focus texts are annotated: difficult words are
explained in Vocabulary notes and words that describe something typically
Swedish are explained in Cultural notes. The notes pop up when you
scroll over such words.
 Both the introductory and focus texts have been recorded in a professional
studio so that you can listen to the texts. All speakers are native speakers
of Swedish.
 Background reading is provided by current and topical links to Swedish
websites where you can explore the theme of the unit further.
READING COMPREHENSION:
 A Multiple choice reading comprehension test on your basic
understanding of the texts of the theme. You get automatic feedback and
can take the test as many times as you like.
 A reading comprehension task with written answers in Swedish checking
more in-depth understanding of the texts of the theme. Some of these you
submit for assessment to your teacher.
LISTENING COMPREHENSION:
 A multiple choice listening comprehension test based on short everyday
conversations that are related to the theme of the unit. For most of these
tests you get automatic feedback, and you can do them as many times as
you like, but a few are submitted to the teacher for assessment.


A yes/no choice listening comprehension test based on brief accounts or
narratives that deal with the theme of the unit. You get automatic feedback
and take the test as many times as you like.
All listening exercises have been recorded in a professional studio using
many native speakers of Swedish. There are both male and female
speakers and they come from different regions of Sweden so you will be
exposed to different accents. In addition, a few near-native speakers are
included. (Those are people who have lived in Sweden for a long time and
have studied the language to an advanced level.)
GRAMMAR:
 Each unit introduces a couple of grammar points. Some will be familiar
(revision of what is usually covered at the beginners level), and some will
be new. All grammar explanations are brief and designed to be as simple
as possible.
 All grammar explanations are followed by grammar exercises with
automatic feedback. You can do these exercises as many times as you
like.
VOCABULARY:
 There are several vocabulary exercises which practise the central
vocabulary of the units. You check your answers easily with the automatic
feedback feature and can go back to the exercises at any time.
WEB TASKS:
 Exploratory tasks where you search the web for information on a thematic
topic and write it up in Swedish. You submit a number of these for
assessment.
 Negotiation tasks where you – if possible – work with another student and
negotite for information. You are provided with suitable links to websites
and based on a certain scenario you have to make decisions. For
example, in Unit 1 (Travel) the negotiation task consists of finding a travel
destination, a hotel etc. within a budget. Sometimes you will get role
cards, which tells you how to act.
 Discussion tasks are provided for some units which lend themselves to
discussions (also see below)
PICTURES:
 Each unit is illustrated by many photo images. These are not simply
decorations but serve an instructive purpose. All pictures were taken in
Sweden and demonstrate many aspects of the country.
RESOURCES:
 There are many useful links to websites such as: newspapers, online
dictionary, radio and tv programmes and much more.
‘CLASSROOM’ ACTIVITIES AND SUPPORT:
 A virtual classroom provides a discussion forum where students and
teacher ‘meet’ to discuss various topics. Some are simple, others more
demanding as they deal with current issues in Swedish society
(Discussion tasks).
 Chat is provided so you can be online with your fellow students (and
sometimes teacher)
 Contact with your teacher – each week your teacher has an office hour
when s/he will answer emails or phone queries. In most cases your
teacher will be able to reply to email questions within a day.
Further Information
I hope this information is of help. If you have any further questions at this point,
please don't hesitate ringing or emailing me.
Best wishes,
Catrin Norrby
Convenor of Swedish
School of Languages and Linguistics
University of Melbourne
Parkville VIC 3010
Australia
Ph: +61 (0)383445207, email: catrinn@unimelb.edu.au
See also the website of the School of Languages and Linguistics for information:
http://www.languages.unimelb.edu.au