ENGLISH
1st year
Five periods per week
Intensive reading:
Students read a selection of texts from various sources with particular emphasis on
vocabulary building and reading comprehension.
Extensive reading:
A selection of short stories is read and discussed in class.
Two novels (one each term), Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and The Hobbit by J.R.R.
Tolkien, are read and discussed in class.
Grammar:
Grammar Practice for Upper Intermediate Students (Longman) and English Vocabulary in
Use (CUP) are used systematically throughout the school year
Use of language:
Weekly exercises in translation from Icelandic into English as well as other written and oral
assignments.
2nd year
Five periods per week
Intensive reading:
Students read a selection of texts from various sources with particular emphasis on
vocabulary building and reading comprehension.
Literature:
Students read a selection of poetry and prose from the book Chapter and Verse (OUP).
Extensive reading:
A selection of short stories is read and discussed in class.
Two novels, Animal Farm by George Orwell and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by
Douglas Adams and a play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, are read and
discussed in class.
Grammar:
Students continue with Grammar Practice for Upper Intermediate Students (Longman) and
English Vocabulary in Use (CUP) from the first year.
Use of language:
Weekly exercises in translation from Icelandic into English as well as other written and oral
assignmnets.
3rd year
Five periods per week.
Intensive reading:
Students read a selection of texts from various sources with particular emphasis on
vocabulary and word building.
Literature:
Students read a selection of 18th and 19th century poetry and prose (e.g. Blake, Austen,
Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Dickens, Tennyson, Dickinson, Whitman, Rosenberg, Owen,
etc.). The texts used are taken from an anthology of British and American literature, Past into
Present (Longman).
Extensive reading:
A selection of short stories is read and discussed in class.
A novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and a play, Death of a Salesman by Arthur
Miller, are read and discussed in class.
Students are expected to write an essay on a novel of their own choice.
Students are encouraged to read English in their own time.
Grammar:
Students do selected exercises in grammar and vocabulary.
Use of language:
Translations from Icelandic into English as well as other written and oral assignments.
4th year
Five periods per week.
Intensive reading:
Students read a selection of texts from various sources with particular emphasis on
vocabulary and word building. These include passages from subjects like psychology,
philosophy, political science, anthropology etc. A brief history of the English language is
included and tested separately.
Literature:
Students read a selection of poetry and prose ranging from Old English poetry (in translation)
and Chaucer (original) to 18th century prose.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare is studied in detail.
Extensive reading:
A selection of short stories is read and discussed in class.
Students are expected to write an essay on a novel of their own choice.
Furthermore, students are encouraged to read English in their own time.
Use of language
Weekly exercises in translation from Icelandic into English as well as other written and oral
assignments.
The final examination consists of:
A. 1. A written examination (1 1/2 hours) consisting of:
a) translation from English into Icelandic,
b) reading comprehension,
c) Macbeth.
2. An oral examination (20-30 min. per student).
B. Unseen: A written examination (three hours) consisting of:
a) an unseen text for translation from Icelandic into English,
b) an essay (a choice between three or four topics).