What are Swedish lessons online with Swedish Made Easy like? How do we work, and what material do we use? How can you best prepare for your Swedish lesson online?
Our Swedish lessons online
Our lessons usually include the following:
- brief improvised conversation (to get used to real-life conversations)
- going through homework together (to give you thorough feedback on your homework and a chance for you to ask questions if anything is unclear)
- working through course material together
- new homework being given
What a Swedish lesson online can also include
Sometimes, some of these areas may be given more focus than others, but generally we balance our teaching between these aspects. We also focus on all 4 core skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing), and we can cater for all levels (from A1 to C2).
We can also focus on very particular aspects, if a student needs to, such as writing CV’s, preparing for job interviews or presentations, or a specific core skill that needs extra attention, for example speaking confidence, pronunciation, or giving feedback on written material.
We generally use course books like Rivstart, Form i fokus and Teach Yourself Complete Swedish. Click here for a list of the course material we tend to use.
A note on homework
It is important that you do your homework before the next Swedish lesson online, if you want to progress your Swedish.
It is of course fine to not do any homework, but you then need to accept that your progress will be significantly slower. This is why we always recommend getting used to doing homework after every Swedish lesson. This is the way for you to get more for your money!
Interaction and contact are at a premium if you are self-studying, so try to stay focused to make the most out of your paid lessons.
You need to send your homework to your teacher before the next lesson. We encourage students to write their homework into template documents, which you will get access to when you start with us. After every third chapter in the course book Rivstart, you will do a diagnostic test to make sure you are ready to move further.
You also need to set aside some time to revise what you have already learnt. We recommend to budget approximately 2 hours after one Skype lesson. It’s good practice to break the revision into smaller chunks. This could for example be:
- 30 min doing your homework for next lesson
- 15-30 min practicing with flashcards the new words you have learnt during the lesson (Swedish Made Easy have several sets already available on Quizlet, but it’s also good to create your own)
- 15-30 min practicing with flashcards words you have learnt previously
- 30 min revising exercises you have done previously (for ex creating sentences using old vocabulary, recording your voice when you speak)
How to prepare for a Swedish lesson online
- Do your homework
- Research any vocabulary that you would like to talk about during the improvised conversation
- Note down any questions or difficulties that have arisen from your homework or other self-practice, and ask us during the lesson
- Make sure that your internet/wifi is quick enough and any IT equipment is working (headphones, computers, iPads, etc). Ideally have a Plan B if something stops working.
- Make sure you are in a space where you can concentrate. It’s ok to sit in a space where there are others around, but please make sure they don’t interrupt the session!
General Ground Rules
No matter where you are at in your journey with language tutors, these five tips are going to make your life better and easier when you’re working with a language tutor.
- Respect your language tutor and their time
- Be open and tell them about yourself
- Your situation
- Your experience
- Ask advice, they’re an expert!
- Budget for a few months, budget for your next language goal (time budget, financial budget)
- Decide how you want corrections to work (Do you want them to stop you immediately if you say something incorrect? Or is it more important for you to build your flow and make yourself understood?)
Finally: TRUST THE PROCESS
- Don’t doubt yourself too much (we’ll get back to this point in future blog posts)
- You won’t get significantly better just through a few tutoring sessions, but you will move forward towards your goals
- Be realistic about the time it takes to learn Swedish to different levels (see our other blog post about this). You cannot become fluent in a couple of months.
- Don’t expect the world – you cannot buy knowledge – only help, support and advice
