SFI: the classroom words

Swedish for immigrants

Tip: Svenska för invandrare; lower case, said 'ess-eff-ee'.

a course

Tip: SFI has courses A, B, C, D.

a study path

Tip: Studieväg 1, 2 or 3, based on your schooling.

a teacher

Tip: Same word for any teacher.

a student (adult)

Tip: At SFI and school; 'student' is university.

a classmate

Tip: 'kompis' = mate.

the classroom

Tip: 'ett klassrum'.

the timetable

Tip: 'Vad har vi på schemat idag?'

a lesson

Tip: 'Lektionen börjar klockan nio.'

a break

Tip: Not 'paus' — at school it's 'rast'.

homework

Tip: Usually plural: 'Har vi läxor?'

an exercise

Tip: 'Gör övning fem.'

a textbook

Tip: Or 'boken'.

a page

Tip: 'Slå upp sidan tolv' = turn to page twelve.

a word list

Tip: Also = glossary.

grammar

Tip: 'Ordföljd' (word order) is the SFI classic.

pronunciation

Tip: 'ett uttal'; 'uttala' = to pronounce.

a test

Tip: The big one is 'nationella provet'.

a grade

Tip: SFI grades A–F; E is a pass.

a certificate

Tip: 'Kursintyg' = course certificate.

to sign up

Tip: 'Anmäla sig till sfi' — at the municipality.

to attend

Tip: 'Närvaro' = attendance; they track it.

absent

Tip: 'Frånvaro' = absence.

to practise

Tip: 'Öva på' + the thing.

to repeat

Tip: 'Kan du upprepa?' = can you repeat that?

to understand

Tip: 'Jag förstår inte' — your most useful sentence.

to mean

Tip: 'Vad betyder det?' = what does it mean?

to spell

Tip: 'Hur stavar man...?'

a level

Tip: 'Vilken nivå är du på?'

adult education

Tip: Where you go after SFI D: kommunal vuxenutbildning.