Introduction to the Swedish society, language and culture

This course puts emphasis on everyday life in Sweden and aims to give the students basic, “survival” skills in the Swedish language as well as an introduction to Swedish history, culture and modern society. The course offers different tracks, allowing the students to decide themselves what they want to achieve and how much time they want to devote to the course.

Eligible students

Degree-seeking fee-paying students doing their first semester at KTH, including scholarship holders within this category, as well as students participating in a Study Abroad Programme, are guaranteed a spot in the course.

After finishing the Introductory course, students belonging to this category have the possibility to apply for two more courses in the Swedish language: Swedish for advanced beginners during the second semester at KTH and Professional Swedish during the third semester.

Other international students are welcome to take the introductory course, but are not eligible for the two courses Swedish for advanced beginners and Professional Swedish. Students in this category wanting to learn more Swedish should instead find out about their possibilities to take our credit-giving courses in Swedish .

Course design

The course if offered every autumn semester (period 1 and 2), and starts in mid-September. Participation is free of charge and the course does not give grades or academic credits.

Since not all students have the same goals and amount of time, the course is divided into three parts: a short introduction, followed by two different tracks. The students can participate in all three parts, or only one or two of them.

A short introduction to the Swedish language

For students who don’t have time to take a whole course but still want to the learn the basics of the Swedish language (for example to say ”thank you” and how to pronounce those strange letters å, ä, ö), we offer two introductory lectures in September. The students who sign up for the lectures will also get access to an online self study course so that they can continue learning Swedish in their own pace after the introduction.

Each lecture is offered twice

Lecture 1: Monday 11 September 17:00-19:00

or Friday 15 September 15:00-17:00

Lecture 2: Monday 18 September 17:00-19:00

or Friday 22 September 15:00-17:00

Two tracks

For students who want to learn more about the Swedish language and society after the introduction, we offer two tracks: Swedish language and Swedish culture. The student can choose to participate in one or both of the tracks.

Track 1 is a mix of lectures on KTH campus and interactive online meetings (all in all 10 meetings), taking place on Mondays at 17.15-18.30, starting from September 25 Students will also be given home assignments and a written test (online) in the end of the course. Focus is on handling everyday situations in Swedish, such as going to the supermarket and introducing yourselves, but the course also aims to give the students basic knowledge in Swedish grammar and pronunciation. After finishing the course, the student should have reached the level A1 in Swedish, according to the CEFR scale.

On Track 2, we give a series of lectures on relevant aspects of the Swedish culture, history and modern society. The lectures will take place on Tuesdays at 17.15-18.30 every second week, starting on October 3. The students are also offered study visits to museums and to the Swedish parliament.

Application

The application for the autumn semester 2023 is closed.

Contact

For questions about application, eligibility, etc, contact: language-communication@kth.se

For questions about course content etc, contact Karin Borell kborell@kth.se

After this course

Fee-paying Master's students who have finished Track 1 are eligible for the next course, Swedish for advanced beginners in Spring 2024. During their third semester at KTH, these students may continue with the third course, Professional Swedish .

Other international Master's students wanting to learn more Swedish should instead find out about their possibilities to take our credit-giving courses in Swedish .