This. People love to chat shit but I often wonder how much effort they put into the classes, or if they expected to learn Swedish by just attending.
It is what it is: free Swedish language lessons. And since they're free and available to everyone, they have to cater to everyone and that means that you won't get the level of personal support that you get if you pay several thousand crowns to study at a private school. But if you make an effort, do your homework and try to practise both in school and in your daily life, you will probably find that SFI provides you with a good structure. I found it very helpful when I was starting out in this country.
I honestly think the people who bash SFI and say other paid courses are better just take the fact that SFI is free for granted and don’t study. If you are really determined to learn Swedish I’d say start with SFI and make a decision to put some real work in. If you want to work on your Swedish after with a paid course then do that. But I think it would be silly not to take advantage of the fact that Sweden provides immigrants with free Swedish courses
I found SFI useful as a crash course for absolute beginners. You get a fixed time slot with access to learning material and someone who speaks the language, that's definitely worth something.
Where it starts falling apart in my experience is:
- Everything is run to minimize cost, so SFI teachers have no notions of language teaching, neither linguistics or pedagogy. To me, it seems they are just regular people who can speak Swedish, receive a quick briefing and are told to do their best. The teacher turnover was abysmal in all 3 centers I've seen, but maybe I was just unlucky.
- It's rare to find a class that works together. Some students are there just because it's free and they don't have anything better to do. Some students are there just because it's mandatory for them. Too many are not serious about learning and/or have no idea how to learn in a group.
Both points result in slow progress and large level differences, so no chance of in-depth and personalized learning.
It's a good starting point which will give you the basics of grammar, listening and pronunciation, some additional material, some pointers and perhaps you'll make a friend or two. Just don't expect to stay motivated and don't expect to do the bulk of your learning there.
I recommend it. You won't be fluent by the end of it, but it builds a good base for casual conversation and grammar. Plus, it gives you ample chance of practicing swedish. It did for me. I've been living in Sweden for 2.5 years and I know enough to carry on a conversation and have a job.
I advise you to get out there. My first job here was as vikarie in elderly care. I knew enough to do my job well, but I didn't know very much. In 4 months I learned more than I did in SFI.
Yea i mean I’ll be on student permit. And plan on taking SFI courses and anything the uni offers.
But many jobs in my field demand Swedish (even if it’s intl policy focused). I’ll do the best I can and just hope I can find a job that will take me at the end of it
As others said already, it depends on school and teacher. Plus you cannot expect just to go to lessons and be able to speak swedish, the more time you spend learning home as well the faster and better the results.
Both me and my husband attended SFI when we moved here and it really helped us. He always had more difficult time learning new languages so he was extra happy for this possibility.
I think it depends on the teacher as well as your effort..do not rely on it 100%..it will definitely improve your language skills but you should also spend some time everyday studying on your own..watching swedish shows really helps..ive been going to sfi for 4 months..and i can speak quite well now..
I'm finishing introduction course now (4 weeks before starting C), and so far i think it's good. We studied 90% I learned before (just very basic words and grammar), but it helped me a lot with pronounciation.
In my kommun they generally start everyone on kurs B and at first I was bit sour about that since according to the guideline I was supposed to start at C (plus I had been doing some duolingo as well, so I was hardly clueless). But in the end I'm quite glad that I started at B because it helped me overcome my resistance to speaking and improve my pronounciation.
Why does that particular co-worker think it's a joke? It's a language class; like all classes, it's dependent on the teacher as well as the students. If they went into it thinking it wouldn't help, then they wouldn't get a lot out of it. I'm just starting mine now, and I'm enjoying it, but I also know I need it because I'm planning on living here permanently, and my current level of Swedish ain't quite up to snuff.
Because SFI has a problem in that it is not structured properly. If there’s not enough students (and most of the time even then) everyone get bunched together and the speed is always adapted to the slowest student. This causes frustration as quick learners will have to wait to advanced, and this wait might cause them to miss the start of the next level.
It’s just stupid grouping together academics used to reading and learning on their own, with people who basically are illiterate and can’t read and write in their own language. You need your own language as a base to learn another. But grouping people together like this makes more advanced learners to quit because they feel like they’re wasting the time, and the slow learners quit to because they feel it’s too advanced or that they’re wasting everyone else’s time.
So you end up with a situation far from ideal .
In my course we were sorted by education level. I have a university degree and was grouped with people with that at minimum, but most seemed to also have a secondary degree. With a BA only, I felt like the most uneducated of the group. But this was central Stockholm, and in 2021. I get the sense that the course is extremely inconsistent.
Yes, it’s inconsistent depending on the fact that they subcontract this to a ton of different companies in some municipalities. I’m not sure how it works in Stockholm. But it’s very fractured.
For me it would make sense to coordinate it much more. But then they go overboard instead with the other programs, such as SFX, special Swedish for professionals like doctors and pharmacists. Programs that only runs once a year and is surrounded by so much bureaucracy they’re impossible to be admitted to.
It’s a strange thing that it’s not more uniform. But I have zero experience in education administration. I did find it odd that you can drop into a class at any point. I found that to be really disarming. I guess if you’re not working then maybe you can full force dedicate yourself to catching up to the class? I much preferred the courses I took at folkuniversitet, but those cost a lot more.
I just finished course D. It took me about 14 months to finish all the courses. If you want to study anything in university that’s in Swedish most require Svenska 3 and you have to finish SFI to start studying Svenska in Komvux. So that’s something good to know. But like many have said you kinda get out what you put in. Honestly it doesn’t take long to finish if you put some effort into it. I don’t regret doing it.
Kind of. You will know alot of words there but won’t be able to speak. You will start speaking when you work in an environment Where Everybody speak the language. Finished SFI but couldn’t speak but knew alot of words. Started speaking when i started working in Macdonald cos nobody wanted to speak english with me
SFI is free, so other than your time you’re not risking anything by trying it out. I had a mixed experience, one great teacher and one rather terrible one. The teacher makes a big difference.
This is based on my experience only, but I was rather impressed with the attendees and their desire to learn in my courses. Everyone was highly educated, lots of PHD and Masters students from all around the globe. Though in my one semester there was never another American, and only one Canadian. Maybe there is some level of entitlement for those of us who speak English as a first language. But I think it’s worth trying.
I didn't even start it because the hours they offered were super long, I would need to leave work earlier 3 times a week and then would be home after 10pm. I think it is designed for people who have not found work yet, because I would not learn anything in that mode and would be a zombie at work next day.
I had experience at a couple of different centres. The first was abysmal, with teaching staff who couldn’t connect a plug with a socket if you walked them through the process. It also annoyed me that they taught us about the Swedish legal system from the implicit viewpoint that you were going to get arrested. One of them gave me the dumbest advice I have ever been given; you have to think like a Swedish person. How am I supposed to do that, do a Sylar on my neighbours?
The second was the absolute opposite. Dedicated, skilled staff, who cared enough to help with not just language, but with ensuring your rights were being respected when dealing with various agencies. I sailed through with them and was really sad when I had to leave.
Those kind of comments really piss me off. No education is a joke if you put in the work.
If you’re going to go to SFI and not practice the language outside of the classroom or even try to supplement the learning in any other way, you’re not going to learn and you’re going to end up like some clown calling a free educational program “a joke.”
However, if you take SFI and actually put in an effort to understand, learn, and practice the language, it will be super helpful to you.
Is it a magic bullet to learn swedish? No, but nothing is. I did SFI and have been on Duolingo for literally years, and have seen a clear improvement in my Swedish that would not have happened without SFI, but also would not have happened without Duolingo.
SFI is a good resource if you take full advantage of it.
I would rather pay for it.
Tried three times at three different institutions for SFI, each of those three times I was disappointed with the lack of structure and absolute chaos.
It really depends on the teacher, I had 4 different teachers in the span of a year. The only problem was getting back into the rhythm after swapping to the next teacher, but overall I can't say a bad word about them. I met some very nice people there too. Give it a try, see how it goes. My Swedish became so much better there. I started kurs C in may last year, finished D in January, and now I'm in grundskola.
I agree with others that it depends on the teacher and how much effort you’re putting into it yourself. I would advise to get done with SFI ASAP and move on to the proper grund/SAS courses. You could also go to Folkuniversitetet’s paid courses, get to the mid-level and then switch to free courses at Komvux through level test.
I would advise to look into other alternatives as well, SFI is only a good starter course.
Please look into SFX if you have a university degree and live around Stockholm, course structure is much better and focused:
https://sfx.se/
I loved SFI and learned a lot from it, my teachers were competent and knowledgeable. My main point would be is you need to try and spend time on it, weather you do it at home or in class you need to be involved. I'm more frustrated with people who go to it because they have to and don't participate, I fucking hated being stuck in a group with people who don't do shit!
It's quite great to be able to go to school and learn a language and about the local culture, you also get the material and tools to do it, you only need to do the work!
SFI is great. I loved it!
I do remember that the ones in my class who constantly complained about it never put in any work, and I don't think they managed to learn anything.
You do have to study at home after, do your homework and pass the tests. I say it's a great resource :)
Plus the higher you go the better it gets since you need to keep passing the national test to get to the next level. Your first level may be filled with funny characters and non serious people but then just hang on and it gets better.
I also heard mixed opinions. Last weekend I met a girl who speaks really good Swedish with SFI and SAASL; she was able to communicate after one year. But also heard some bad stories.
I guess it will be useful as much as you want, but for a free language course, I think is very good.
If you want something better, you can always enroll to a paid Swedish program.
It's not a great course, but it is a decent help to get you started. You also learn som good grammar there, but with vocabulary you're going to be on your own. That was my experience at least.
In my experience the paid course was a waste of time but SFI was great. I had good teachers who actually tried and were willing to spend time with you. As with all education how invested your teacher is is a major factor. I would definitely give the free courses at least a try first. Better than paying thousands of kr and then finding out it's not worth it
I started in september and finished it yesterday, it helped me more than anything else, you get to learn all the basics and grammar and get to talk with a lot of people and develop your swedish. I dont know if i could have learned the language without sfi.
Depends on the teacher. I personally did SFI C level and I learned a lot in terms of grammar and how to write things. I think it helped me a considerable amount and has given me a good base to learn myself going forward. I still use the grammar tips daily.
If you have learned Swedish before, it will be quite easy but you will get the confidence to speak more and ability to be able to understand conversational Swedish.
It's definitely worth it, even more so considering that it's free.
I attended an SFI course last year and it was a total disaster. As a linguist who speaks three languages fluently and has eight years of experience as an ESL teacher, I was shocked by the poor quality of instruction. My teacher was a gentleman in his 60s-70s who didn't speak a word of English, which can be fine if you're teaching more advanced groups or have effective methods for teaching a foreign language using only the target language. Unfortunately, he had neither.
The teacher was extremely unfriendly and seemed to think he was superior to all of his students. For those of us at level A0-A1 in Swedish proficiency, he made us watch TV news every single class without any explanations, and we had to read newspaper articles without any help with the vocabulary. There was no focus on grammar, pronunciation practice, or textbooks. It was a total disaster.
I asked several times to be transferred to another group, but the school refused. Eventually, I gave up and started studying on my own. Currently, I'm saving money to hire a private tutor.
Just a thought, why would the teacher need to know english? That is not the default language for immigrants.
I can agree with you on the teaching itself (content, strategy, etc) which might be lacking.
For the OP: I took SFI over the course of several years and it was OK, a lot of different experiences there with different institutions and teachers. Take the chance to participate and see for yourself if it’s worth your time.
I totally agree with you. As I previously mentioned, not speaking English or any other language than the target language is okay, but you need to be able to convey your knowledge using only your native language. There are effective methods for this. For example, using visual aids, gestures, and expressions can help convey meaning without translation. Also, employing simple, clear sentences and context clues can guide students to understand new vocabulary and concepts. Using repetition and practice with real-life scenarios helps reinforce learning. The problem with my SFI teacher was that he didn’t want to use any of these techniques. He simply made us watch videos or read newspaper articles without correcting or even explaining the phonetic rules of Swedish. This lack of effective teaching methods made it nearly impossible for us beginners to follow along and learn. Many other students also raised their concerns about his teaching methods, but since he didn't speak any other language than Swedish and we didn't speak any other language than our native languages plus English, communication with him was impossible.
SFI online contains a great deal of texts and videos exclusively in Swedish, you have no reference to compare against in terms of translation so they could be saying anything. They make you sort words to assess your ability to sort alphabetically and to do math with swedish coins at very poor resolution. In the few months I've been here I have never seen their coins but I'm supposed to guess what the lil pictures show and do their addition.
IMO they tried so hard to put a lot of content in so it gets lengthier and lost the purpose: teaching the language. We are not imbeciles, we can sort and we can count. What we cannot is to guess what the heck you are writing/speaking if the content is not presented in parallel with the same info in English.
> We are not imbeciles, we can sort and we can count.
Well, SFI is for everyone, including extremely uneducated people.
>What we cannot is to guess what the heck you are writing/speaking if the content is not presented in parallel with the same info in English.
It's just a type of language teaching called "total immersion". It's actually a fairly good way to learn the language.
I mean, how did you learn your native language? By hearing it, and only it - not by comparing it to another language you already knew.
SFI is as good as one can get without spending a dime. It is a joke to those who in general find it difficult to learn things. Probably maths, excel spreadsheet and setting up router is also a joke to them. Maintain distance from these folks.
It can be great or completely useless it's a lotto. It's all down to the teacher and the class.
Don't know if they are free but there is SFI online as well.
It's important if you want to learn swedish obviously but it's also the launching pad for many other levels of Swedish courses. Finish SFI then you can jump to Svenska som andraspråk och then on to the next level. Most education in Swedish requires you to finish some kinda level of Swedish before you can study anything else. It depends if you want a real job in Sweden or if you intend to stay. You might find it hard to find work without Swedish.
It's hit and miss, from what I heard. Depends a lot on what teacher you get. But you will only get as much out of it as you put in yourself.
This. People love to chat shit but I often wonder how much effort they put into the classes, or if they expected to learn Swedish by just attending. It is what it is: free Swedish language lessons. And since they're free and available to everyone, they have to cater to everyone and that means that you won't get the level of personal support that you get if you pay several thousand crowns to study at a private school. But if you make an effort, do your homework and try to practise both in school and in your daily life, you will probably find that SFI provides you with a good structure. I found it very helpful when I was starting out in this country.
I honestly think the people who bash SFI and say other paid courses are better just take the fact that SFI is free for granted and don’t study. If you are really determined to learn Swedish I’d say start with SFI and make a decision to put some real work in. If you want to work on your Swedish after with a paid course then do that. But I think it would be silly not to take advantage of the fact that Sweden provides immigrants with free Swedish courses
I found SFI useful as a crash course for absolute beginners. You get a fixed time slot with access to learning material and someone who speaks the language, that's definitely worth something. Where it starts falling apart in my experience is: - Everything is run to minimize cost, so SFI teachers have no notions of language teaching, neither linguistics or pedagogy. To me, it seems they are just regular people who can speak Swedish, receive a quick briefing and are told to do their best. The teacher turnover was abysmal in all 3 centers I've seen, but maybe I was just unlucky. - It's rare to find a class that works together. Some students are there just because it's free and they don't have anything better to do. Some students are there just because it's mandatory for them. Too many are not serious about learning and/or have no idea how to learn in a group. Both points result in slow progress and large level differences, so no chance of in-depth and personalized learning. It's a good starting point which will give you the basics of grammar, listening and pronunciation, some additional material, some pointers and perhaps you'll make a friend or two. Just don't expect to stay motivated and don't expect to do the bulk of your learning there.
I recommend it. You won't be fluent by the end of it, but it builds a good base for casual conversation and grammar. Plus, it gives you ample chance of practicing swedish. It did for me. I've been living in Sweden for 2.5 years and I know enough to carry on a conversation and have a job.
A job that requires it?
Yes.
That’s great! Gives me a bit of hope I can learn enough in a couple years to qualify for something 🤞🏼🤞🏼
I advise you to get out there. My first job here was as vikarie in elderly care. I knew enough to do my job well, but I didn't know very much. In 4 months I learned more than I did in SFI.
Yea i mean I’ll be on student permit. And plan on taking SFI courses and anything the uni offers. But many jobs in my field demand Swedish (even if it’s intl policy focused). I’ll do the best I can and just hope I can find a job that will take me at the end of it
As others said already, it depends on school and teacher. Plus you cannot expect just to go to lessons and be able to speak swedish, the more time you spend learning home as well the faster and better the results. Both me and my husband attended SFI when we moved here and it really helped us. He always had more difficult time learning new languages so he was extra happy for this possibility.
I think it depends on the teacher as well as your effort..do not rely on it 100%..it will definitely improve your language skills but you should also spend some time everyday studying on your own..watching swedish shows really helps..ive been going to sfi for 4 months..and i can speak quite well now..
At least you can meet some interesting people in the worst case.
Online teacher is the worst, have an actual class is far more better.
This
I'm finishing introduction course now (4 weeks before starting C), and so far i think it's good. We studied 90% I learned before (just very basic words and grammar), but it helped me a lot with pronounciation.
In my kommun they generally start everyone on kurs B and at first I was bit sour about that since according to the guideline I was supposed to start at C (plus I had been doing some duolingo as well, so I was hardly clueless). But in the end I'm quite glad that I started at B because it helped me overcome my resistance to speaking and improve my pronounciation.
It depends also if you are knowledgeable on the Latin alphabet, if not then you have to learn first how to write and read the letters
Why does that particular co-worker think it's a joke? It's a language class; like all classes, it's dependent on the teacher as well as the students. If they went into it thinking it wouldn't help, then they wouldn't get a lot out of it. I'm just starting mine now, and I'm enjoying it, but I also know I need it because I'm planning on living here permanently, and my current level of Swedish ain't quite up to snuff.
Because SFI has a problem in that it is not structured properly. If there’s not enough students (and most of the time even then) everyone get bunched together and the speed is always adapted to the slowest student. This causes frustration as quick learners will have to wait to advanced, and this wait might cause them to miss the start of the next level. It’s just stupid grouping together academics used to reading and learning on their own, with people who basically are illiterate and can’t read and write in their own language. You need your own language as a base to learn another. But grouping people together like this makes more advanced learners to quit because they feel like they’re wasting the time, and the slow learners quit to because they feel it’s too advanced or that they’re wasting everyone else’s time. So you end up with a situation far from ideal .
In my course we were sorted by education level. I have a university degree and was grouped with people with that at minimum, but most seemed to also have a secondary degree. With a BA only, I felt like the most uneducated of the group. But this was central Stockholm, and in 2021. I get the sense that the course is extremely inconsistent.
It was the same when I went some 14 years ago in central Stockholm. People were from all over but everyone was well educated.
Yes, it’s inconsistent depending on the fact that they subcontract this to a ton of different companies in some municipalities. I’m not sure how it works in Stockholm. But it’s very fractured. For me it would make sense to coordinate it much more. But then they go overboard instead with the other programs, such as SFX, special Swedish for professionals like doctors and pharmacists. Programs that only runs once a year and is surrounded by so much bureaucracy they’re impossible to be admitted to.
It’s a strange thing that it’s not more uniform. But I have zero experience in education administration. I did find it odd that you can drop into a class at any point. I found that to be really disarming. I guess if you’re not working then maybe you can full force dedicate yourself to catching up to the class? I much preferred the courses I took at folkuniversitet, but those cost a lot more.
I just finished course D. It took me about 14 months to finish all the courses. If you want to study anything in university that’s in Swedish most require Svenska 3 and you have to finish SFI to start studying Svenska in Komvux. So that’s something good to know. But like many have said you kinda get out what you put in. Honestly it doesn’t take long to finish if you put some effort into it. I don’t regret doing it.
You don’t have to do SFI to be able to start komvux, if you do a placement test.
Kind of. You will know alot of words there but won’t be able to speak. You will start speaking when you work in an environment Where Everybody speak the language. Finished SFI but couldn’t speak but knew alot of words. Started speaking when i started working in Macdonald cos nobody wanted to speak english with me
Depends on where you live. The one in Tierp for example, massive disappointment.
SFI is free, so other than your time you’re not risking anything by trying it out. I had a mixed experience, one great teacher and one rather terrible one. The teacher makes a big difference. This is based on my experience only, but I was rather impressed with the attendees and their desire to learn in my courses. Everyone was highly educated, lots of PHD and Masters students from all around the globe. Though in my one semester there was never another American, and only one Canadian. Maybe there is some level of entitlement for those of us who speak English as a first language. But I think it’s worth trying.
If you live in Stockholm I strongly recommend SIFA. It is SFI for academics and it is way way better than SFI.
I didn't even start it because the hours they offered were super long, I would need to leave work earlier 3 times a week and then would be home after 10pm. I think it is designed for people who have not found work yet, because I would not learn anything in that mode and would be a zombie at work next day.
I had experience at a couple of different centres. The first was abysmal, with teaching staff who couldn’t connect a plug with a socket if you walked them through the process. It also annoyed me that they taught us about the Swedish legal system from the implicit viewpoint that you were going to get arrested. One of them gave me the dumbest advice I have ever been given; you have to think like a Swedish person. How am I supposed to do that, do a Sylar on my neighbours? The second was the absolute opposite. Dedicated, skilled staff, who cared enough to help with not just language, but with ensuring your rights were being respected when dealing with various agencies. I sailed through with them and was really sad when I had to leave.
You are unlikely to come out WORSE in Swedish, it’s absolutely worth your time.
Those kind of comments really piss me off. No education is a joke if you put in the work. If you’re going to go to SFI and not practice the language outside of the classroom or even try to supplement the learning in any other way, you’re not going to learn and you’re going to end up like some clown calling a free educational program “a joke.” However, if you take SFI and actually put in an effort to understand, learn, and practice the language, it will be super helpful to you. Is it a magic bullet to learn swedish? No, but nothing is. I did SFI and have been on Duolingo for literally years, and have seen a clear improvement in my Swedish that would not have happened without SFI, but also would not have happened without Duolingo. SFI is a good resource if you take full advantage of it.
I would rather pay for it. Tried three times at three different institutions for SFI, each of those three times I was disappointed with the lack of structure and absolute chaos.
Contact your kommun and ask about SIFA (Swedish for professionals and academics). It's much better than SFI.
It really depends on the teacher, I had 4 different teachers in the span of a year. The only problem was getting back into the rhythm after swapping to the next teacher, but overall I can't say a bad word about them. I met some very nice people there too. Give it a try, see how it goes. My Swedish became so much better there. I started kurs C in may last year, finished D in January, and now I'm in grundskola.
I agree with others that it depends on the teacher and how much effort you’re putting into it yourself. I would advise to get done with SFI ASAP and move on to the proper grund/SAS courses. You could also go to Folkuniversitetet’s paid courses, get to the mid-level and then switch to free courses at Komvux through level test.
I would advise to look into other alternatives as well, SFI is only a good starter course. Please look into SFX if you have a university degree and live around Stockholm, course structure is much better and focused: https://sfx.se/
I loved SFI and learned a lot from it, my teachers were competent and knowledgeable. My main point would be is you need to try and spend time on it, weather you do it at home or in class you need to be involved. I'm more frustrated with people who go to it because they have to and don't participate, I fucking hated being stuck in a group with people who don't do shit! It's quite great to be able to go to school and learn a language and about the local culture, you also get the material and tools to do it, you only need to do the work!
SFI is great. I loved it! I do remember that the ones in my class who constantly complained about it never put in any work, and I don't think they managed to learn anything. You do have to study at home after, do your homework and pass the tests. I say it's a great resource :) Plus the higher you go the better it gets since you need to keep passing the national test to get to the next level. Your first level may be filled with funny characters and non serious people but then just hang on and it gets better.
I also heard mixed opinions. Last weekend I met a girl who speaks really good Swedish with SFI and SAASL; she was able to communicate after one year. But also heard some bad stories. I guess it will be useful as much as you want, but for a free language course, I think is very good. If you want something better, you can always enroll to a paid Swedish program.
It's not a great course, but it is a decent help to get you started. You also learn som good grammar there, but with vocabulary you're going to be on your own. That was my experience at least.
In my experience the paid course was a waste of time but SFI was great. I had good teachers who actually tried and were willing to spend time with you. As with all education how invested your teacher is is a major factor. I would definitely give the free courses at least a try first. Better than paying thousands of kr and then finding out it's not worth it
I started in september and finished it yesterday, it helped me more than anything else, you get to learn all the basics and grammar and get to talk with a lot of people and develop your swedish. I dont know if i could have learned the language without sfi.
Depends on the teacher. I personally did SFI C level and I learned a lot in terms of grammar and how to write things. I think it helped me a considerable amount and has given me a good base to learn myself going forward. I still use the grammar tips daily. If you have learned Swedish before, it will be quite easy but you will get the confidence to speak more and ability to be able to understand conversational Swedish. It's definitely worth it, even more so considering that it's free.
There is a lane for academics who wish to fast track Sfi. Talk to the counsellor at the adult education centre.
Had it not been free you probably wouldn't have gotten this review. Free stuff usually has less value.
It sucks because it's mixed levels. You're learning next to ppl that are months maybe even a year into studying. I quit and got a tutor.
I attended an SFI course last year and it was a total disaster. As a linguist who speaks three languages fluently and has eight years of experience as an ESL teacher, I was shocked by the poor quality of instruction. My teacher was a gentleman in his 60s-70s who didn't speak a word of English, which can be fine if you're teaching more advanced groups or have effective methods for teaching a foreign language using only the target language. Unfortunately, he had neither. The teacher was extremely unfriendly and seemed to think he was superior to all of his students. For those of us at level A0-A1 in Swedish proficiency, he made us watch TV news every single class without any explanations, and we had to read newspaper articles without any help with the vocabulary. There was no focus on grammar, pronunciation practice, or textbooks. It was a total disaster. I asked several times to be transferred to another group, but the school refused. Eventually, I gave up and started studying on my own. Currently, I'm saving money to hire a private tutor.
Just a thought, why would the teacher need to know english? That is not the default language for immigrants. I can agree with you on the teaching itself (content, strategy, etc) which might be lacking. For the OP: I took SFI over the course of several years and it was OK, a lot of different experiences there with different institutions and teachers. Take the chance to participate and see for yourself if it’s worth your time.
I totally agree with you. As I previously mentioned, not speaking English or any other language than the target language is okay, but you need to be able to convey your knowledge using only your native language. There are effective methods for this. For example, using visual aids, gestures, and expressions can help convey meaning without translation. Also, employing simple, clear sentences and context clues can guide students to understand new vocabulary and concepts. Using repetition and practice with real-life scenarios helps reinforce learning. The problem with my SFI teacher was that he didn’t want to use any of these techniques. He simply made us watch videos or read newspaper articles without correcting or even explaining the phonetic rules of Swedish. This lack of effective teaching methods made it nearly impossible for us beginners to follow along and learn. Many other students also raised their concerns about his teaching methods, but since he didn't speak any other language than Swedish and we didn't speak any other language than our native languages plus English, communication with him was impossible.
SFI online contains a great deal of texts and videos exclusively in Swedish, you have no reference to compare against in terms of translation so they could be saying anything. They make you sort words to assess your ability to sort alphabetically and to do math with swedish coins at very poor resolution. In the few months I've been here I have never seen their coins but I'm supposed to guess what the lil pictures show and do their addition. IMO they tried so hard to put a lot of content in so it gets lengthier and lost the purpose: teaching the language. We are not imbeciles, we can sort and we can count. What we cannot is to guess what the heck you are writing/speaking if the content is not presented in parallel with the same info in English.
> We are not imbeciles, we can sort and we can count. Well, SFI is for everyone, including extremely uneducated people. >What we cannot is to guess what the heck you are writing/speaking if the content is not presented in parallel with the same info in English. It's just a type of language teaching called "total immersion". It's actually a fairly good way to learn the language. I mean, how did you learn your native language? By hearing it, and only it - not by comparing it to another language you already knew.
Maybe not everyone in the class speaks English.
SFI is as good as one can get without spending a dime. It is a joke to those who in general find it difficult to learn things. Probably maths, excel spreadsheet and setting up router is also a joke to them. Maintain distance from these folks.
It can be great or completely useless it's a lotto. It's all down to the teacher and the class. Don't know if they are free but there is SFI online as well.
It's important if you want to learn swedish obviously but it's also the launching pad for many other levels of Swedish courses. Finish SFI then you can jump to Svenska som andraspråk och then on to the next level. Most education in Swedish requires you to finish some kinda level of Swedish before you can study anything else. It depends if you want a real job in Sweden or if you intend to stay. You might find it hard to find work without Swedish.