This year I’m hacking learning by creating my own “degree” in Scandinavian Studies. This summer I’m getting ready for the language classes …

If you’d like to join me in creating your own program in an area of interest for you, it would be nice to support each other. Let me know.

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Before the academic year started, in which I’ve self-designed a Scandinavian Studies degree for myself,  I thought it would be a good idea to get a baseline in the three languages I’ve required: Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish. I have it in mind to look a little at Icelandic and Faroese, too, but mostly I’ll focus on the “big three.”

Writing that makes me wonder what to do about the various dialects of Sami, they are certainly Scandinavian, meaning located at least in part in Scandinavia. And I wonder if I should look at the differences between the two types of Norwegian, Bokmål and Nynorsk. The borders between languages and the differences among dialects are certainly interesting, but one could get really carried away! Like diving into Old Norse, for example …

I found free placement tests on the website of the Swedish Folksuniversitetet, the university for the people. Schools with language classes like to get their students into the right classes. Those same schools also like to just plain get students. They kill two birds with one stone,* collecting a potential customer’s email and language level at the same time. I’ve used the placement tests of the Migros language schools in Switzerland off and on for a decade and always had good face validity; that is, if I put my results of the tests (e.g. German, French, Spanish) in order from best to worst, they match my own opinion of my current language abilities. 

I scored B1 in Swedish in Norwegian for reading and A2 in vocabulary and grammar, according to the Common European Framework of Reference scale. The scale has six levels, from A1 to C2, where A1 is beginner and C2 is very fluent. B2 is generally considered the minimum level needed to use the language comfortably in academic and work situations. I scored a bit higher in Danish, which matches my own perception of the three languages. For some reason, Danish is just easier for me to read. It is perhaps closer to German and English spelling, or maybe there are more cognates with English? That is something to explore. Speaking (and understanding!) Danish is a whole ‘nother ballgame.

I should mention that I’ve dabbled in Swedish since the one and only course I had at a German university in 1991. I started learning Danish and Norwegian when they became available on Duolingo in early 2015. I haven’t had any formal classes other than that first semester of Swedish, but I look at newspapers and books from time to time and have traveled a little in all three countries. 

At any rate, my placement tests have been completed before the first semester starts. I’ll need to figure out next what the language course looks like, because I’ve finished the Duolingo courses and the current set up for review isn’t all that appealing. Maybe I’ll get lucky and they will expand the Danish and Swedish courses this year, they aren’t nearly as robust as the Norwegian one. Maybe I’ll find some popular music I really like, and for sure I’ll try to get through a Scandinavian crime story in each of those three languages. With patience that might just work.

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*In Swedish: “slå två flugor i en smäll,” or “hit two flies with one swat.” Nice! That applies more or less in all of Scandinavia and southwards through Europe. Eastern Europe tends to focus on killing two hares, the UK birds.