My SFI Journey (Part 2)
In February I’ve written a summary post about my SFI journey and created an overview illustration to explain what to expect from start (i.e., introduction) until one lands in one of the study paths (i.e., SP1, SP2 or SP3). There are bits and pieces of information on the Internet but they’re rather fuzzy and convoluted, which is why I summarized my own findings and experience into that illustration—please scroll all the way to the bottom if you’re curious about it…
I have taken 144 days or 4.8 months to complete the study. This is from the date I began the introduction class on 25 October last year to the day I took the final national exam for SFI D on 6 April this year.
The chart below is my mini analysis when I plot the start and end dates of each level:
I also mentioned I’d be sharing some information about the books and other resources I used for the duration of my study. I’ve explored many resources but only listed here those I either used most often or were the most impactful to me. The books are my own unless specified otherwise.
Books Used by the School
Språkvägen: att börja med på sfi 2B och 3C (provided FOC by the school)
Books I Used (as additional resources)
På svenska! Grammatik (library copy)
Form i fokus C (library copy)
YouTube
Peter SFI — I highly recommend Peter SFI to everyone who is studying the SFI to watch his videos and take notes. I owed it to Peter for his phenomenal explanation of the what, why, and how of all things Swedish language at the SFI level. I listen to him at 1.25x speed. Do note though that his videos are in Swedish only and do not have English subtitles.
Apps
Duolingo — awesome for daily practice and cementing of vocabulary
Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL) — I use both the Web and app version of the SAOL. Super useful to check on en- and ett- words and conjugate verbs from their infinitiv to futurum forms.
Website
Google Translate — use with care; having a good knowledge or at least a solid basic foundation of the Swedish grammar will make Google Translate your sidekick.
Feel free to download a copy of the above summary here.
WHAT’S NEXT? I’ve expressed to my current school my desire to crack on to the next level, svenska som andraspråk (SVA). Another school will be teaching the program so my current school has applied on my behalf as part of the study progression. I should be receiving my enrolment details one week before the class is expected to begin on 25 April. Onward!