Norwegian Upper Intermediate

Program Overview

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Norwegian Upper Intermediate

Overview

This course is designed for individuals with a solid intermediate knowledge of the Norwegian language and its grammar, who can communicate confidently and fluently in most everyday situations.

Who is this class for?

This course is suitable for those who have studied Norwegian for around four years or 240 hours. It is divided into three parts, and students can join Part One, Two, or Three depending on their prior experience.

Course Structure

The course consists of three parts, each building on the previous one.

Part One

• Topics:
  • Norway - geography, cities and countryside, demography
  • oil production and the environment, renewable energy
  • Norwegian national identity
  • life in Norway - customs and unwritten rules
  • family life and leisure
  • free-range parenting vs. helicopter parenting
  • advertising
  • news, podcasts, television programmes
• Grammar:
  • past perfect tense (hadde gått, hadde gjort)
  • abbreviations (osv, o.l, f.eks, bl.a.)
  • prepositional phrases (til og med, avhengig av, nord for, av og til)
  • Det-sentences - presentering and utbrytning (Det sitter en mann der. Det er han som går på denne skolen.)
  • sayings, idioms and set phrases
  • revision of advanced grammar

Part Two

• Topics:
  • social media and fake news, blogs
  • history of the Norwegian language and literature
  • minorities in Norway
  • early and recent immigration, work migration, refugees
  • national identity amongst immigrants
  • religion
  • some famous Norwegians
  • higher education and political parties, student life, exams, choice of occupation
  • popular culture - music, literature, film
  • news, podcasts, television programmes
• Grammar:
  • S and TIL genitives - possession and expressions (Toms datter / dattera til Tom, til fjells, til fots, til sengs)
  • false friends in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish - words that are the same but mean something else (rolig, stygg, grine)
  • present participles (gående, sittende, skrivende)
  • sayings, idioms and set phrases
  • revision of advanced grammar

Part Three

• Topics:
  • employment - job interviews, work hierarchies in Norway
  • climate and environment, climate change, global warming, natural disasters
  • congestion charge and pollution
  • “Flight shame”-movement
  • renewable energy
  • health and nanny state
  • mental and physical health
  • vaccination and diseases, allergies, resistant bacteria
  • literature - sagas and mythology
  • news, podcasts, television programmes
• Grammar:
  • phrases using dative (i tide, på tide, av gårde, i live)
  • verbs made into nouns (skriving, laging)
  • past participles (stjålet, stjålne)
  • attributive suffixes (fengselsfugl, heldiggris)
  • sayings, idioms and set phrases
  • revision of advanced grammar

Teaching

Our Norwegian lessons follow a communicative approach to language teaching, focusing on the language you need to communicate in authentic situations with an emphasis on speaking and listening. Our evening classes are taught by experienced language teachers who are native speakers of the language or equivalent.

Learning Resources

We will be partly using the book Her på berget tekstbok by Elisabeth Ellingsen og Kirsti Mac Donald and the teacher’s own materials. There will be a focus on television programmes, newspapers, films, news programmes, series, blogs, podcasts. We will be using different articles, texts, listening exercises, websites as well as taking on board the students' suggestions and preferences when it comes to adding more topics and grammar in each term.

Discounts and Booking Deadlines

We offer a 10% discount to our undergraduate and postgraduate students and alumni. To receive your discount code, please contact us before booking your course.

Online Courses – September Start

• Standard Fee per Part: £300
• Booking deadline is 10 days prior to the start date of each Part.

On-Campus Courses – October Start

• Standard Fee per Part: £365
• Booking deadline is 10 days prior to the start date of each Part.

Language Courses Term Dates

Online Courses – September Start

• Part 1: 16 September 2024 – 05 December 2024 (10 weeks)
• Part 2: 20 January 2025 – 10 April 2025 (10 weeks)
• Part 3: 28 April 2025 – 28 July 2025 (Monday courses) (12 weeks)
• Part 3: 22 April 2025 – 10 July 2025 (Tuesday - Thursday) (12 weeks)

On-Campus Courses – September Start

• Part 1: 30 September 2024 – 05 December 2024 (10 weeks)
• Part 2: 20 January 2025 – 27 March 2025 (10 weeks)
• Part 3: 28 April 2025 – 14 July 2025 (Monday courses) (10 weeks)
• Part 3: 22 April 2025 – 26 June 2025 (Tuesday -Thursday courses) (10 weeks)

Program Outline

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Outline:

The Norwegian Upper Intermediate course is made up of three parts: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three. Each part builds on what you've learnt previously.

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Part One:

• Topics: Norway - geography, cities and countryside, demography; Oil production and the environment, renewable energy; Norwegian national identity; Life in Norway - customs and unwritten rules; Family life and leisure; Free-range parenting vs. helicopter parenting; Advertising; News, podcasts, television programmes.
• Grammar: Past perfect tense (hadde gått, hadde gjort); Abbreviations (osv, o.l, f.eks, bl.a.
); Prepositional phrases (til og med, avhengig av, nord for, av og til); Det-sentences - presentering and utbrytning (Det sitter en mann der. Det er han som går på denne skolen. ); Sayings, idioms and set phrases; Revision of advanced grammar.

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Part Two:

• Topics: Social media and fake news, blogs; History of the Norwegian language and literature; Minorities in Norway; Early and recent immigration, work migration, refugees; National identity amongst immigrants; Religion; Some famous Norwegians; Higher education and political parties, student life, exams, choice of occupation; Popular culture - music, literature, film; News, podcasts, television programmes.
• Grammar: S and TIL genitives - possession and expressions (Toms datter / dattera til Tom, til fjells, til fots, til sengs); False friends in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish - words that are the same but mean something else (rolig, stygg, grine); Present participles (gående, sittende, skrivende); Sayings, idioms and set phrases; Revision of advanced grammar.

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Part Three:

• Topics: Employment - job interviews, work hierarchies in Norway; Climate and environment, climate change, global warming, natural disasters; Congestion charge and pollution; “Flight shame”-movement; Renewable energy; Health and nanny state; Mental and physical health; Vaccination and diseases, allergies, resistant bacteria; Literature - sagas and mythology; News, podcasts, television programmes.
• Faculty: Experienced language teachers who are native speakers of the language or equivalent.
We may, for example, include additional content when general progress is good, or vary content according to students’ interests.

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Other:

• Learning Resources: The book Her på berget tekstbok by Elisabeth Ellingsen og Kirsti Mac Donald and the teacher’s own materials.
There will be a focus on television programmes, newspapers, films, news programmes, series, blogs, podcasts. We will be using different articles, texts, listening exercises, websites as well as taking on board the students' suggestions and preferences when it comes to adding more topics and grammar in each term.
• Course Structure: You can join Part One, Two, or Three of the course depending on your prior experience.
If you have studied Norwegian for around four years or 240 hours, you should start with Part One. You can skip Part One and proceed straight to joining Part Two or Three if you have prior experience. If you can't see the part you need in the booking table, please check back, as we add more dates throughout the year.
• Course Delivery: Online courses and On-campus courses.
• Online Courses: Small class sizes; Highly qualified native speakers (or equivalent); Interactive online courses provide real-time lessons with an expert tutor to practise speaking and listening.
You will benefit from live, face-to-face engagement with experienced language teachers in an online, virtual classroom. Wherever you are in the world, you'll become part of the University of Westminster's global community. This is a dedicated teaching building with purpose-designed facilities. Lessons can be tailored to your needs, level and capability. This course is ideal for highly motivated students who want to make quick progress in improving their language skills. Lesson times are flexible.