Recently, I decided to embark on an investigation into the weaknesses in my French. For me, the best place to look is at the CEFR. It is a useful tool that kind of implies, “If you are at this level, you should know this grammar”. As you will read further along in this post, there is very little information about it here in Sweden. I had never heard the CEFR mentioned in all the classes I have ever taken – not Swedish for Immigrants nor Svenska som andraspråk.

According to the Cambridge English Language Assessment:

“The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is an international standard for describing language ability. It is used around the world to describe learners’ language skills.”

As I have discovered, the Swedish educational system does not give a hoot about such frameworks of reference.

To be fair, the book that I am currently studying, “Språkporten 1 2 3″ by Studentlitteratur states on the back of the book jacket,”Corresponding level C1 and C2 in the european language scale, CEFR.” There is another two-book series called Rivstart, published by Natur och Kultur. Both books focus on A1 to B2 levels respectively. A detailed description of what entails A1 and B2 grammar is listed inside both books which to me, is extremely useful. This means that there must be some degree of effort made in trying to incorporate this framework when designing these language learning tools.

Employers searching for people with foreign language knowledge might use it in their job descriptions, and it would be nice to put it on my CV. Without the CEFR, how does one measure one’s level in Swedish?

According to the Institution for Swedish and Multilingualism in Stockholm, the TISUS is a test I could take, but it is mainly used within the educational system in regards to applications for admittance. I read somewhere that it corresponded to a C1 level, but I don’t think it was a Swedish site. It only provides a Pass or Fail. Unfortunately, no one seems to care about this test outside of Sweden because let’s be honest — who in the world cares if you know Swedish other than the country of Sweden (and maybe Finland, but let’s not go there)?

The online institution, Folketsuniversitetet, actually has a lengthy (and free) online “test.” Its purpose is to roughly assess your level so you can know which of its expensive language classes you want to take. For speaking and writing, it is purely self-assessment. This requires some self-reflection because some of the answers you may not really know.

For example, one of the questions asks if you can make witty jokes or comments in front of a group of people. I do remember, in a handful of situations, that I said something and other people laughed.

Based on my answers (for Swedish):

• Reading was B2. (high intermediate)
• Listening was greater than C1 (but not enough for C2). (advanced)
• Self-assessment for Spoken Production and Interaction was between C1 and C2 , so I would probably assume it’s a step lower at B2. (high intermediate)
• Writing, grammar and vocabulary were B1. (low intermediate)

Having been here for six years, and taking a Swedish language class almost every year (as well as other subjects that were presented in Swedish), I would have expected all the scores to be between C1 and C2. Further, according to The Swedish Teacher‘s website, SFI-D (Swedish for Immigrants, course D), is supposed to correlate to B2. This was not at all explained by any SFI teacher I had. I would even dare speculate that they themselves do not know about this correlation. I also recently asked my Svenska som andraspråk teacher, and she did not even know what the CEFR was.

To say that my Swedish has not advanced further than what it was five years ago is …  I can’t even identify the emotion to attach to that.

Folketsuniversitetet (the expensive school) also created the Swedex, a CEFR test, and they provide the testing locations within Sweden. This test is available for the A2, B1 and B2 levels, and it costs about as much as a class. It is not interchangeable with the TISUS.

(Note that a C-grade in Swedish class has nothing to do with the C-levels in the CEFR.)

To end on a hopeful note, I don’t need a test to know that my Swedish skills could definitely use some improvement. At least, thanks to the Rivstart books, I have an idea of specific areas that I need to work on in order to improve.