Since I have never formally studied Swedish the self-language assessment has been very interesting in pinpointing my strengths and weaknesses in Swedish. At the moment my interpretative reading and listening skills are between Developing 2 and Expanding 1. The basis for my Swedish knowledge has come from media sources such as personal blogs, television shows, and daily news. As such, my level of comprehension for daily usage and conversation are quite advanced. In regards to my interpersonal speaking skills I find that I am still Developing between 1-2 because I have become quite comfortable in speaking to particular individuals in Swedish who may be accustomed to my pronunciation and grammatical errors and do not make efforts to correct me. Part of the strengths of having a language partner and being forced to speak to a unfamiliar person in Swedish will further challenge my skills and confidence and utilize the vocabulary that I already have access to. And finally my Presentational speaking and writing falls between Developing 1-2. I am capable of presenting myself in complex situations and defends opinions, but my writing confidence is rather low. Although I may have advanced reading, there are many words that I have become familiar with orally and have never read. It will be important for me to expand my vocabulary and pay particular attention to spelling and gender.
Taking into consideration my language assessment and my personal goals, I see there is room for improvement in engaging in more complex conversation beyond presentations of myself, daily activities, and simple story telling. I believe a true expansion of my vocabulary could come through discussion of contemporary Swedish politics through media programming and text. I will hopefully build up a broader vocabulary and become more confident in expression my opinion in unfamiliar contexts. My main tools this semester will be Swedish television, online newspapers, film, and a novel Ondskan by Jan Guillou.
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