Exam preparation courses B1-B2

This is a course intended for students planning on taking Norskprøve B1-B2. However, students wishing to refresh their grammar and vocabulary and practice their language skills at level B1-B2 are also welcome!

About the course

This course consists of 36 lesson hours and is designed to help you prepare for Norskprøve - the Norwegian language proficiency test. It focuses on strengthening your language knowledge and skills as well as increasing your self-confidence when communicating in Norwegian.

We recommend that students intending to take this course have completed Standard courses B2-1, B2-2 and B2-3; Semester course B2 or equivalent.

Course level

These courses are intended for students who wish to prepare themselves for a Norwegian public exam, or feel the need for repetition of the material covered in levels B1 and B2 and wish to prepare themselves for the next level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

For more information concerning the Norskprøve, see the Kompetanse Norge website: www.kompetansenorge.no

Completing the course

Sessions are held twice a week on mondays and wednesdays or tuesdays and thursdays. Each session consists of 3 lesson hours for a total of 36 lesson hours. The course is about six weeks long with a total of 12 lessons. Each lesson hour is 45 minutes.

• Session 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11: Lesson with the teacher in class

• Session 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12:  2 lesson hours in class with the teacher and 45 – 60 minutes lesson in the language lab. The teacher is present in the lab to answer any questions and assist when necessary.

Exam preparation courses are arranged so that they finish shortly before Norskprøve takes place. Exact dates for this course are forthcoming.

Language Skills

Norskprøve is designed to test the candidates’ language skills – reading, listening, speaking and writing. Grammar is not tested directly though the candidates have to show sufficient command of grammar through the writing part and partially also the reading part (B1-B2). This is why the courses are skill-based, providing both a lot of practice and the theoretical background necessary for the best performance in the exam.

The Language Lab

Once a week, a part of the session takes place in our new language lab. Using a program specially developed to prepare candidates for Norskprøve, participants get extra language skill practice in a program environment similar to that they will be dealing with during the exam.

Course material consists of various texts aimed at reading comprehension practice as well as building vocabulary within the relevant topic areas, listening exercises, grammar and language use exercises, and some theoretical material such as overviews of grammar usage. Course materials are included in the price of the course and are prepared by the teacher.

The course includes the following topic areas:

• Society, the human life, children and parents, youth and old age

• The city and the country

• Public health, treatment, active life

• Education and learning, social issues in the education system

• Political situation

• Culture, art, music

• The work marked, work environment, equal rights

• Technology

• Norwegian history, especially the Viking period, old peoples

• National groups, the Sami people

• The natural world, animals and plants

• The media

In this course you will get an insight into the various exam tasks as well as strategies to tackle these. Practice solving the exam tasks in our language lab, using a program developed especially to help you prepare for the Norwegian language proficiency test. Develop your language skills of speaking, writing, listening and reading. Get feedback from your teacher on your written and spoken performance. Build vocabulary within the relevant topic areas.

You will also repeat and strengthen your knowledge and understanding of the following areas of grammar:

• Linking words to order your argument, to express likeness, contrast, result, purpose, etc.

• The use of the indefinite and definite forms of nouns and adjectives to build cohesion in texts

• Word order in compound and complex sentences, coordinating conjunctions

• Word order in subordinate clauses, subordinating conjunctions

• Unreal conditional clauses

• Punctuation

• Prepositions of time and place, commonly mistaken prepositions

• Participles