FAQs

Swedish FAQ
Norwegian FAQ
Danish FAQ
Finnish FAQ
Icelandic FAQ

General Frequently Asked Questions

All Institut Nòrdic courses are offered online in the Virtual Classroom.

Courses of varying lengths are offered throughout the year:

  • 32-session courses (1 class/week from October to June)
  • 32-session courses (2 classes/week from October to February and from February to June)
  • 22-session courses from January to June
  • 20-session intensives (4-week duration)

We also offer conversation and maintenance courses, as well as online private lessons, which can be started at any time. You can check availability here.

In our online classes we follow our usual philosophy, with the advantage that you can attend wherever you are. Classes are taught through Zoom (see technical requirements here), and the environment includes all the essential elements for learning:

  • Real-time and 100% uninterrupted audiovisual contact with the teacher and other students
  • Digital whiteboard
  • Instant chat
  • Ability to share screen and documents

All our teachers are native speakers and have extensive experience in teaching Nordic languages to Spanish speakers.

If you have no prior knowledge of the language, it is very difficult to follow the course after a certain point, as you will lack the basic content. In this case, you can wait for new courses to open or request private classes, but you can always consult us for information about your particular case.

If you have prior knowledge, you are more than welcome at any time! If this is your case, contact us. If there are available spots and the language coordinator authorizes it, you can join an ongoing course.

Yes, as long as there are places available in the group you wish to change to (or if you need to attend another group on an ad hoc basis), and after notifying the language coordinator. Institut Nòrdic does everything possible so that everyone can learn.

Our students include flight attendants, health professionals, etc., so we understand the current timetable complexity of certain sectors and we try to make it easier to follow the course with this measure.

Absolutely yes. In the intensive courses, the teaching staff is the same and the same books are used as in other courses. The difference is that in the intensive course, classes are daily, Monday to Friday, for four weeks, while in other modalities classes are once or twice a week.

In Institut Nòrdic we evaluate the assimilated contents, not the duration of the course. At the end of the intensive course you will get a certificate that you have passed a certain enrolled level, exactly the same that you would get by passing the other courses.

Por supuesto, es una de las opciones que permiten a nuestro alumnado aprender dos cursos enteros en solo un año natural.

If you don’t know your level and want to join a course, you can contact us, and we will present your case to the corresponding coordinator, who will get in touch with you to thoroughly understand your situation.

If you want to take a course and don’t know your level, contact us.

Send us your details and some information about your previous experience with the language, and the coordinator will call you to assess your level.

You can combine courses of different lengths to complete two or three levels in about a year. For more information, see the course offerings for the language you want to study.

Anything is possible: the more motivation and effort you put in, the faster you’ll progress. The time needed to be able to function minimally in a new language depends a lot on each person and their desire to learn.

At Institut Nòrdic we promote oral and written comprehension and expression from the very beginning. In this way, students will see that they can communicate from day one, each time with more complex and elaborated concepts. It is considered that by the end of level A2 students already have the essential grammatical concepts and vocabulary, and can understand and express everyday ideas.

Check the page about learning levels for more information.

Tuition

Places are reserved and blocked only upon receiving the first payment of the registration fee (for annual courses) or the full payment (for other courses). For this reason, we strongly recommend that if you are interested in a specific group and language, you make the payment as soon as possible.

Yes, you must be 16 years old to enroll in one of the group courses at Institut Nòrdic.

Registration typically opens several months before the start of the courses. To stay up-to-date, we recommend subscribing to our newsletter or following us on social media.

Payments

No. Our prices do not include discounts in any case. We apologize.

No. You will receive a discount on the initial price of the course.

32-session courses (1 class/week): three payments. The first is required to complete enrollment and begin classes. The second payment is due 6 weeks after the course starts, and the final payment is due 12 weeks after the start date.

For 32-session courses (2 classes/week) and 22-session courses, we offer the option of splitting the course fee into two installments. The first payment is required to complete your registration and begin classes. The second payment is due six weeks after the course starts.

Intensive courses have only one single payment.

The center always sends a reminder to students, so you don’t have to worry about forgetting the date.

You can pay by credit or debit card directly on the website during the enrollment process.

It is also possible to make the payment by bank transfer to the account ES10 2100-1103-59-0200120092 (CaixaBank), or do it at our office in cash, within public service hours. To check it, click here.

If you decide to study a second language at Institut Nòrdic you will receive a 10% discount on your tuition.

Certification

If you are moving for work or study purposes, it is best to ask exactly what requirements are necessary. You can contact the relevant embassy or consulate for more information, as well as any other agency related to your job or studies involved.

The certificates issued by Institut Nòrdic certify that the holder has passed the knowledge required by the European standard. Although the certificates are not official, they certify the level you have.

The certificate of Institut Nòrdic certifies the obtained level of Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish or Icelandic. To obtain the certificate it is required to study and pass the continuous evaluation in one of the courses offered by the center. Institut Nòrdic gives two types of certificates: certificate with grade and certificate of attendance.

The certificate with grade is the certificate given to students after passing a course, with which they can move up to the next level. If the student does not qualify for a certificate after passing the course, but has attended at least 70% of the classes, he/she is entitled to a certificate of attendance from Institut Nòrdic.
You can find more information about our certificates here.

In order to learn better and take advantage of the entire course from the beginning to the last day, in Institut Nòrdic the evaluation is continuous. We do not take an exam at the end of the course, but everything that is done during the course counts towards the final grade. In this way, the course becomes an uninterrupted learning process and the results end up being better.

In our continuous assessment, the final grade consists of five parts of equal value:

  1. Online test at the end of each chapter of the book.
  2. Writing exercises.
  3. Oral tests.
  4. Listening comprehension tests.
  5. Class participation, homework submission, presentations and other assessable activities.

The continuous assessment may vary depending on the level and language, but it applies to all levels.

At our center, you can only take the official Swedish exam, the Swedex. Unfortunately, no other Nordic country allows official examinations outside their borders, so you should contact the embassy or consulate of the corresponding Nordic country for more information.

At Institut Nòrdic we are the official authorized seat of the Swedex exam, the only official Swedish exam that you can take without having to travel to Sweden. The exam is organized by the Folkuniversitetet, it has a cost and there is only one call per year. For more information, see this link.

Sweden is the only country that allows taking exams outside its borders. The rest of the countries, except for Iceland, also offer official exams for their languages, although you have to go there to take them. These are the exams for the different Nordic languages:

About the languages

Learning the country’s language is essential for social integration and is a mandatory requirement to access certain job positions, as well as to opt for working conditions similar to those of a native. However, it is true that knowledge of English is widespread among Nordic people, and it’s easy to get by in this language for practical matters.

If you know the language, the Nordic countries offer many quality job opportunities to qualified professionals.

If you are interested in this option, we recommend that you contact the embassy or consulate of the country you are interested in, as well as any professional association in your sector in the destination country.

This way you will know the legal, language or accreditation requirements you will need there and you can prepare properly.

At Institut Nòrdic you can learn as many languages as you want, but before signing up for two or more courses it is best to think carefully. Swedish, Norwegian and Danish are so similar that they can confuse the student and the result of the studies may not be the desired one. Perhaps, it is better to start with one and add the other from B1 level onwards. Combining Icelandic with Swedish, Norwegian or Danish does not have much danger of confusion, as Icelandic is quite distant from the three Scandinavian languages. Finnish is totally different compared to all the Nordic languages.

Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Icelandic belong to the Northern or Nordic Germanic languages, so they are similar to each other, although Icelandic is the most different in this group. Therefore, they are easier to learn if you know English or German, as they share certain vocabulary and characteristics.

On the other hand, Finnish is a Finno-Ugric language, a branch of the Uralic languages. For this reason, it differs greatly from the rest of the Nordic languages and it is difficult to find similarities with other European languages other than Estonian.

You can find more information about this in this article on Nordic languages.

Swedish

It’s not more difficult than English. The teachers at Institut Nòrdic are here to teach you pronunciation and intonation.

The grammar is very strict, and therefore, easy to learn.

Cheer up! Everything is possible!

Learning any language is enormously positive, enriching, and helps personal growth. Knowing Swedish opens many paths in life. Sweden is a very favorable country to work, study, and develop personal life, and knowing the language is paramount for integration into Swedish society. It also opens doors to other Nordic countries with similar languages, not to mention that, being a Germanic language, it also helps to learn English and German.

If one masters Swedish, it is relatively easy to learn Danish and, especially, Norwegian. Additionally, being a Germanic language, Swedish helps enormously in learning English and German.

  • A1: Rivstart A1+A2 Textbok och Övningsbok Kap 1-10, Natur&Kultur

  • A2: Rivstart A1+A2 Textbok och Övningsbok Kap 11-20, Natur&Kultur

  • B1.1: Rivstart B1 + B2, Textbok och Övningsbok Kap.1-9, Natur&Kultur

  • B2.1: Rivstart B1 + B2, Textbok och Övningsbok Kap.10-18, Natur&Kultur
  • B2.2: Rivstart B2 + C1, Textbok och Övningsbok Kap.1-6, Natur&Kultur

We also use material prepared by the teaching staff, and in the higher levels, literature and current resources. You can check the material in the “more information” tab of the course you are interested in.

At Institut Nòrdic we are the official authorized seat of the Swedex exam, the only official Swedish exam that you can take without having to travel to Sweden. The exam is organized by the Folkuniversitetet, it has a cost and there is only one call per year. For more information, see this link.

Norwegian

Norwegian belongs to the Northern or Nordic Germanic languages, therefore, it has a lot in common with other languages in the same group. It has a much simpler structure than Latin languages and shares part of the lexicon and certain characteristics with both English and German. Having knowledge of these languages can help you learn faster. It also shares sounds with Catalan and French.

Anything is possible: the more motivation and effort you put in, the faster you will progress. The time needed to be able to manage minimally in a new language depends a lot on each person. At Institut Nòrdic, we focus the classes so that everyone can participate and learn.

Learning any language is enormously positive, enriching, and helps personal growth. Knowing Norwegian is important for anyone who wants to work, study, or settle in Norway, or simply to know its culture. Additionally, speaking Norwegian opens doors to other Scandinavian countries, as their languages are very similar. And let’s not forget that, being a Germanic language, Norwegian also helps in learning English and German.

Especially in learning other Scandinavian languages. If you know Norwegian, it’s easy to understand Swedish and Danish. And undoubtedly, Norwegian makes things easier when studying English and German.

For those who don’t know, in Norway there are two written languages: Bokmål and Nynorsk. At Institut Nòrdic, we teach Bokmål, which is the one with more users within the country and is used in teaching Norwegian to foreigners.

Bokmål and Nynorsk are the two written languages that exist in Norway. Due to historical reasons and unions with Denmark and Sweden, the old written Norwegian completely disappeared and they had to create a new language. To represent the entire population, as there were several spoken dialects, they created two languages instead of one. Bokmål is based on Danish, which was the mandatory written language at that time, and Nynorsk is based on all the spoken dialects of the country. They have been maintained to this day, and depending on which part of Norway you live in, you will write in one language or the other. However, since they are written languages, no one speaks either Bokmål or Nynorsk. What is spoken are dialects that are based on and resemble these languages. For this reason, they have a lot of variety in terms of the way of speaking, although everyone understands each other.

We use the same books that are used in the official language school in Norway, Folkeuniversitetet, in digital format.

  • For levels A1 and A2, we use the digital books of ‘På vei’.
  • For levels B1.1 and B1.2, we use the digital books of ‘Stein på stein’
  • For levels B2.1 and B2.2, we use the digital books of ‘Her på berget’.

Both a textbook, a workbook, audio files, and online exercises are included. In addition to this material, teachers also use their own materials in the form of photocopies, books, Norwegian films, etc.

No Nordic country, except Sweden, allows you to take official exams outside its borders, so you will need to contact the Norwegian embassy or consulate for more information.

Danish

The grammar is easy and very similar to English. The syntax is closer to German (inversions). The difficulty lies in comprehension and pronunciation, as there is a big gap between spoken and written language. But it’s also a very interesting challenge because once this obstacle is overcome, other Nordic languages (except Finnish) become accessible.

Learning any language is enormously positive, enriching, and helps personal growth. The main way to get to know Denmark is through knowing Danish. The language is important for all those who want to work, study, or live in this Nordic country. Additionally, speaking Danish opens doors to other Scandinavian countries, as their languages are very similar. And let’s not forget that, being a Germanic language, Danish also helps in learning English and German.

Furthermore, Denmark is a country with a very interesting offer of free master’s degrees (2 years in duration) for all European Union citizens, who can also apply for the Danish state scholarship. With it, all students receive almost €800 monthly that doesn’t need to be repaid, so knowing Danish is vital for living there during that time. If you want more information, visit https://www.su.dk/english/.

Especially in learning Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic, but also English, German, and Dutch.

For a person who starts studying Danish, other Scandinavian languages become very familiar in a short time. Moreover, being a Germanic language, it greatly helps in learning English, German, and Dutch.

• Puls 1 (A1)
• Puls 2 (A2)
• Puls 3 (B1.1)
• Så kan du lære det (B1.2)

No Nordic country, except Sweden, allows students to take the exam officially outside its borders, so you’ll need to contact the Danish embassy or consulate for more information.

Finnish

Finnish is not easy, but it’s not impossible either. Its reputation for being complicated stems from its distance from Indo-European languages, including Spanish. Finnish is a Finno-Ugric language and has a different logic than many other languages. The more different a language is from your own, the more you have to study it to master it, but with an appropriate methodology and a lot of motivation, Finnish can be learned perfectly. If you want to know more about the language, you can read the article about Finnish on Institut Nòrdic’s blog.

At Institut Nòrdic we study “finés” the Finnish language, through which we learn about Finnish culture (“cultura finlandesa”).

Both words are correct in terms of the language, but “finés” is more accurately defined because of its more explicit reference to the language itself. The word “finlandés,” on the other hand, is more commonly used as an adjective, referring, for example, to people of Finnish nationality.

Learning any language is enormously positive, enriching, and helps personal growth. Knowing Finnish opens many paths in life. The language is important for anyone who wants to work, study, or live in Finland.

Especially in learning Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic, but also English, German, and Dutch.

For a person who starts studying Danish, other Scandinavian languages become very familiar in a short time. Moreover, being a Germanic language, it greatly helps in learning English, German, and Dutch.

  • Suomen mestari 1
  • Suomen mestari 2
  • Suomen mestari 3
  • Suomen mestari 4
  • Personal material selected by the teacher.

No Nordic country, except Sweden, allows students to take the exam officially outside its borders, so you should contact the Finnish embassy or consulate for more information.

Icelandic

Icelandic is not easy, but it’s not impossible either. If you structure it in phases and try to learn it little by little, you end up enjoying it. It’s a matter of not being afraid to speak it.

It’s the Nordic language that has evolved the least over time, but it belongs to the Germanic languages, so you’ll find parallels with other languages from the same branch.

Learning any language is enormously positive, enriching, and helps personal growth. Knowing Icelandic opens many paths in life. The language is important for all those who want to work, study, or live in Iceland. Additionally, it opens doors to other Nordic countries with similar languages, not to mention that, being a Germanic language, it also helps in learning English and German.

Especially in learning Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish, but also English, German, and Dutch.

For a person who starts studying Icelandic, other Scandinavian languages become very familiar in a short time. Moreover, being a Germanic language, it greatly helps in learning English, German, and Dutch.

  • Íslenska fyrir alla – bók 1.
    Downloadable material during the course and free, courtesy of the Government of Iceland.

No Nordic country, except Sweden, allows students to take the exam officially outside its borders, so you should contact the Finnish embassy or consulate for more information.

If you have any further questions, please write to us at info@institutnordic.com