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UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES)

Bratislava Castle, Slovakia

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Slovak Level 1 Beginners

Course description: Level 1 is for complete beginners or those who have had only very little contact with the Slovak language. The course runs over three ten-week terms and each session is two hours long. The course includes all four skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. This includes knowledge of basic vocabulary, grammar, morphology, syntax, and phonetics. The course will cover the following:

Aim:

  • To develop the ability to use the Slovak language effectively for purposes of practical communication
  • To form a base of the skills, language and attitudes required for further study either independently or in a class situation
  • To offer insights into the culture, history and civilisation of Slovakia

Outcomes:

  • To understand and respond to simple spoken language
  • To communicate in speech, showing knowledge of a range and variety of vocabulary and of appropriate register in simple and routine tasks
  • To be able to understand most common public notices and signs likely to be encountered in everyday life

Objectives:

  • To cope with simple everyday situations and routine social conversation
  • To get friendly with the world “GRAMMAR” and to understand basic terminology and concepts focusing on their communicative importance

Personal Domain:

  • Greetings
  • Introducing yourself and others
  • the phone
  • Dealing with emergencies
  • Thanking
  • Apologising
  • Talking about countries, regions of the world and languages
  • Asking questions and giving information on place of origin, profession, address, phone number, email, etc.
  • Talking about yourself, family and children, friends, personal interests and leisure activities
  • Describing people
  • Describing your house/flat, naming rooms in a house, reading housing advertisements, naming and describing furniture and fittings in a simple manner
  • Expressing likes/dislikes, personal views and preferences on simple matters
  • Discussing day-to-day activities and routines
  • Inviting guests to an event and agreeing a date/place/time
  • Discussing in simple terms differences in culture, attitude, customs and practice

Public Domain:

  • Asking where places are, giving and understanding directions
  • Making travel arrangements (booking flight, hotel room, buying a railway ticket)
  • Arranging bookings with restaurants, hotels etc., stating facilities, dates and number of persons and making simple enquiries
  • Buying tickets for the theatre, the cinema, the museum or other events stating dates and number of persons and making simple enquiries
  • Reading most common public notices and signs

Functions:

  • formal and informal forms of address
  • writing messages, email, cards
  • making complain
  • expressing likes and dislikes
  • describing skills, wishes, plans
  • writing lists; e.g. a shopping list
  • understanding basic directions
  • giving polite orders
  • making requests

 

Grammar:

  • alphabet, pronunciation of consonants: ď,ť,ň,ľ,č,dž,š,ž and d,t,n,l,c,dz,s,z , pronunciation of diphthongs: ia,ie,iu,ô and the difference between short vowels a,e,i,y,o,u,ä and long vowels á,é,í,ý,ó,ú
  • verbs: to be and to have, byť a mať
  • conjugations: basic categories in indicative present
  • modal verbs: chcieť, vedieť, môcť, smieť, musieť, nesmieť…
  • verbs of motion: ísť, prísť, odchádzať…
  • basic conjugations, indicative present,
  • nouns and genders
  • adjectives : possessive and qualitative: dobrý, Robertov, Evin…
  • plural :nouns, adjectives: moji dobrí študenti…
  • personal pronouns : ja, ma, mňa, ťa, teba, so mnou, ti, nás, vám, ho…
  • possessive pronouns: môj, moja, Váš, svoju, naše, vašu, tvojho, jeho, jej..
  • demonstrative pronouns: ten, tá, to, tento, táto, toto, toho,…
  • interrogative pronouns: kto, čo, koho, aký, ktorý, čí…
  • reflexive pronouns: si, sa, seba…
  • indefinite pronouns : niekto, niečo, niekoho...
  • cases: the accusative, nominative singular and plural and instrumental
  • numbers: cardinal: jeden, dva, tri… ordinal: prvý, prvá, prvé, druhý, tretí… and declension.
  • multiplicative prvýkrát, prvý raz, jedenkrát, jeden raz, dvakrát, dva razy, tri razy, päť ráz
  • indefinitive numerals mnoho, málo, veľa…
  • adverbs : dobre, zle, pomaly…
  • Nonflexible parts of speech : Prepositions and connections with the cases : v, vo, do, na, pre, pred, za, pod, nad, po, cez, pre, s, so, z, zo, u, pri…
  • Conjuctions coordinating: a, ale, aj, i , no, alebo, však, avšak, či…
  • Conjucations subordinating: že,keď, či, nech, ak…
  • Interjections : jaj, no, ach, aha….
  • particularly :vraj, aha, no …
  • Abbreviations PNS, SND, OSN, MZV

 

 

Course Books:

  1. KRÍŽOM KRÁŽOM Slovenčina A1 - 2.doplnené a prepracované vydanie (the second edition) - Univerzita Komenského 2018 (Renáta Kamenárová, Eva Španová, Helena Ĺos Ivoríková, Michaela Mošaťová, Zuzana Krchová, Hana Tichá) 
  2. KRÍŽOM KRÁŽOM Slovenčina A1+A2 - Cvičebnica (Workbook) - Univerzita Komenského 2015 (Helena Ivoríková, Eva Španová, Renáta Kamenárová, Michaela Mošaťová, Zuzana Kleschtová, Hana Tichá)

Textbooks can be ordered online at https://www.martinus.sk/

Useful Reference Material:

English Slovak Dictionary, ISBN 0-86516-226-3

Anglicko-Slovenský prekladový slovník ISBN 80-88723-67-1

Slovensko-Anglický prekladový slovník ISBN 80-88723-67-1

The Guide to The Peoples of Europe, The Times, ISBN 0-7230-0624-5

A History of Slovakia by Stanislav. Kirsbaum, ISBN 0333681029

 

 

Websites:

 

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