kurs-
kollektivet

Kurskollektivet was founded by Linda Fredrikke Martinussen in 2012, and more than 800 adult immigrants have enrolled in our Norwegian language courses since.

We wanted to create a space with room to try out different teaching methods and strategies, develop new learning materials and methods, with a holistic approach to language learning. There is no "one size fits all" solution, so we aim to put knowledge into practice together with our course participants and partners.

After twelve years, we know quite a lot about what works when you aim to learn a new language in a new country, and what kind of challenges you might face along the way. An important principle for Kurskollektivet is to have time to follow up each student. That is why we work in small groups, making individual language portfolios for each of our students based on The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Linda is an enthusiastic assistant professor in Norwegian didactics, with second language acquisition as her field of expertise and more than twenty years of language teaching experience. She is particularly interested in working with digital didactics, flexible learning environments, differentiation and adaptive learning. She enjoys teaching in classrooms, auditoriums and digital learning platforms, and develops learning materials tailor-made for Kurskollektivet.

She is also an experienced project manager, both through her own projects and in collaboration with various companies and organizations.

In 2021-22, she worked with Nord university (Norway) to develop a further educational program for teachers in adult education, with the aim to enhance language teachers' competencies. She offers lectures and workshops for teachers of Norwegian as a second language onsite and online.

Ilaria is a native English/Italian bilingual, CELTA-qualified language teacher who has been working in language education both in classrooms and online for over 8 years. She has considerable experience in helping learners of all ages and levels achieve their English or Italian language learning goals for travelling, business and academic studies, and offers exam preparation courses for English learners aiming take Cambridge A1-C2, IELTS or TOEFL language proficiency exams.

She has also coached numerous students and professionals on how to best present themselves for job and university interviews and offers other professional language services such as translating, proofreading and help with academic writing.

After having learned Norwegian independently, Ilaria recently completed her Master’s degree in Multilingualism at the University of Oslo, researching the benefits of translanguaging and including first languages in second language teaching in online classrooms. She now uses her Norwegian, English and Italian language skills on a daily basis in her lessons, and is passionate about research-based teaching methods and incorporating new digital technologies and tools in language learning.