Learn Hardcore German: Im Kurs sagen wir, welches Sprachniveau wir haben und wie wir unser Hörverstehen einschätzen. - In class we say what language level we have and how we assess our listening comprehension.

Kurs is masculine: der Kurs (nominative).
After in (with a static location: in the course / during the course), German uses the dative case:

masculine dative singular of der is dem
so: in dem Kurs → contracted to im Kurs

In der Kurs would use a feminine noun (like die Klasse → in der Klasse). Since Kurs is masculine, in der Kurs is wrong in standard German.

You could say the full form in dem Kurs, but in everyday German people almost always say im Kurs.

Could I also say Wir sagen im Kurs, … instead of Im Kurs sagen wir, …? Does the word order change the meaning?

Yes, you can say both:

Im Kurs sagen wir, …
Wir sagen im Kurs, …

Both are grammatically correct and mean the same thing: In the course we say… / We say in the course…

The difference is in emphasis and rhythm:

Im Kurs sagen wir, …
Puts “Im Kurs” at the beginning to highlight the setting or context. Because a German main clause needs the finite verb in second position, the subject wir moves behind the verb → sagen wir.
Wir sagen im Kurs, …
Puts more neutral emphasis on the subject wir (we). The information im Kurs is less highlighted.

So the word order changes focus a little, but not the basic meaning.

Why is the verb at the end in welches Sprachniveau wir haben?

welches Sprachniveau wir haben is a subordinate clause, more specifically an indirect question introduced by the question word welches.

In German:

In main clauses, the verb is in second position:
Wir haben ein Sprachniveau.
In subordinate clauses (introduced by words like dass, weil, wenn, welches, wie, ob etc.), the conjugated verb goes to the end:
…, welches Sprachniveau wir haben.

The whole thing is the object of sagen:

Im Kurs sagen wir, [welches Sprachniveau wir haben].
→ We say what level we have.

The same happens in the second part:

…, und [wie wir unser Hörverstehen einschätzen].
→ Another subordinate clause functioning as a second object of sagen.

Why is it welches Sprachniveau and not welcher Sprachniveau or welchen Sprachniveau?

The form welches is chosen because of gender and case:

Gender:
Sprachniveau is neuter: das Sprachniveau.
Case:
Inside the clause welches Sprachniveau wir haben, the noun phrase welches Sprachniveau is the object of haben, so it’s in the accusative.

Neuter forms of welch-:

Nominative neuter: welches
Accusative neuter: welches

So welches Sprachniveau is correct for accusative neuter.

welcher Sprachniveau would be wrong because welcher is masculine or feminine in certain cases, not neuter accusative.
welchen Sprachniveau would be masculine accusative (e.g. welchen Kurs?), but Sprachniveau is neuter, not masculine.

That’s why it must be welches Sprachniveau.

Why does German say wir haben ein Sprachniveau instead of something like wir sind B1?

It’s mostly an idiomatic difference between English and German.

In English you often say:

I’m B1. / I’m at B1 level.

In German the more natural pattern is:

Ich habe das Sprachniveau B1.
(literally: I have the language level B1.)

So Germans usually “have” a level, they don’t “are” a level.

You can sometimes hear things like:

Ich bin auf Niveau B1.
(I am at level B1.)

That’s not wrong, but in educational / formal contexts haben + Sprachniveau is very standard:

Welches Sprachniveau haben Sie?
Ich habe B2.

What exactly does Hörverstehen mean, and why is it written as one word?

Hörverstehen literally combines:

hören = to hear / to listen
Verstehen = understanding

Together: Hörverstehen = listening comprehension (the skill of understanding spoken language).

German loves compound nouns. When two nouns or noun-like elements are combined to create a specific concept, they’re usually written as one word and capitalized:

das Hörverstehen (neuter noun)
similar patterns: Leseverstehen (reading comprehension), Sprachkenntnisse (language skills)

That’s why you see Hörverstehen as one capitalized word.

Why is it unser Hörverstehen and not unseres Hörverstehens or another form?

Look at the function of Hörverstehen in the clause:

wie wir unser Hörverstehen einschätzen

Here, einschätzen (to assess) is a transitive verb, and unser Hörverstehen is its direct object → accusative case.

Now, Hörverstehen is neuter: das Hörverstehen.

The possessive determiner unser- declines like an adjective without an article. For neuter accusative singular, the ending is no added -s or -es:

nominative neuter: unser Hörverstehen
accusative neuter: unser Hörverstehen

So unser Hörverstehen is the correct accusative neuter form.

unseres Hörverstehens would typically be genitive (e.g. die Einschätzung unseres Hörverstehens = the assessment of our listening comprehension), which is not the structure used in the sentence.

What does einschätzen mean here, and why is it at the end of the clause?

einschätzen means to assess / to evaluate / to judge (e.g. your own skills, a situation, a risk).

Two key points:

Meaning in this context
wie wir unser Hörverstehen einschätzen
→ how we assess our listening comprehension (how good we think it is)
Separable verb and word order
einschätzen is a separable prefix verb (ein + schätzen).

In a main clause, it splits:
Wir schätzen unser Hörverstehen gut ein.
In a subordinate clause, the verb goes to the end and the prefix stays attached:
…, wie wir unser Hörverstehen einschätzen.

So einschätzen appears in one piece at the end because:

it’s a subordinate clause (verb-final word order), and
separable verbs are not split in subordinate clauses.

Why is it wie wir unser Hörverstehen einschätzen and not wie gut unser Hörverstehen ist?

Both are possible, but they emphasize slightly different things:

wie wir unser Hörverstehen einschätzen
Focus: our own evaluation process.
Literally: how we assess our listening comprehension.
It emphasizes that we are giving a self-assessment (maybe on a scale or in our own words).
wie gut unser Hörverstehen ist
Focus: the quality/level itself.
Literally: how good our listening comprehension is.
This sounds more like an objective fact about our skill, not explicitly about self-assessment.

Since the sentence is about what we say in the course about ourselves, einschätzen fits well: we are talking about our self-evaluation, not measuring with a test.

Why is there a comma before welches Sprachniveau wir haben and another one before und wie wir unser Hörverstehen einschätzen? Could I drop one of them?

No, you shouldn’t drop them; both commas follow normal German punctuation rules.

The structure is:

Main clause:
Im Kurs sagen wir, …
Then two subordinate clauses, both as objects of sagen:
1. welches Sprachniveau wir haben
2. und wie wir unser Hörverstehen einschätzen

German always puts a comma before a subordinate clause. So:

Comma between main clause and first subordinate clause:
Im Kurs sagen wir, welches Sprachniveau wir haben …
Then, because you are connecting a second subordinate clause with und, you keep the comma before und:
…, welches Sprachniveau wir haben und wie wir unser Hörverstehen einschätzen.

So the commas mark that you have:

one main clause, and
two subordinated “indirect question” clauses linked with und.