For various reasons, though I first moved here in 2005, I´m only just now having the sheer luxury of time to learn Norwegian as I was always pregnant and/or taking care of our kids full time by myself, both abroad and here. When E was born, I had N who was about a year old at her birth, and had my first two classes, which were about a 40 minute drive away in each direction. As I was breastfeeding, I had to nurse immediately before my drive to class, and then leave before the class was over, in order to get home to breastfeed again, as it was painful to not breastfeed every 3 hours or less! (I barely made that, and after 2 classes was in tears how painful it was feeling like my boobs would burst, as milk leaked out, and even just the two 3 hour waits caused me to have extreme mastitis which was excruciatingly like burning razors, to put it mildly!)
TMI, sorry, but I do get fed up with people giving me the evil eye that I´ve not learned Norwegian yet, when they do not fully know what my circumstances are, do not bother to ask, and assume it is because I am lazy and/or think I am too good to have to learn a foreign language expecting locals to just speak my language. I get tired of people assuming I should have been able to learn Norwegian via osmosis or by having gone to two one-hour classes. Though, to be fair, in those two one-hour classes, without any time to actually study outside the class, I learned to count, tell time, two chapters, some grammar, some very basic vocabulary, and some very basic communication such as saying hello, my name, where I´m from, etc. But two hours is not enough, and I want to be native fluent, which is why I study now 6 hours a day, when I finally can.
I´ve got my residency permit, so I do not have to take Norwegian, but now that I finally do have the luxury of time to have class, let alone to gasp actually study, I am! (I also took care of the kids by myself from the time they awoke at around 6am til they went to sleep at around 7pm, and if my husband/their father was working, so I had no time either before rushing to class or after rushing home from class, to do anything but breastfeed, watch the kids, maybe eat or take a shower or pee!)
Every day I study 6 hours a day. It´s only been about few months I´ve had this luxury, but slowly it is making a difference. I teach myself, and then when I´m closer to fluent, near what is called C level (native fluency) I will get a tutor.
6 hours entails anything and everything from reading actual books (which are what officially-recognized language courses use), to grammar, reading, writing, vocabulary, social studies and history of Norway, repeating, trying to speak from memory (which I find most difficult), and such. (And, yeah, there are still days when I´m exhausted or don´t have time to spend 6 hours, but I do what I can! This was first posted on APRIL 9th, and I am only now actually writing the contents, OCTOBER 1st, so by a few months, I mean since today October FIRST not April! )
Currently, I´m somewhere between A and B levels. Here is a link which better explains it:
Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages
Usually, I´m either at home online listening to Norwegian, to practice reading whilst listening to dialects, or often I´m out at different restaurants or cafes studying. The restaurants and cafes I go to are at the hours where obviously the lights are not dimmed, and they are quiet mostly even if full, or between busy hours. It´s nice, as the staff consider me a local not an intruder, they often help me or discuss it with me, give advice, and I get to enjoy some time out even though I´m studying. Sometimes friends join me, and we study or take a break to chat and catch up. And, obviously to make it clear, I do buy drinks and food, not just sitting there studying. Usually I get coffee with cream, cafe au lait, fika (juice or coffee with cake or pastry), lunch, or rarely a glass of wine or a beer (once!).
So, for those of you who wish to hear or maybe even learn a bit of Norwegian, I´ve added a few links, in order of level, from basic to higher up, that I use online:
På Vei
NTNU text with speech, grammar, vocab etc
Stein På Stein
Her På Berget
Grammar Norsk Grammatikk Cappeldamm
there are many youtube videos also, including a youtube vlogger/blogger Crienexzy and her friend Lindy, who are both Norwegian and teach Norwegian in their videos for fun. They´re really nice to do this, and it really helps to hear the Norwegian, as opposed to simply reading it! It helps to hear different dialects and sources. She has about a hundred videos up, because she likes helping others, and it has helped lots of us who are learning! She´s on twitter, FB and other sites blogging, answering questions etc. I´ve compiled a YT playlist of her Norwegian videos, and other videos in Norwegian such as music with lyrics in Norwegian, which also helps me learn. The dialects I practice range from NorNorge (Northern Norway), Trondheim, Stavanger, Oslo, Kolbotn, Bergen, local islands, and others (both text and speaking). And such random things such as news, entertainment and documentaries in Norwegian, which help me learn, and give me, I hope, a more rounded study for my time. Good luck!
Crienexzy Karen & Lindy: Norwegians teaching Norwegian on youtube for fun
This YT video list is good too. Totally different dialect, but helpful none the less. Also on my playlist:
Norwegian lessons, different dialect
Just like any language, there is no one correct way to speak in Norwegian, but hearing different dialects can help you get the idea of the rhythm of the language and its melodious rounded way of being spoken.
Some music videos with lyrics, in Norwegian on my playlist:
sommerflørt with lyrics
Vinni: sommerfuggel i vinterland with lyrics
Nordnorsk: song with lyrics from Northern Norway
This one´s good, for showing something not taught in courses: contractions. Contractions are spoken, but are officially not really supposed to be written. Saying something like I don´t know, which is Jeg vet ikke, written and spoken officially, is actually said Jeg Vet´kke. In the song, if you watch closely you will see another much used contraction: Kan´kke, which is short for Kan ikke (Can not, aka Can´t). This is how Norwegian is spoken, every day, but officially it is written out the long way. Something not taught in courses, or so I´m told.
lyrics showing contractions
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Teaching myself, I´m focusing first on learning the way the language is spoken, written, and not so much on grammar at first. But now, adding grammar a bit more, conjugating a bit more, focusing a bit more on the endings which I tried to memorize, so that now I can start focusing on the actual conjugating when speaking (what endings to put on the end of words, depending upon what the adjectives are and what the tense is, etc).
I´ve read through all the books lessons, and now am going back to focus more on each one individually, now I´ve got the main idea and am better at hearing people, being able to hear what they are saying. I had a difficult time being able to hear, distinguish what words were being said, as when speaking the language does not sound in real life as it does when hearing a single word at a time. Dialects change the way things are said. Many people speak in a combination of dialect, textspeak, slang, and cutting off bits of words or phrases, which I also have had a time to be able to learn, distinguish. Slowly I am improving, but my goal is to be native fluent. My first goal in that is, if I have to choose, to be able to understand what is being said even if I still have to answer in English. Which will probably be what I´ll naturally be able to learn first. The language output for me, to be able to speak as a native, will come later, but is not as important as my understanding in Norwegian what is being said.
So, that is my language schedule now, and my focus. Hope it helps anyone else trying to learn this or any other language. Total immersion, or partial immersion, even a few hours is what it takes to learn the language, and is easiest if you actually have the luxury of the time to do so, and when you actually live in the country whose language you are trying to learn.
Sorry, I´m turned off all comments on this blog. It´s not that I don´t wish to interact or that I do not care what others think, but more that I simply do not have the time to interact on-line much. But still I wanted to make this blog for me and for others who are interested in Norway, the language or what it is like to live here. I enjoy reading others blogs too, but rarely have the luxury of interacting. The few online communities I am a member of, are great, though again I rarely have the luxury of time that many do to spend each day all day interacting, but I still like reading and posting when I can!
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Here are more links:
The Nordic eTax Norwegian/English dictionary with tax terminology.
Contact Association of Government Authorized Translators in Norway (STF) to find translator to translate Norwegian texts.
For General language help, contact Norwegian Language Council.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs translated government titles.
Online dictionaries, LEXIN, developed by the Norwegian Directorate of Education and Training and Skolenettet (NDETS), for immigrants to Norway.
NDETS website has further made Norwegian English Dictionary for the education sector made.
For translating Norwegian fiction and non-fiction, NORLA - Norwegian Literature Abroad. .
General info on Norway.
Info from SIFO on standard budget 2011, for households of various sizes, for Norway.
Norwegian Husbanken site in English and Norwegian.
Living in Norway info from Husbanken.
Norwegian language requirements 600 hours (550 language plus 50 social studies)
Norwegian Test 1 (norskprøve 1), Norwegian Test 2 and 3 (norskprøve 2 and 3) in the past before the new requirments of 600 hours (when 300 hours was the requirement), once passed, was considered the fulfillment of the 300 hours. The 50 hours of social studies is the study of Norwegian culture, and practical information about living in Norway. Slide share
Statistics on Norway
PDF Social studies 50 hour courses Bergen Kommune
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MISC
klartale reading newspaper w podcasts to listen
links
Bergenstest language proficiency versus other such as spraktest sp link
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