Learning Norwegian
Like everyone, I’ve always wanted to learn another language but no one told me I would have to learn how to learn language first.
Reading and writing Norwegian is fine (it just seems like English spelt badly) but trying to learn how to listen and speak Norwegian is a whole different language – literally! You see, the language that you learn in Norwegian class is called Bokmål (book language), which is only a written language, and only a pretend spoken language. The other written language is Nynorsk (new Norwegian) – which should be called ‘old Norwegian’ as it is a historical representation of the old country language.
Unfortunately, in real life, no one speaks Bokmål, they speak Norwegian and there are hundreds of different dialects spoken across Norway. Each town and village has its own take on the language and this is what makes learning Norwegian so hard. What I learn to say in class is most often not what you say in real life. Even in my town, Tromsø, I can’t understand what people are saying – and my hubby, Moose, he speaks a whole different dialect altogether.
Listening to Norwegian is very amusing – it sounds like a gothic jellybean language. Sometimes I would have to pinch myself to make sure I hadn’t fallen down a rabbit hole into another world. It seems that everyone is stuttering at the end of their words, however, all the ‘-nenes’ and ‘-erers’ do have a function in the language.
Olsofolk make me nervous as they always seem to be asking questions. (I have recently developed a phobia to questions from Norwegians). They speak with a sing-song rhythm and the end of each sentence rises up. It reminds me of a child telling a very exciting story.
Northerners, or ‘the Mumbles’ as I like to call them, have a very deep and English sounding rhythm but they melt their words together like mozzarella cheese. This makes it hard to know if they are talking about poisoning someone (forgifte) or married couples (for gifte).
The people in the west, especially from Stavanger, have German hock-backs and seagull-sqwark tones. I guess it’s because this old Viking sea village was a popular Germanic trading market.
Norwegian women have perfected talking on the in-breath. (It is certainly quite a talent to talk continuously.) However, this technique is not used for continuous conversation but as a means to preserve energy. The wispy ‘Ja’ is often used as an unconscious reply or agreement and requires less power and control than a ‘Ja’ on an exhale. I wonder what made them evolve to doing that?
I am now afraid of Norwegian conversation. I always tell people ‘Jeg snakker veldig lite norsk’ (I speak very little Norwegian) but I think ‘little’ must mean something different in Norway as I still get six foot conversation. It is actually quite embarrassing when you can’t understand even the simplest of phrases. I am so used to not being involved in conversations, just standing there in my own little world, that when someone speaks Norwegian to me I often can’t find my ‘on’ button. I think not understanding has become a bad habit because even when I do know what people are saying I quickly reply ‘Jeg snakker engelsk’ (I speak English.)
This time in my life has definitely been the quietest – not in terms of noise but in solitude. Not being able to eaves drop on conversations makes life less cluttered, even peaceful. I’m glad I don’t understand the radio talk or what the kids are saying on the bus, or the guys in the pub yelling at the football. For the first time I can fill my ears with things I want to listen to – and that’s nice. I feel a little sad that things will have to change though…
Norwegians really value their language – it is part of their cultural identity – and since my family is Norwegian I want to embrace this culture. I’ve discovered that the way to overcome the usual hardships of being an immigrant is by being involved in society. However, it is hard to be involved in Norway if you can’t speak the language. So, I’m learning Norwegian. I can’t wait until I can reminisce about the crazy time I didn’t know the language. But until then, ‘Jeg skal øve norsk min inntil kuene kommer hjem’. (I will practise my Norwegian until the cows come home.)
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Have faith. I learned Norwegian essentially from your in-laws.
I always found Alta-vaering Norsk to be the easiest to understand and still speak it when I have the occassion to speak Norwegian – which is not often in the US.
Farmoren din is also a good source for learning. She’s patient, speaks clearly and slowly.
I love your blog – it makes me want to move back.
Nord-Norge er jo den beste delen av hele landet.
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from L-Jay
Yes, Farmor is very patient with me and is a great teacher. I can understand her more than anyone because she knows how to use simple language, being an immigrant herself (from Finland).
Thanks for your comment – it’s always nice to meet old family friends.
My relatives who live in the Oslo area do speak in a sing song kind of way. I’ve only visited Norway once and I went with my parents who speak Norwegian fluently. So, they were able to converse easily with most everyone. Although I was in my 30′s at the time, I felt like a little kid because I couldn’t speak the language. I knew many of the common phrases like thank you, excuse me, I love you, etc. I have tapes that I occasionally listen to but it’s hard.
I respect that you are immersing yourself and your family in the country and I have confidence in you. You will learn it and hopefully look back on those frustrating days and laugh!
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from L-Jay
Tusen Takk! Your faith and comments are very much appreciated.
Great post… You did a super job at analyzing all of the different dialects…. Hang in there is will come.
When I was learning Norwegian I Understood, Read, Spoke & then wrote….
although I am fluent… I hate to write Norwegian…I feel like I am still “faking” it.
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from L-Jay:
Being fluent in norwegian would be a dream. Somehow I think it will take me longer than most though. But just hearing from others that have gone before me is encouraging.
Tusen takk for ordene din.
Stavanger is in the west
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from L-Jay:
Oops! I meant my other East…lol.
I have corrected it. Thanks
Yeah, I think when you want to learn more effective way, one must try to read about how to learn
LOL – in the car last week I did a ‘ja’ with the inbreath and my 7 year old son jumped up and said “mum, what’s wrong, are you ok?”. Confused I looked at him and asked what he was talking about. He told me that it sounded as if I couldn’t breathe properly…….
Excellent post – good one for my hubby to read. He is very serious about learning Norwegian.
Every time I learn something, Caroline pronounces it completely differently. Then she blames her dialect. It seems to me that there are as many dialects as they are postcodes. (In the UK there is a postcode for every 10 houses!)
It seems to me that we foreigners should each invent our own dialect (Engelsk-Norsk, Amerikansk-Norsk, etc) and then pronounce things much as we would back home.
It sure would make learning so much easier. (My iPhone has the Google TRANSLATE application loaded which makes it much easier to understand what I’m reading.)
I laughed out loud reading this. My boyfriend lives in Bærum, near Oslo, & when his family are talking I always say it sounds like they’re SO excited about nothing at all! His mum gets so high pitched at the end of her sentences that I get a sore throat just listening to her. I have no problem with norwegian pronunciation, but I feel so ridiculous trying to get their expression & intonation! It’s so nice to hear this stuff from someone else, especially another Aussie
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from L-Jay:
With Northern Norwegian dialect it is spoken with similar tones to English. I have got so used to hearing Tromsø dialect now that it seems normal…lol. Problem is, in Norwegian class all the listening CD exercises are with the Oslo dialect so it’s almost impossible to figure out…lol.
I find that I really struggle with nynorsk. We used bokmaal in school when I left Norway in 1948. We lived on the island of Tysnes and spoke a dialect similar to Bergen’s population. However, when I’ve visited lately, it seems that the newspapers and many books are using nynorsk which are difficult for me. It seems that some people are in favor while others are not. I got the impression that Bokmaal was stronger in Oslo than on the west coast. A retired friend in Oslo told me that he absolutely refuses to read any articles in his newspaper that are written in nynorsk. Are all the grade schools using nynorsk now or is the decision left up to the local school districts?
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From Moose:
All the public schools in Norway teach nynorsk, either as “sidemål” (side language) or the main language. 27% of the municipalities and three of the nineteen counties in Norway use nynorsk as their administrative language; however it should be noted that these places do not include any major cities and hold less than 10% of the total population. Although bokmål is only “spoken” in the areas around Oslo, it remains the dominant language.
Using nynorsk as the main language in schools is up to each school district to decide. All schools are obligated to teach both forms, and must also accommodate for pupils who wish to have the alternative as their main language.
The only folks that really speak the written language of Bokmål are the Sami people up north. For them Norwegian is a second language, thus they have no Norwegian dialect and simply speak Bokmål like it is written.
Everyone else speak various dialects, some closer to Bokmål or Nynorsk than others.
“I am so used to not being involved in conversations, just standing there in my own little world, that when someone speaks Norwegian to me I often can’t find my ‘on’ button.”
This sounds so familiar….
I’m another aussie (born & bred in Darwin but lived all over, including Gippsland), now living in Trondheim with a norwegian husband….and just when I think I’m starting to understand the basics someone speaks to me in another dialect, leaving me once more confused and wondering if I’ll ever be able to speak the language vaguely fluently. The one habit that I’m finding hard to break is speaking english almost all the time at home, I’ll never learn if I don’t practice and all that.
Have just discovered your blog & am loving it…so much of it echos my own experiences here over the past two years.
Beck
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from L-Jay:
Vær så god.
We speak mostly English at home too. It is mainly because we feel as a married couple it is very important for us to communicate. I’ve mentioned this to one of my Norwegian teachers and she kind of didn’t believe in the point. The other reason why we speak more English is so Lilu can speak to her Australian family as soon as possible. She will learn Norwegian too, but there is no rush.
I must admit, having a little one has really given me great opportunities to use my Norwegian. Practically all the commands I say are Norwegian. And her being a ‘beginner’ at Norwegian too means I can use my beginner Norwegian on her
Here in Tromsø, the library has a woman’s book club for ladies who don’t get enough opportunity at home to practise Norwegian. They split into different learning levels and go on social outings too. I’m sure they should have something like this in Trondheim. I’ve been to the main library in Trondheim and it’s pretty groovy – they should have a Norwegian learning program as such – or ask at your local Voksenopplæringen, they would definitely know of other practise groups. (I know it can be scary jumping into a group like this but hey – you’ve already taken the harder step of jumping into Norway…lol)
Lykke til!
I wish i could read from the experience of Polish, Russian, Romanian immigrants in Norway. Some of us are not so lucky to have a Norwegian husband to practice the language with, nor a Norwegian family, not even a Norwegian employer. Some of us don`t have the chance to read or attend norsk kurs because there`s nobody else to stay with the kid until he or she goes to barnehage. Some of us, including me, read Norwegian at night – når barna sover, in case we don`t drop dead of tiredness first. I cannot help smile each time i remember the time when my husband`s employer (of Chinese origin) had nobody else to sell sushi and chinese food and put my husband to do that. My husband was not even by far fluent i norsk. He used to say: “Sometimes i understand what the client want, other times i`m just staying there with a monkey face, but lucky me, Norwegians are so patient and tolerant…i`m always getting away clean-faced“
Within a few weeks he was ok with Norwegian language. The job opportunity switched the button to ON mood:-)
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from L-Jay:
Norwegians always tell me that if I’m thrown in the deep end of the language I will learn a lot quicker but as I like to be independant this method would make me have to rely on other people too much
. We tend to get a lot of Russian immigrants here in the North but I don’t know any who have a blog.
Ei ku, den kua, flere kyr, alle kyrne is the correct way!
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from Moose:
They are both correct – it’s a matter of semantics. “Kuer” refers to the individual adult cows, whereas “kyr” refers to the group or mass of female cattle as a whole – and may also include heifers and even bulls in everyday speech.
Similarly, it’s called “elgkuer”, not “elgkyr”.
Well, hello . I cannot tell you just how much you have lifted my spirits!!! After reading your comments above and nice little stories, I raced to my rubbish bin and retrieved the scrunched ( is that really en English word (?) ) bits of paper from my attempt at today’s homework. Perhaps I can do it afterall….Not easy though at almost 66 yrs of age…..like you . new to Norway ( from Australia ) …Norwegian husband ( also new).Now for a new language.
Yes, I will try again. thanks heaps for your web site……it is absolutely wonderful.
I shall return here daily.
Ja, det synes jeg……..or is it Ja, det tror jeg……
Cheers Gail
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from L-Jay:
Vær så god
halo! Hvordan har du til? Jeg er fra Philippinene.
I’m learning Norsk myself here while waiting for my family reunification result.
It’s difficult yet fun as well;)we are four in the class.Whats great in this was our teacher translate it in our own language(tagalog)and english as well:)but still..hehe, jeg snakker litt Norsk,we are in level1,just started.and i believe that i can speak my husband’s language naturally when i come home with him:)he always tells me,it takes time,no rush at all!anyway,my in-laws speak good english to me so i dont feel awkward my husband speaks like(mumbling)hehehe peace sweetheart!hes from stavanger:)
Jeg liker this page:) keep it up and more power to you!
jeg vil lese mer;)