After class I was chatting with some friends.  I was invited to a dance party.  I grabbed out my phone and said with my Australian laziness ‘Better write this down, have a brain like sieve’.  An awkward moment passed and I suddenly realised the girl right next to me was called Siv.  I quickly laughed [...]

Morphology is the study of words.  How words are structured, patterned and evolve tell us a lot about who influenced what language.  In How Vikings Changed the English Language: Spelling we discussed how words were spelt in Old English and Norse – phonetically.  However, as English went through the Great Vowel Shift English spelling was [...]

I always hear from other immigrants that Norwegians are rude as they don’t talk to you on the street.  However, this is always due to the misunderstanding of Norwegian culture and character. The Norwegian language is about saying something with as little fuss as possible.  In English, to be polite when you meet a friend [...]

When travelling in Norway it is important to know danger signs.  This is one of them: FARE SKYTEFELT means ‘shooting range’.  These can be found scattered throughout long stretches of land along highways.  They are army practice areas.  Hang on – bullets can’t read!  How do they know to stop before the sign?  Heaven forbid [...]