It goes without saying that if your moving to Norway and plan to live there as an expat, you should learn the Norwegian language. At least, that is if you are a good expat. If you are a bad expat (like me) then, well, you rely on the fact that Norwegians speak fluent English - EVERYWHERE. So, this is where I make all of my good excuses for having lived in Norway for a year and have not learned a word of Norwegian yet. Okay, there is no good excuse…even though almost all Norwegians speak fluent English, I know…there is no excuse!
So for those of us who live in Norway and do not yet know Norwegian, this post can help you find a place to start.
Where can I learn the Norwegian language?
If you have a residence permit in Norway for at least three months and are employed by a Norwegian company (foreign company does not qualify) then you are eligible for FREE Norwegian language courses for foreigners. This is sponsored by the Norwegian Government-Sponsored Language Scheme.
You can find a list of participating municipalities by contacting:
Statens utdanningskontor
Postboks 8105 Dep.
N – 0032 Oslo
Tel. + 47 2200 3800
If you do not meet the requirements above for the free government sponsored Norwegian language courses for foreigners, then there are some other options for you. The best thing to do is find a private school or teacher offering Norwegian language courses.
You can start to look for teachers and schools in the different publications and websites listed below:
Folkeuniversitetet – the largest organization in Norway that offers language training. This is the adult education association.
www.gulesider.no – search this website for “språkskoler” to find language schools
Check out the local newspapers for listings for language schools.
A brief introduction to learning the Norwegian language:
The Norwegian language uses a similar alphabet as the English language but has a few additional characters. Those are the letters æ, ø, å.
Here is an overview of pronunciation of the letters in the Norwegian alphabet:
- A as in father
- E as in bed
- I as in beat
- U as in food
- Æ as in mad
- Ø as in hurt
- Å as in ball
Most consonants are pronounced the same way that you would pronounce them in English but there are a few exceptions:
- J is pronounced like the “y” in yes
- R is a little more “rolled” than the English R
- KJ, KI and KY make a soft k-sound without actually blocking the throat, so that the air makes a sound as it squeezes out
- SJ, SKY, SKJ and SKI as in shop
Here are some basic phrases to get you started:
- Yes = Ja
- No = Nei
- Thank you = Takk
- Thank you very much = Tusen takk
- You’re welcome = Vær så god
- Please = Vær så snill
- Excuse me = Unnskyld meg
- Hello = Hallo
- Goodbye = Ha det
- I do not understand = Jeg forstår ikke
- How do you say this in Norwegian? = Hvordan sier man dette på norsk?
- Where is …? = Hvor er …?
- one = en
- two = to
- three = tre
- four = fire
- five = fem
- six = seks
- seven = sju
- eight = åtte
- nine = ni
- ten = ti
- Day = Dag
- Week = Uke
- Month = Måned
- Year = År
- Monday = mandag
- Tuesday = tirsdag
- Wednesday = onsdag
- Thursday = torsdag
- Friday = fredag
- Saturday = lørdag
- Sunday = søndag
- Today = I dag
- Yesterday = I går
- Tomorrow = I morgen
I hope I have given you a place to start your adventure in learning the Norwegian language. Wish me luck in learning it myself!
Are you an expat in Norway that has learned Norwegian or plans to learn Norwegian? Tell us about your experience in a comment below!
29 responses so far ↓
1 Ryan // Jul 23, 2008 at 12:42 am
Wow, that sounds like a very difficult language to learn, nothing like the romance languages!
2 Katy Castro // Jul 24, 2008 at 12:22 am
Great jump start. I wish I could find the same thing on French as we’ll soon be moving to Paris. I cannot wait.
3 RennyBA // Jul 24, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Did not know my language was that complicated
(just kidding!)
Btw: What great sound words to explain the Norwegian letters æ, ø and å! I will remember that when our family from US is coming over to visit.
4 Kristie // Jul 25, 2008 at 12:42 am
@RennyBA: The most complicated thing about ‘your’ language is that when living in Norway, everyone speaks perfect English!
5 Kristie // Jul 25, 2008 at 12:45 am
@Katy Castro: I know… learning a language is not easy! But good luck moving to Paris. I cant wait to hear more about it. Where are you moving from?
6 Katy Castro // Jul 25, 2008 at 1:16 am
Kristie, currently I live in Las Vegas, NV.
7 Pokin // Jul 29, 2008 at 2:10 pm
What a great list! I always found the most daunting part of moving to a new country (or a region with a new language) to be language. That goes both ways – being forced to learn it when you have no choice, or wanting to get up to speed quickly, but finding that the locals speak your native language better than you! It was my problem in Montreal. Never did get as fluent in French as I wanted. :p
I’d love to visit Norway at some point so this is going to come in very handy.
8 Bleri // Aug 4, 2008 at 6:34 pm
I’d love to live in Norway and as far as I know they are really very educated and special people. If somewone know how to learn norwegian in the cheepest way possible is wellcome to inform me. I am really impresed of their values and thats why I want to get a “little” part of them by learning theyr language and understanding better…….th.y.all
9 louis janus // Sep 1, 2008 at 5:33 am
see my website for hints about learning Norwegian langauge.
10 Rakesh // Sep 26, 2008 at 11:41 pm
No language is difficult to learn. You must have a strong desire and unconditional inclination towards the same. Norwegian dialects are wonderful piece of work by great scholars. I am half way through yet their is a vast glacier yet to be explored. My sincere advice is to find a learning tool on computer to learn the language. Else, if you are able to find a person who speaks fluent Norwegian and have a urge to learn your mother tongue.
Best regards
rakesh
11 John // Sep 30, 2008 at 3:16 am
Hi,
I have a lot of friends in Norway and intend to move there next year. Currently learning the language by myself and I have found the following books to be brilliant:
1. Norwegian in 10 minutes a day
(Bilinual books inc.)
This is just perfect as an introduction, with simple lessons and various things like flash cards you can cut out and keep with you and removable stickers that you can stick on items around the home to keep them in your mind.
2. Teach Yourself Norwegian
(2 CD + book set)
This starts off simple also, more in-depth than the 10 minutes book, and progresses at a good rate. Working through it, I was so surprised how much of the language I had actually picked up – even the stuff that initially seemed scarily complex. Each unit has text and audio, plus exercises at the end. I guess each unit takes between 30 minutes to an hour. As I write this I am at unit 7 of 16, and already I could get by the last time I was in Oslo without needing to use much english – purely from working off these books.
Problem is, as was mentioned, that if people there know english is your first language they’ll just speak english to you most of the time.
One other thing you could do – which I have just recently started – is to visit http://www.nrk.no and check out some of their television programmes. You’ll not understand a lot, but you do notice as you pregress with learning you start to understand loads. The best shows relevant to language that I have found is ‘typisk norsk’ and ‘norsk for nybegyynere’. You pick up a lot from these, and the nybegyynere programme is a series about expats as they deal with living in Norway. Well worth checking out.
Hope this helps
12 Louis Janus // Oct 1, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Don’t forget the info and resources I offer on my website (listed above).
I am a Norwegian teacher in the US.
13 Michelle // Oct 14, 2008 at 12:00 am
I am having trouble finding a website in english to help me find Norweigan launguage classes in Drammen. Can any one help?
14 ally // Feb 9, 2009 at 1:41 am
i’m moving to Oslo soon.. sooo excited with learning a new language! tusen takk for sharing this post. and all your experiences in norway..
15 Jen // Apr 30, 2009 at 9:48 am
So how have you managed to work and survive on knowing so little Norwegian Kristie?
Cheers
16 Kristie // May 4, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Everyone speaks fluent English. Everyone.
17 Jen // May 6, 2009 at 10:50 am
I am an English teacher in the UK and I am relatively new to it as I am 23. I am planning a move to Norway as my boyfriend is Norwegian and this will obviously help. However, I am struggling on where to start. As he is not a teacher he doesn’t have a clue on what you have to do to teach English in Norway. I would be grateful if anyone can spare some advice. Also, being a novice at the Norwegian language do you think this will hinder me greatly in the classroom?
Jen
18 Anders // May 17, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Jen, it all depends at what level you’re planning to teach English. Generally speaking, you can’t teach in primary schools without being fluent in Norwegian. In high schools (age 16-18) you’re not supposed to speak Norwegian at all in English classes anyway, so it won’t matter at all. Not quite sure about middle-schools, but if you’re reasonably qualified and the competition is less than stellar, they’ll probably hire you.
Discipline is more laxed in Norwegian classrooms though, so if you don’t follow a strict no-Norwegian rule in your English classes and don’t understand the language, you -will- get into trouble. That I can guarantee. Especially in middle schools.
(I’m by no means an expert, but I did spend a year teaching science in a norwegian middle school, so I did pick up a few things.)
19 Grayson Mihalik // Jun 5, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Hallo. hvordan har du det? jeg tolv. jeg elsker norsk
20 Kevin // Jul 6, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Hi,
I am starting a new job in Trondheim this month and am worried that being in the North part of country could prove challenging for an expat, especially the language issue. Any thoughts or help on adjusting would be most appreciative.
21 Amy // Jul 11, 2009 at 12:38 am
Hei!
I would like to learn how to speak Norwegian. The problem I’m running into is that for the most part, I can only find “teach yourself” types of courses, without moving to the other side of the country or Oslo No., to learn it.
Anybody know where I can find online courses?
Takk!
Amy
22 Larry Johnson // Jul 12, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I found the BYKI really nice and helpful
They offer a lot for free
and then deluxe is really good
It is like teach yourself, but so intensive that
you feel you have a teacher…
They have many ways within their method
to help you learn
download the free setup and look around
The free part is amazing
http://www.byki.com
23 Louis Janus // Jul 12, 2009 at 3:47 pm
See my website (http://NorwegianLanguage.info) for info on leaning Norwegian, including some simple beginner lessons in Norwegian (NorWord and Pierre’s verbs of the week). Let me know if I can help as I am a Norwegian teacher in Minnesota.
24 Amy // Jul 14, 2009 at 2:02 am
Louis Janus:
Thank you for the feedback. I will look into it. I was hoping ot take some classes here in Wisconsin. I live in the Milwaukee area. Let me know if you know a place. Thanks.
Amy
25 Louis Janus // Jul 14, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Hi. The U of WI in Madison has good courses in Norwegian (I know the instructors). Other than that, I suggest you contact the Milw Sons of Norway and ask http://www.norwayhouse-milw.org/membership.html
Do let me know if you have questions. (Directly emai is best for me:
janus005 at umn dot edu
26 Amanuel // Jul 14, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Hi,
I found your web site to be very help full and important for the beginners of norsk class. could you please inform me an on line tutor of norsk with sound of words or phrases?
Thank you very much for your usual cooperation.
Amanuel
27 disney orlando // Aug 3, 2009 at 8:56 am
Actually, Norwegian pronunciation is the same like my language, Indonesia. But, I’m confused with the letter you wrote upside *lol*
Let me try, Tusen Takk.
28 Grayson Mihalik // Nov 1, 2009 at 2:53 am
hallo. hvordan har du det? jeg bar litt norsk. jeg tolv
29 Grayson Mihalik // Nov 1, 2009 at 2:54 am
hallo. hvordan har du det? jeg bar litt norsk. jeg tolv. that was some norwegian i know. and i am 12 years 0ld
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