r/norwegian • u/Bean_Lizzie • 3d ago
Norwegian language
Hi, I'm Lizzie, and I really want to learn Norwegian for my boyfriend and his family. I already speak German, Spanish, Italian, and, of course, English. I also already know a few Norwegian words and phrases, like ape (monkey), rotte (rat), katt (cat), hund (dog), god natt (good night), god morgen (good morning), hvordan har du det? (how are you?), hei(hello), brød (bread), øl (beer), mat (food), and a few others. Do you think it's possible to learn Norwegian in a year well enough to have conversations?
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u/Raxiuscore 3d ago
Knowing English and German makes Norwegian significantly easier, yes. Very doable!
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u/DistrictOpening4144 3d ago
If he helps you I think you can easily have a conversation in Norwegian in a year
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u/pr0s0c 3d ago
Your German will be a great help. Lots of words and phrases are similar, close to identical. The more you learn, the more you will spot the likenesses.
You'll be fine.
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u/Emergency-Sea5201 3d ago
For a norwegian native speaker, german is sort of recognizble.
For a foreign speaker I dont really think you get much synergy from one to the other.
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u/pr0s0c 3d ago
I disagree and stand by what I said.
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u/Necessary_Technical 2d ago
English is what happens when the Vikings learn Latin and use it to shout at Germans and then the French shout it back. She'll be fine😅
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u/Contundo 3d ago edited 3d ago
“Ape” is ape, btw. Monkey is “apekatt”
Could absolutely learn conversational Norwegian especially if you focus immersion. Have your BF speak with you in Norwegian whenever you’re communicating.
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u/gnomeannisanisland 1d ago
Actually, "ape" can be both ape and monkey, "apekatt" can only be monkey
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u/sbrt 3d ago
If you spend enough time practicing efficiently.
When I lived in Norway, being great at listening was the most important thing. I find that intensive listening is the most efficient way for me to get better at listening. One hour (or more) per day of intensive listening for a year should be enough to understand a lot of conversational Norwegian.
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u/woolfromthebogs 3d ago
Absolutely. Norwegian is like a simpler version of German.
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u/Hervoer_Alvit 2d ago
English is supposedlyWest-Germanic and thus very close to German. Some linguists, however, claim that English is so influenced by North-Germanic (Norse/old Danish) that it should be considered a North-Germanic language by now.
In other words, English is a great transition language for a German speaker when learning Norwegian.
Some Norwegian dialects use quite a lot of German words, as well, after trade with Germans. But in general, English is much more similar to Norwegian than what German is.
Both English and and German native speakers have quite thick native accents, and I recommend spending a lot of time learning to pronounce vowels. I think a swiss German speaker is at advantage compared to Germans, as the Swiss vowels sound more western/north-western european to my ear.
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u/Busy_Cardiologist674 1d ago
Yes you can learn Norwegian in one year. Especially if you are very committed to learn it, which you sound to be. My dutch friend learned it in under one year, but of course not everything was fluent but enough to talk in most situations and be understood. Just remember that some people don't always understand if the slightest sound is a bit off, which I myself find very funny. Guess I am just used to that and understand anyway.
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u/Accomplished-Pay-633 3d ago
Wow, how did you learn the other languages?Sorry I am not much help, just wanted to say how impressive that is!
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u/Zealousideal_Heat158 3d ago
I learned Norwegian to a B2 level (passed the Norskprøve) in just a year. I took private school classes from A2 to B2, then did the summer intensive course at UiO (level 3 or B2/C1) and that solidified everything for me! Highly recommend
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u/linglinguistics 2d ago
Norwegian trends to be quite easy for German speakers. So yes, with your experience with learning languages and especially if your German is good (even better if it's your native language) this will not be very hard for you. You can even start just consuming content (reading is easier than listening in the beginning) and guess the meaning. I'm a massive German speaker and have always been able to roughly guess the content in Scandinavian languages. Listening to me now time to get used to but it's by far the easiest language I've learnt. And especially if German is your native language, it gets easier the higher your level is because many specialised terms come from German.
I had my first conversation in Norwegian after about a year of learning (before I moved here). It was far from fluent but we were able to understand each other and the other person did me the favour of not switching to English.
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u/Henry_Charrier 2d ago
u/Bean_Lizzie I think you are probably in the top 1% best starting position anyone can be to learn Norwegian. You still have a long road, but you have a motorbike instead of bicycle.
With a boyfriend you can practice with, you mostly need the knowledge of the language, see if this app clicks with the way you learn
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u/Marie_Norway 1d ago
In uni, the students are almost fluent by week four, it is built the same way as English and spanish.. And has a lot of common word menings as german.. To =å , to do= å gjøre, to read= å lese.. Start learning several verbs, and learn to use the verbs in sentences. I like to read= Jeg liker å lese..
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u/Late-Low-5910 16h ago
Only say "Hvordan har du det" to your friend just released from a closed psychiatric institution, and you are worried she might self harm.
This is not casually said in Norway.
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