#norwegian vocab list

[er-cryptid]

Christmas Decorations (Norwegian)

Patreon

[an-american-in-norway]

(en) hvitløk - garlic et hvitløkfedd - a garlic clove (en) kanel - cinnamon en/ei kanelstang - a cinnamon stick (en) kardemomme - cardemom (et) salt - salt (en) pepper - pepper en paprika - paprika (or red bell pepper) (en) estragon - tarragon (en) timian - thyme spisskummen - cumin (en) gurkemeie - tumeric (en) salvie - sage (en) oregano - oregano (en) karri - curry (en) rosmarin - rosemary et anisfrø - aniseed (en) allehånde - allspice (en) nellik - a clove en/ei muskatnøtt - nutmeg et laurbærblad - a bay leaf koriander - coriander (spice), cilantro (plant) et frø - seed hel - whole malt - powdered

[studyscrasic]

I recently read an article on forskning.no (Hva er det James Webb-teleskopet har sett på Saturn-månen Encedalus?) and made a list of unfamiliar vocabulary words and their definitions.

I figured I might as well use them to make a vaguely space-themed Norwegian vocabulary list here for anyone interested -- and for my own memory. The article is also really interesting, and on a very cool (literally, ha) phenomenon in space!

tilsynelatende (adv) - seemingly, apparently (en) ytterkant (noun, m) - fringe, outer edge (en) romsende (noun, m) - a space probe mengde (noun, m) - a great number, amount; quantity, multitude å sprute (verb) - to spray, to squirt (en) overflate (noun, m/f) - surface (en) bane (noun, m) - trajectory, orbit smultringformende (adj) - doughnut-shaped (et) metan (n, neu) - methane (en) vanndamp (n, masc) - water vapor å peke (v) - to point en bunn (n, m) - bottom, lowermost part utenomjordisk (adj) - extraterrestrial foreløpig (adj) - preliminary, provisional, temporary (et) felt (n, neu) - a field å strekke (v) - to stretch å anta (v) - to presume, to assume (et) grunnstoff (n, neu) - a chemical element å tyde (v) - to decipher, to interpret

[corvid-language-library]

Language Learning Log 2025 - Week 7 (09/02 〜 15/02)

Banner: We had a lot of snow this week. This was taken last Sunday, and we had a lot more throughout the week!

For Japanese this week, I:

Watched FFVII Remake with Japanese VA/Subtitles

Renshuu quizzes

Read 1x news article

Reviewed kanji with Kanji Dojo app

For Norwegian this week, I:

Read a short article

Went through some recently learned vocab and started making a post

Other things I did this week:

Had a cold and was very brave about it

Wrote 15641 words

Watched Crisis Core cutscene movie (almost 6 hours long)

Covered irregular classes at the school an hour away from me

Shovelled around 70cm of snow from 4 car parking spaces

Made soup

Emailed the useless twats at SLC (again ughh)

Went to the 100¥ store for stuff I needed to organise my lesson materials

Organised the lesson materials I currently have + started making lists of I need to prepare

My goals this past week were:

Work out daily ✅ (Dragged my heels some days and ended up switching some things around on account of being sore/having a cold, but I got it done)

Continue watching FFVII with Japanese VA + subtitles ✅

Write 10K words ✅ (I had 2 days where I wrote over 3K and one day where I wrote over 4K!)

Make soup ✅ (It's pretty good!)

Go to the 100¥ store to get a ring binder, label stickers, wrapping paper and plastic wallets ✅ (I need a second ring binder because turns out one isn't enough, oops! But at least I got all the other stuff)

Start making a post about recently learned/reviewed Norwegian vocab ✅ (I'll try to finish it this week!)

Make at least one post about recently learned Japanese vocab/kanji ✅ (Rushed one on Saturday evening after realising I hadn't done it hehe)

My goals for this coming week are:

Create 8 new vocab picture cards + put them around the flat

Continue watching FFVII with Japanese VA + subtitles

Finish + publish post about recently learned Norwegian vocab

Write 7K words

Go to the 100¥ store for a second ring binder and organise my materials between the two

Make progress acquiring birthday presents for R & L

[nordic-language-love]

Norwegian cold & flu vocab list

Because I have a cold and I’m grumpy about it.

forkjølelse (en) - cold influensa (en) - flu infeksjon (en) - infection virus (et) - virus smittemåte (en) - route of infection smittsom - contagious

symptom (et) - symptom feber (en) - fever vondt i halsen - a sore throat rennende nese (en/ei) - a runny nose hodepine (en/ei) - headache tørrhoste (en) - dry cough slim (et) - mucus tap av appetitt - loss of appetite ømme muskler (en øm muskel) - sore/tender/aching muscles muskelsmerter (en muskelsmerte) - muscle pain frysninger (en/ei frysning) - chills

sliten - tired grinete - grumpy sur - sour/annoyed/upset/mad lei - fed up blek - pale

å bli (være) forkjølet - to get (have) a cold å bli (være) syk - to get (be) sick/to fall (be) ill å smitte - to infect å vare - to last å nyse - to sneeze å hoste - to cough å lindre - to relieve å miste stemmen - to lose one’s voice

jeg vil legge meg - I want to go to bed jeg vil sove - I want to sleep jeg orker ikke - I don’t have the energy/I don’t want to/I can’t be bothered jeg er så lei av å være syk - I’m so fed up of being ill jeg føler meg kvalm - I feel sick du ser litt blek ut - you look a bit pale du ser jævlig ut - you look terrible/you look like shit

[errorca-learns-norsk]

Smittsomme sykdommer | Infectious diseases

Made a vocab list of common or well-known (historically or because of vaccination programs for example) infectious diseases, since the non-scientific names can be so different between languages! Spoiler alert, chicken pox does not involve kylling 🐓

forkjølelse | cold (minor respiratory infection)

hundegalskap | rabies (is often also just called rabies in Norwegian as well)

influensa | flu

kikhoste | whooping cough

kjønnssykdom | sexually transmitted disease

kusma | mumps

kyssesyk | “kissing disease,”mononucleosis

matforgiftning | food poisoning

meslinger | measles

miltbrann | anthrax

omgangssyke | stomach bug (popular term used for various short-term contagious stomach illnesses)

røde hunder | rubella

stivkrampe | tetanus (aka lockjaw)

tuberkulose | tuberculosis

vannkopper | chicken pox

nearly the same in Norwegian & English: covid-19, difteri (diphtheria), HIV, klamydia, malaria, polio

Bonus: Check out Store medisinske leksikon if you want to do any medical reading in Norwegian :)

[thewordhord]

Norwegian Learning Resource List!

I’m currently working through the A1-A2 level of Norwegian and thought I’d make a list of the resources I’m using / have discovered in my studies.

YouTube Channels for Learners:

1. Norsk med Aria

2. Learn Norwegian Now

3. To Understand Norwegian (slowest and clearest speaking style from this list, so good for beginners)

4. Norsklærer Karense

5. Norwegian with Ilys

Books:

I’m using The Mystery of Nils as my base method for learning grammar and vocabulary. I think it’s one of my favorite textbooks I’ve used if for no other reason than the story is actually somewhat interesting.

I also have the Short Stories in Norwegian book from Olly Richards’ series. These are usually decent, but in this case I’ve only used the first chapter.

Podcasts for learners:

1. Lær Norsk Nå (same guy as YouTube channel above)

2. Norsklærer Karense (same as above, but different content)

Podcasts for Native Speakers:

1. Forklart

2. Krimpodden

Instagram accounts (I assume most of these are from TikTok, but I don’t have TikTok so idk):

1. Norwegian with Tor

2. Preben’s Norwegian Community

Apps:

1. Duolingo - the course for Norwegian is OK

2. Mjølnir NOR - I never really got far with this one but it’s a grammar / vocab app specifically for Norwegian

3. Anki - everyone knows about it, but I specifically wanted to mention a deck called Norwegian Sentences with Audio. It has about 7000 cards. I like to use it to practice pronunciation and then see if I can build a similarly structured sentence.

4. NRK Radio - Norwegian radio live

[woahzpeltwrong]

WHAT I THINK OF YOU BASED ON YOUR DUOLINGO LANGUAGE OF CHOICE AS A PERSON WITH AN ALMOST 800 DAY LONG STREAK EXCEPT IT KIND OF DEVOLVES AND I MOSTLY COMPLAIN ABOUT DUOLINGO:

(I hope i did this cut right if not this is gonna be LLLOOONG)

Spanish: The classic. It's classic because it's the language that Duolingo is best at. It's actually half decent. You actually have a chance at learning Spanish! Besides that, you probably enjoy the memes about Duolingo, and I imagine your streak is decently long.

French: Everything I know about french Duolingo is bad. It's the only language that's picky about punctuation, it's often wrong for no reason, you probably are struggling. Also, can you conjugate a verb? Duolingo is generally bad with that. Besides that, everyone I know who does French duolingo is slightly pretentious and I don't think I trust you as a person.

German: Ohhhh boy. If you're attempting to learn German with Duolingo alone you might as well just buy the textbook already. While Duolingo is already not great, grammar is so rough for German on Duolingo. Please don't try to learn German grammar with Duolingo. Anyway I think if you're learning German in general you're pretty cool and that's no different for Duolingo learners. Best of luck to yall

Italian: I don't actually know much about Italian Duolingo. I do know that the two people I know that the two people that I know who do Italian Duolingo are gay though so Im assuming you're either Italian-American or gay.

Japanese: This used to be so, so much worse. They improved it, though. It's actually not horrible! Please do supplement your learning with something besides Duolingo, though. You will learn practically nothing otherwise. Anyway 99% chance you like anime because you're learning Japanese on Duolingo

Chinese: it could definitely be worse! It's definitely HORRIBLE, but it is usually actually right and its grammar isn't absolute trash like some of the other ones. It is definitely on the worse side for grammar, but it's not Latin. Aside from all of that, I do think there's at least a 25% chance you're doing this because you ARE Chinese, and a 75% chance you're doing this because you heard Mandarin was hard and wanted to see how true that was without putting money into it.

Russian: ME TOO!!!! This is my primary language on Duolingo currently and all I have to say is why? It's really not worth using Duolingo for, since I started in October 2022 and all I can say is that my potato is cold. It's primarily focused on vocabulary, but it's very random vocabulary, and you learn exactly none of the grammar at any point. I think you're cool :)

Korean: immediately stop. Please learn Korean somewhere else. It's not worth it. One of the worse ones, but at least it's not Latin Duolingo. If you actually actively do this you TERRIFY me and i am begging you to stop

Portuguese: uhhhh.... sure, i guess. It's not great, but it's... fine, I think. It's decent for vocabulary, if nothing. I have literally never met a Portuguese Duolingo learner though

Arabic: ALPHABET? YES. EVERYTHING ELSE? PLEASE NO. My opinion of you is the exact same as for Chinese, 75% chance you heard it was hard and didn't want to commit yet

Dutch: I genuinely did not know this was on Duolingo until I started doing this. Since it's not super popular I am also going to assume Duolingo does not care about it and it is probably only good for vocab. I do not think you are out there, I do not think people learn Dutch on Duolingo.

Swedish: as always please learn on something else its only good for vocabulary anyway you probably live in sweden, i think? Isnt it popular there or something??

Norwegian: general rule of thumb: vocabulary is the only thing duolingo is good at. Anyway, what? Learn somewhere else, anything below chinese on the list has been left to rot and they do not care about it

Turkish: wwwwow. You are really something! Learn Turkish somewhere else. At least it's not Latin

.....

At this point i became tired of saying "it's only good for vocabulary, learn grammar somewhere else." This can be assumed for literally everything.

.....

Polish: YOU SCARE ME POLISH DUOLINGO IS HARD

Irish: you are above the age of 45 and american

Greek: you are a mythology buff

Hebrew: you were probably curious. Everyone else learned somewhere else

Danish: im sorry that you're learning Danish. You are a sad person.

Hindi: The only person I know who is doing Hindi Duolingo is Indian herself, so I guess you're probably Indian idk

Czech: ...???????? Stop

Esperanto: generally i just hate Esperanto with such a burning passion that i don't think anyone should learn it

Ukranian: you're trying! I imagine you will give up in a week though, sorry!

Welsh: I'm all for protecting endangered languages but this isnt how to do it

Vietnamese: a language with six tones and they teach you how to pronounce 0 of them. You're probably cool but stop with duolingo

Hungarian: I did not know this was on duolingo! Very brave of you to try learning a Uralic language on Duolingo, is it going horribly?

Swahili: learn somewhere else. You are probably so cool but duolingo and SWAHILI??????????

Romanian: The only person ive ever met who did this gave up in 3 days because duolingo sucks. I am assuming your streak is no longer than a week

Indonesian: ..... okay. Sure. At least its not Latin.... I think you started learning this completely for fun though

Hawaiian: I HATE DUOLINGO FOR THIS!!!! IT IS A CRITICALLY ENDANGERED LANGUAGE IT DESERVES SO MUCH BETTER!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU FOR LEARNING IT BUTHFJCNEIFBDJFJDSJD!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE YOU DUOLINGO

Navajo: see above. Love you. Hate duolingo.

Klingon and High Valyrian: i hate you

Latin: HERE IT IS. MY WORST ENEMY. GOD I HATE LATIN DUOLINGO. THE AUDIO QUALITY WAS CLEARLY RECORDED IN A CAR. ITS NOT EVEN GOOD FOR VOCABULARY BECAUSE IT IS LITERALLY WRONG VERY VERY OFTEN. ITS SUPER PICKY ON WORD ORDER AND FOR WHAT? ITS LATIN!!! ITS NOT PICKY!!!! IVE BEEN LEARNING LATIN IN A FORMAL SETTING FOR 3 YEARS NOW AND I HATE LATIN DUOLINGO MORE THAN ANYTHING. IF YOU WANT TO LEARN LATIN BUY A LATIN ENGLISH DICTIONARY. IF YOU WANT GRAMMAR GO ONTO MAGISTRULA. ITS A GREAT WEBSITE FOR LATIN GRAMMAR. OH, BUT WHAT ISNT GREAT? DUOLINGO. IN LATIN, TO ANNOY IS TRANSLATED AS "vexare". THIS IS. ACCORDING TO DUOLINGO, "to come from". WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT??? I HATE DUOLINGO. I HATE THIS. ITS ALWAYS WRONG. THE AUDIO QUALITY IS ACTUALLY GARBAGE. I HATE DUOLINGO I HATE DUOLINGO I HATE DUOLINGO. DO NOT LEARN LATIN ON DUOLINGO!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE DUOLINGO SO MUCH I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT DONT USE LATIN DUOLINGO YOU ARE BEING LIED TO

Scottish Gaelic: you are again over 45 and American

Finnish: ohhhh god. I am so sorry. Ur cool ig but im sorry

Yiddish: i am, again, so sorry. Its duolingo. You can't write IN YIDDISH in duolingo because of course you cant

Haitian Creole and Zulu: I don't believe you these are the bottom two languages

[snowfaded]

12/16/2023

norsk bokmål practice, total – 1h30m

general studying, vocab + grammar: 1h20m quick vocab list revision: 10m

so, last night i was rewatching one of my favorite norwegian shows, and i challenged myself to listen to the dialogue without the subtitles, and see what i could pick up on / understand. i was really shocked by the amount i understood!! i found it to be a very encouraging exercise and it helped me understand more about the pronunciation of the language <3

i added a good amount of words to my vocab list, but with that being said, i also was able to remove quite a few that i finally have down. the goal is obviously to memorize and learn more while still retaining the info i've already learned, and i feel like i'm finally working out what works best for me in order to achieve that

[rizlearns]

very excited to have stumbled across this gem of a vocabulary list as i studied/work with GIS (geographic information systems) myself so this is super super helpful and interesting for me! just sharing this resource in the langblr/tumblr format. please see citation/source below!

'Fellesordliste for GIS Ord'

english - entall - flertall Aerial Photograph - et ortofoto - ortofoto Alignment - justering Attribute - et attributt - attributtindekser Attribute index - en attributtindeks - attributtindekser Attribute table - en attributttabell - attributttabeller Buffer - en buffer(sone) - buffere Column - en kolonne - kolonner Curve - en kurve - kurver Coordinate System - et koordinatsystem - koordinatsystem Data Source - en datakilde - datakilder Grid - et rutenett - rutenett Image - et bilde - bilder Label - en påskrift - påskrifter Layer - et lag - lag Layout (print layout/composer) - en utskriftslayout - utskriftslayouter Legend - en tegnforklaring - tegnforklaringer Line - en linje - linjer Map Canvas - et kartvindu - kartvindu Map Unit - en kartenhet - kartenheter Node - et knutepunkt - knutepunk North arrow - en nordpil - nordpiler Overview - en oversikt - oversikter Plugin - et programtillegg - programtillegg Point - et punkt - punkt Polygon - en flate - flater Primary key - en primærnøkkel - primærnøkler Query - en spørring - spørringer Rasteret - raster - raster Row - en rad - rader Scale - en målestokk - målestokker Scalebar - en målestokkslinje - målestokkslinjer Spatial (adj) - romlig - romlige Spaital index - et romlig indeks - romlige indekser Schema - et skjema - skjema Table - en tabell - tabeller Transparency - gjennomsiktighet Vector - en vektor - vektorer

Verbs english - infinitiv - presens -preteritum - presens perfektum

to buffer - å bufre - bufrer - bufret - har bufret to clip - å klippe - klipper - klippet - har klippet to digitise - å digitalisere - digitaliserer - digitaliserte - har digitalisert to merge - å slå sammen - slår sammen - slo sammen - har slått sammen to render - å tegne opp - tegner opp - tegnet opp - har tegnet opp

credit/citations: tott, james. fellesordliste for GIS ord. james in norway, 2019. https://jamesinnorway.net/fellesordliste-for-gis-ord-bokmal/

[adito-lang]

Adito’s Langblr Content Masterpost

Here you’ll find an overview of my langblr content for Japanese, Norwegian, Dutch, and most recently Mandinka! I update regularly as I create more posts. 

日本語・Japanese

Vocabulary lists (*** indicates that the vocabulary is from an article or other source which you can refer to for practice):

🗣  Advice

✨  ASMR triggers (includes list of Japanese ASMRtists) 

🏖  Beach

🈹 Coupons・Sales

💉  Coronavirus vaccine side-effects

🌏  Energy conservation***

⛸  Figure skating - Skating season and competitions・Jumps・Performance・Programs・Scoring・Yuzuru Hanyu’s master thesis***

🌡 First aid for heat strokes***

🐞  Insects

💍 Jewelry

💼 Part-time job listings

🏳️‍🌈  Queer issues: Queer sexuality and gender identity・Failure to pass LGBTQ bill***

❄️ Winter-themed katakana vocab

Grammar/Expressions (some are tagged #lessons with 松島先生, some are tagged #jlpt n2):

「馬が合う」

「~を当然のことと思う」

「~ば、~のに」

「~ばいいのに・~ばよかったのに」

「~際に」

「~に際して・にあったて」

「~たとたん」

「~(か)と思うと・(か)と思ったら」

Culture:

Christmas in Japan: history

Coming of Age Day (成人の日)

Food: 🍜 Seasonal dishes・Recipe

New Year's: New Year's dreams (初夢)・dishes (おせち料理)・traditions

Proverbs: 金の光は阿弥陀ほど

Short story: 💃🏻 伊豆の踊子 (The Dancing Girl of Izu)・☎️ まちがい電話 (Wrong number)

Winter solstice (冬至) and unzakari (運盛り)

Norsk・Norwegian

Vocabulary lists (*** indicates that the vocabulary is from an article or other source which you can refer to for practice):

🗣  Advice

✨  ASMR triggers (includes list of Norwegian ASMRtists) 

🚘 Driving

🎲 Games

🤔  False friends Norwegian-German

⛰  Hiking trails

🔴 Menstruation

🗳 Parliamentary elections

♨️ Sauna

⛷️ Skiing

☀️ Summer

🏊🏼‍♀️ Swimming

💤  Types of common dreams

🏳️‍🌈  Queer sexuality and gender identity

🥦 Vegetables

💪🏽 Verbs related to the body: head・arms/hands・legs/feet

Grammar:

🔚 Equivalent word endings Norwegian-German

🤲🏽 Garpegenitiv possessive construct

🎯 The old dative case preserved in dialects

⏳ Temporal prepositions

Ord/Uttrykk: å lukte & å smake・i ferd med・på størrelse med・må nok・samme hvor mye

Culture:

Christmas traditions

Kebabnorsk - Norwegian multiethnolect

Oslo Pride

Travelogue:

Juli 2022: 1・2・3・4・5・6・7・8・9 & 10

Listening practice

Interview with Yama Wolasmal on Lindmo

Podcasts for intermediate/advanced learners

Street interview "Most beautiful language"

Nederlands・Dutch

Vocabulary lists (*** indicates that the vocabulary is from an article or other source which you can refer to for practice):

✨  ASMR triggers (includes list of Dutch/Belgian ASMRtists) 

🤔  False friends Dutch-German - Verbs・Adjectives・Nouns

🏳️‍🌈  Queer sexuality and gender identity

🌷  Tulips***

Grammar (these are tagged #dutch grammar notes):

Closed vs. open syllables

Diminutives

Nouns (singular and plural)

Spelling rules

Hebben vs. zijn with verbs of movement in the perfect tense

Culture:

Books: vocab from Allah heeft ons zo gemaakt

Poetry: vraagje・Frank Keizer

Mandinka

Resources:

Vocabulary:

🔢 Numbers and counting

❓ Question words - Where? (Places)

Grammar:

Verbs (present tense)

[overdevv]

Back at it again with another vocab list! As always, feel free to message me if I need to change anything. Hope this helps!~

Fisk - Fish

abbor - perch

aure - trout

avkokt torsk - boiled cod

brisling - sprat

fiskeboller - fish balls

flyndre - flounder

fiskekaker - fisk cakes

fiskepudding - fish pudding

fiskegratin - fish soufflé

gjedde - pike

hellefisk (kveite) - halibut

hummer - lobster

hvitting - whiting (merling)

karpe - carp

kolje - haddock

krabbe - crab

kreps - crayfish

laks - salmon

lutefisk - prepared from codfish in potash lye

reker - shrimps

rødspette - plaice (flatfish)

røket laks - smoked salmon

sardiner - sardines

sild - herring

spekesild - pickled herring

tungeflyndre - sole (another kind of flatfish)

ørret - trout

østers - oysters

ål - eel

[studyscrasic]

Read and pulled new vocabulary from another Norwegian-language article, Finner spor av ukjente vulkanutbrudd i manuskripter fra middelalderen, and thought I'd made another short vocab list.

I loved reading this one as it combined my interest in history and science and the work these researchers are doing is so cool! Forskning.no is rapidly becoming my favorite site for Norwegian news and articles.

formørkelse (n, masc) - an eclipse å vekke (v) - to arouse, to cause, to wake someone å reagere (v) - to react frykt (n, masc) - a fear å framstå (v) - to appear, to seem skygge (n, masc) - a shadow, shade tidsskrift (n, neu) - a magazine, a journal å inneholde - to contain svovel (masc or neu) - sulfur bevis (n, neu) - proof, evidence å koble (v) - to connect, to link, to couple åpenbaring (n, m/f) - a revelation, a manifestation å notere (v) - to note, to list, to write down begivenhet (n, m/f) - an event å bekrefte (v) - to confirm kjølig (adj) - cool, chilly å snevre (v) - to narrow

[corvid-language-library]

Language Learning Log 2025 - Week 4 (19/01 〜 25/01)

Banner: I finally took my LED staff for a spin! I don't have room to train properly at home and the weather's not good enough to go to the park, but I had plenty of space at this week's classroom. It's not a very clear picture because it's a video still, but trust me, it looks cool :P

For Japanese this week, I:

Reviewed kanji on Kanji Dojo + learned 3 new

Did various Renshuu quizzes

Read 2x NHK Easy articles

Started learning + practised singing 六等星

Took kanji quizzes + challenges on Kanshudo

Tried to speak a little Japanese with my colleagues and friends

Watched FFVII Rebirth & Remake cutscenes in Japanese with Japanese CCs + English subs

Started making FFVII Japanese vocab lists

For Norwegian this week, I:

Read 3x articles

Other things I did this week:

Wrote 13812 words

Got through PO lessons

FINALLY did some flow arts (LED staff)

Emailed SLC in an attempt to fix my student loan situation

Started keeping a journal about my students

Sent my supervisor all the receipts for the team social fund

My goals this past week were:

Make tumblr posts about recently learned kanji ✅ (Only one, but it counts)

Continue watching FFVII Rebirth in Japanese ✅ (I watched a few more hours!)

Write 7K words ✅ (Managed to write almost double!)

Work out on at least 3 days ❌ (I did play with my LED staff but only enough to work up a sweat on one day, oops)

Get through POs without (much) mishap ✅ (No mishaps!)

My goals for this coming week are:

Finish watching FFVII Rebirth cutscene movie in Japanese

Write something in Norwegian (journal entry, fiction, messages, anything)

Work out on at least 3 days

Write 10K words

Get through PO lessons without too much mishap

Learn 3 new kanji

[nordic-language-love]

Hello! I hope you’re doing well! I was wondering if you could give me some advice when it comes to furthering my language learning. I’ve been learning Norwegian on Duolingo for almost 5 years now but I feel like I’ve barely made any progress into actually learning the language. I’ve seen you mention that Duolingo isn’t the best way to learn a language, just on its own. What more can I be doing to actually learn Norwegian? I appreciate any insight you might be able to give. Thank you!

Hi there!

I actually think Norwegian Duo's not that bad, especially compared to other courses. It got me to A2 level without my really using any other resources! But of course, A2 is still only the top of beginner level, and from thereon out it's pretty ineffective on its own (although I still used it even at B2 level as a way to refresh vocab I'd forgotten or just do a little practice every day when I didn't have the time or energy to do anything else).

There are a lot of different ways you can study Norwegian. Here are some things I did (it's an essay lmao I'm so sorry):

1) Listen to Norwegian radio. You'll probably think I'm mad when you first try it because you'll probably understand very little other than the odd word here and there, but I promise it gets easier and you'll get used to the rhythm of the language in a way Duolingo doesn't prepare you for. Try to shadow the speakers (repeat what they say just after they say it. You don't have to know the words they're actually saying; just approximate the phonemes and the melody and the stress patterns. I promise you your pronunciation is gonna get SO good)

2) Take to Youtube. Check my resources list here for some links to channels that teach Norwegian.

3) Norwegian podcasts! I made a list of some beginner/intermediate-friendly ones (check the link in point 2). The plus with podcasts is you can slow the speed down to half-speed too. Again, don't be discouraged if it's difficult at first; just focus on the rhythm and stress of the language

4) Norwegian TV. You're gonna struggle at first but you need to struggle to improve, so don't be discouraged even if several months pass without you feeling like there's any improvement. Intermediate level sucks I'm afraid. Some shows I like that don't require a VPN (as of the time I'm posting this) are Fra bølle til bestevenn (it's got dogs in it), Hva feiler det deg (game show where normal people with internet compete against doctors to guess a patient's diagnosis), 113 (documentary following paramedics in Trondheim - try not to cry at the dialects), Klassequizen (quiz show with 10th graders, pretty A2/B1-friendly), Side Om Side (popular sitcom, sometimes the second-hand embarrassment kills me but mostly it's pretty funny) and Superkrim (did you know that crime stories around Easter time are a Thing in Norway? They make a new season of this one every year but it's accessible year-round, and the language is a lot simpler than a lot of shows, and it's pretty fun and a bit silly)

Note: subtitles are in Norwegian only, and half the time they match the nuance but not the actual words being said. I recommend trying to listen without them first, then listen with them, then listen without them again and see if you can catch a few more words.

5) Textbooks, if that's your jam. I recommend The Mystery Of Nils (you can jump straight to book 2: Mysteriet om Nils if you think you're ready. It's a bit of a jump but no point wasting money/time on something that you won't enjoy) and Norwegian Tutor (from the Teach Yourself series. The first few chapters will seem pretty basic but it's great at explaining nuances and prepositions in later chapters).

6) Read things in Norwegian. You can get short stories for beginner/intermediate level online, as well as read news articles (even if you can't read the whole article, just try the first paragraph). When I was about A2 level I would print things out and go through them just translating them, highlighting new words, words I'd encountered before but couldn't remember, words I could work out from context, particular grammar patterns and words I couldn't figure out and needed the help of a native speaker to work out.

7) Follow Norwegian accounts on social media. Here's a list I made earlier.

8) If you have some extra cash, investing in an italki tutor can be helpful. I've had lessons with a number of tutors so feel free to send me a message if you want help deciding which one to go with.

9) Keep a journal in Norwegian. Look up words you don't know and write them in a different colour. Maybe try to use words you learned that day and write them in a different colour too (even if by using them you're literally just writing "jeg lærte ordet «______» i dag. Det betyr ______")

10) You can also try creative writing. I started out by writing fiction largely in English but with Norwegian dialogue. I then moved on to writing short articles and then essays, then short stories and fan fiction.

11) You can try apps like HiNative and HelloTalk to find native speakers for language exchange. If you only know English though it might be difficult to find people because Norwegians typically speak really good English and aren't looking to learn/practice.

12) Listen to Norwegian music. Get on spotify and search "norsk (music genre of your choice)" and find some songs you like. Listen to them and pay attention to the lyrics. Then find the lyrics online and listen with the lyrics. Then try to translate the lyrics on your own. Finally, look up someone else's translation and see how close they are. Then try to learn the song and visualise meaning it with your whole heart as you sing along.

13) Practise speaking to yourself. It feels super awkward when you first start, but I always manage to get into the flow pretty quickly. You can have GT in front of you so you can look up things if you need to, or you can just write down words you don't know/couldn't think of as you go along, then look them up once you're done (I prefer this method; having GT in front of you encourages your brain to be lazy and not try to actively recall the information you need). Not sure what to write? Try my Speaking In 20 Challenge prompts.

14) Flashcards. I put this one last because really flashcards are only useful as a supplement to learning through other methods. They help to keep vocab fresh in your mind until you see it in context again (and it's the seeing words in context that's gonna cement the meaning in your brain. I've never heard anyone say "oh, I know that word because it was in my flashcard deck that I reviewed every night before bed", but I hear people say things like "oh, I know that obscure word because I watched cooking shows in my TL and the host said it aaaall the time" or "it's in a line from one of my favourite songs" a LOT).

Okay, that's it, essay over 😅 Hope I gave you some ideas! Best of luck with your Norwegian-learning journey!

[norwegianlearner]

yoga (en) yoga

å gjøre yoga to do yoga

å praktisere to practise

yogapraksis (en) yoga practice

å trene to train

yogatrening (en) yoga training

yogi (en) yogi

yogalærer/yogainstruktør (en) yoga teacher/yoga instructor

yogaskole(en)/yogaklasse (en)/yogastudio(et) yoga school/yoga class/yoga studio

yogatime (en) yoga lesson

yogaklær yoga clothes

yogautstyr (et) yoga equipment

yogamatte (en) yoga mat

yogabag/bærestropp(en) yoga mat bag/strap

kloss/blokk (en) block

bolster/pute (en) pillow

ball (en)/hjul(et) ball/wheel

belte (et) belt

håndkle (et) towel

teppe (et) blanket

å slappe av to relax

meditasjon (en) meditation

å meditere to meditate

åndelig spiritual

å koble til/av fra to connect/disconnect

indre/ytre inner/outer

sinn (et) mind

kropp (en) body

sjel (en) soul

angst (en) anxiety

ro (en) calmness

å finne fred i to find peace in

å fokusere på to focus on

konsentrasjon (en) concentration

motivasjon (en) motivation

å puste to breathe

å puste (inn/ut) to breathe (inhale/exhale)

pust (en) breath

pusteteknikk (en) breathing technique

mønster (et) pattern

dyp deep

lavendel (en) lavender

stearinlys (et) candle

yogaposisjon (en) yoga pose x

å øve på to practise on

fysisk øvelse (en) physical exercise

å prøve to try

stilling (en) position, posture

å sitte med bena i kors/kryss to sit cross-legged

å sitte på hælene to sit on heels

sittende stilling sitting position

å ligge på ryggen/magen to lie on back/stomach

liggende stilling lying position

å stå opp to stand up

handstående handstand

hodestående headstand

å bøye knærne to bend the knees

forover/fremover bøy forward bend

bakover bøy backward bend

fleksibilitet (en) flexibility

fleksibel flexible

styrke (en) strength

sterk strong

balanse (en) balance

å holde/miste to keep/lose

å gjenta sekvensen to repeat the sequence

solhilsen A/B sun salutation A/B