Lunes, Marso 25, 2013

A Brief Introduction to the Norwegian Language + Some Basic Phrases

My main objective in creating this blog is to make learning the Norwegian language easy and exciting. This blog will feature a very effective social media and multimedia-based method and the best materials for learning Norwegian.

Remember that language learning is like SPORTS or any TALENT. You get better with LOTS and LOTS of  REPETITION and PRACTICE. So make it a habit to repeat every new word or phrase at least 3x and make them a part of your life, i.e. Start using the Norwegian words and phrases  you've learned in your daily life.


*land - country ; språk - language ; Norge - Norway ; norsk - Norwegian

QUICK INTRODUCTION TO THE NORWEGIAN LANGUAGE :

1. Norwegian is called norsk /nɔʃk/  in Norwegian.                      

2. norsk is  spoken primarily in Norway (called Norge /noɾɡyə/ by Norwegians ) by about 4.7 MILLION PEOPLE most of whom are nordmenn (Norwegian people).

It is very similar to  dansk (Danish)  and  svensk (Swedish).


 Sverige   Sverige (Sweden)  Danmark   Danmark  (Denmark)   Norge   (Norway)     


3. There are two official forms of written norsk :

       a.   Bokmål (literally "book language") - the form generally used in public media and taught to foreign 
                 students. It is based on the language spoken by the urban upper and middle class in East Norway. It is used by  
                 80-90% of the population.

         b.      Nynorsk (literally "new Norwegian") is based on the dialects and is more common in rural areas. However, a 

                  lot of people that use Nynorsk are educated people with an affinity for traditions and culture. They claim that 
                  Nynorsk is a richer language which represents more the real Norwegian language, as opposed to Bokmål which   
                  is based on Danish. It is used by around 10% of the population.

Here is a short video clip explaining the difference between Bokmål and Nynorsk. 




OPTIONAL VIDEO TO WATCH:   

Norske dialekter