Hello, I gave lived in Norway for 11 months now. I am a native English speaker. I have been practicing speaking on my home alone with my spouse who also doesn't speak Norwegian. We watch Norwegian TV, use Duolingo, read childrens books for their simple grammer and vocabulary, among other things. Given the amount of time I have been here it's obvious I would have never learned to speak the language in one years time, I am frustrated a bit at my ability to make myself understood without switching to English. Which is a double edged sword as I can always make myself understood but it is a crutch to learning Norwegian. I am 30 years old, and I have never had to learn a second language. I feel I am okay to good at reading, comprehending and writing the language but bad at speaking it and worse at being understood. I know it will take time. I would love to hear about others experiences in learning Norske and becoming comprehendible to the average Norwegian. Thanks in advance! :)

Hello. There was a post i think about 2/3 years about someone who passed the b2 level and made an excel with many many words and expressions. Do any of you have a link to that post? I cant find it! It was named something like "doms resources" or something. Takk!!

I'm learning Norwegian, and when I don't understand what someone has said I use unnskyld, but when I bump into someone on the bus I say unnskyld meg. Are they both valid? Thanks in advance.

EN: "The neighbor's dog activated the alarm again."

Why is "Hunden til naboen aktiverte alarmen igjen." correct, but "Naboens hunden aktiverte alarmen igjen." is not?

I know that the word “meg” means me, but this is more so regarding it’s pronunciation, I’ve heard people pronouncing it literally as what you’d expect “meg” to sound like, but also more similar to “mai”. I’m interested to know if that’s a thing to do with accents and dialects, context or perhaps meaning?

Any replies are appreciated, takk!

Doing the exercise on page 47 of The Mystery of Nils where you have to say something you like to do and something you don’t. I was trying to say I like flying my drone, so I typed ‘jeg er glad i å fly min drone’ I’ve been using ChatGPT to correct sentences and it said I should have said ‘jeg er glad i fly å dronen min’ to specify that I am talking about a specific drone. I was wondering if this is correct.

TLDR: I am wondering if the definite form is needed in the case of ‘Jeg er glad I å fly (min) drone(en) (min)’.

Thanks

Hello! I wanted to do a self indulgent short story/comic about a Norwegian guy from the 1940s who wakes up in modern day. I'd like to know how English would've been spoken by Norwegians back in the 40s. Also I'd like to know if there were any common sayings in Norwegian at the time I could use in my story, as well as common mistakes native Norwegians have when speaking English. I speak a little German so I'm kind of aware of mistakes German speakers make when using English (like 'make a photo' instead of 'take a photo') and was wondering if the same thing exists for Norwegians speaking English. I do understand education on the English language has changed a lot since social media + the internet makes it easier to access content in other languages. I definitely don't want to come across as stereotypical or offensive so any help is much appreciated!

I've been using Duolingo for a bit over a month, some off days here and there and going at my own pace, I wasn't trying to beat the leaderboard so I'm not crazy far through, about 4/5 sections in.

But going at my own pace has probably helped me retain the lessons a bit more. But I understand you ain't gonna learn a language through Duolingo so I'm curious at what point most folks decided to branch out and what did you branch out to, what was your next step?

I have the Mystery of Nils book but that's probably a bit too intense for my skill level at the moment. I feel I should probably learn more into the grammar side as well as the Alphabet. At some point I'll need to start the whole listening immersion stuff.

But I'm curious as to what steps you took and what you found to be most effective and maybe I'll copy your strats. Tusen Takk.

Shouldn't it be "I have sand in the sandals"?

Hei dere, jeg bodde i Norge ganske lenge tid nesten 9 år. Min språklig ferdighet er ganske dårlig (muntlig) pga bruker ikke så mye muntlig. Jeg har sosial angst er red får å si noe feil og noen ganger bruker bruker tid på å finne ord (kommunikasjon vansker). Jeg har tenkt å begynne å se mye serier har dere noe tips.

Har dere også noe tips på hvordan jeg kan forekomme disse utfordringer? Jeg må lær meg, jeg er helsefagarbeider, jeg har ganske gode kontakt med mine pasienter, men noen pasienter legge stor vekt på hva jeg si altså fort irritert hvis jeg sier noe feil, og endre opp at de sier «ho kan jo ikke norsk engang». Jeg skylder ikke på henne noe ting men jeg vil blir bedre. Slik tilbakemeldinger er bare en sjanse å lære av det. men har dere noe tips på hvordan jeg kan blir bedre med kommunikasjon?

Siden Pringles i USA ikke får lov å kalle sine potetflak for "chips" etter å ha tapt rettsak om det. Og måtte kalle de crisps istedenfor.

Så skjønner jeg ikke hvorfor og hvordan Maarud får lov å kalle sine potetflak for (Super)chips, når første ingrediens er PotetMEL dernest potetstivelse og de likner veldig på måten Pringles lager sine crisps.

Mener at i den rettsaken ble bestemt at "chips" skulle være skåret flak av potet, som er stekt eller deepfried.

Kan noen svar meg på dette eller skulle vi tipse Mattilsynet? ;)

For example:

The professor comes and gives you a surprise quiz but you didn't study so you just sit there going through stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) then there's the acceptance stage which is "I know I won't pass this but it doesn't hurt to try" so you let out a deep long sigh of "Bruh"

So basically I want to know the Norwegian equivalent to that bruh in this situation

Hva er forskjellen mellom disse ordene. Jeg synes at de er forskjellig nivå (S,M,L). Er det greit?

I’m a technical writer /technical editor in the US which basically means I write/edit/format documents in Word or other programs. It doesn’t seem like technical writer translates directly (heck most Americans don’t know what I do) and I’m trying to do a job search. I currently do stuff in medical insurance, but previously I’ve done medical device companies and safety practice documents if that helps. Does anyone have any ideas? (I do speak Norwegian at a B1 level, I’m working on it, just couldn’t figure this one out)

Jeg trenger en måte å øve på å lage setninger. Det kan være hva som helst, så lenge det er interessant og gir meg sjansen til å øve på setningsbygging med ulike temaer. Kanksje dere har hørt om en språkøvelse eller noe sånt. Jeg setter pris på alle råd!

Jeg begynte å lære meg norsk for 4 måneder siden. Jeg har et stort nok ordforråd til de fleste tingene jeg vil snakke om. Nå sliter jeg bare litt med å lage setninger, spesielt når jeg snakker med norsk folk, fordi jeg ikke får tid til å tenke. Ganske ofte så blir jeg avbrutt mens jeg snakker og bytter folk til engelsk sånn at samtalen går litt fortere. Hvis dere har noen råd eller hvis noen har lyst til å snakke norsk med meg er det bare å gi beskjed.

Tusen takk!

Hello to all Norwegian learners!

A few weeks ago, I noticed there isn’t much content on YouTube specifically for people learning Norwegian. YouTube is one of my go-to resources for learning my own target language, so I decided to create a channel myself to share what I find helpful. Since I’m also learning a foreign language, I know firsthand what can work—and what doesn’t. I base my videos on methods that I know are effective for me. So far, the feedback has been great, and people find it useful!

My videos have subtitles in both Norwegian and English. This channel is all about immersion—no grammar drills or verb conjugation rules here! I focus on simple vlogs about everyday activities, allowing you to see the language in use and learn it naturally. I also speak in my Western Norwegian dialect, which gives you a chance to hear something different from the traditional eastern dialect. Even though you don’t need to speak every dialect as a learner, it helps to get used to hearing different ones.

Feel free to check out my channel, and I’d love to hear any feedback.

Thank you for reading!

http://www.youtube.com/@Simplynorsk

Hey all!

I'm trying to learn norwegian. I started this year and i'll start level a2 after christmas time. During my christmas time off i want to read a book to help me. Does anybody have in mind any a1-a2 level books with short stories? I dont mind if it's a childrens book (i'm 36 yo 😆)

Hei alle sammen, I'm trying to get my head round the placement of setningsadverb in Norwegian sentences, and all I'm ending up with is a headache.

According to Toppnorsk, ikke generally comes after the object when it's a pronoun:

Jeg likte det ikke.

Meanwhile, in subordinate clauses ikke comes before the verb:

Jeg spiste ikke maten, fordi jeg ikke likte den.

(although this only really applies in spoken/formal Norwegian).

And in inverted questions, ikke comes after the subject

Liker du ikke maten?

My question is in two parts:

1. is any of the stuff I said above wrong?
2. how do you know which one takes precedence? all off the stuff I've found online only talks above isolated cases, not combinations

Thank you for any help, tips, or links to helpful resources.

Can someone shed some light on something for me as google is being usless What is bokmal and nynorsk, I can see they are both written languages But it would make it a weird conversation dynamic if I used ethier in a convo with a fluent speaker I want to learn to ‘speak’ Norwegian and at this point I have no idea what I should be learning I’ve been using Duolingo for bokmol but should I switch ? If so where should I turn to to learn the spoken version, and what is the name of this spoken version as google doesn’t seem to know

Thanks for anyone that answers I rly appreciate it

I'm not having any luck finding good music, I like a bit of everything, I'm quite eclectic.

EDIT: Thank you all very much for the recommendations, I didn't expect so many comments, I'm very happy, now I have a lot of options, I couldn't listen to them all, but I'll set aside some time for that <3

Any readily available shows that can help a norsk learner? Been doing Duo for a handful of years but want to get better at understanding what is spoken. Please, nothing that requires any download, etc. just curious if anything is on YouTube or otherwise that is recommended. Takk!

hei hei, i am kind of looking for you guys’ advice (long text ahead, but please bear with me and please be kind)

so i started learning norwegian about 1.5 months ago and since i am really eager to learn the language, want to do my masters degree in norway in 2026 and have to take the norskprøve b1/b2 next year around summer or autumn, and am german (and know english, so a lot of similarities to the 2 languages) it has been going quite well. my tutor, which i am seeing once a week for 60 minutes, says that he thinks orally i might be at a b1.

howeverrr, i can practice reading, writing, listening all i want, i really feel like compared to those skills my speaking really lacks. i do hold a lot of monologues, but it doesn’t quite compare to speaking with another human being. but, because i live in the middle of germany and not in the north, the process of finding a language partner to practice speaking on the regular with has been proven to be quite difficult for me. i feel like italki is a great option (found my tutor on there), but would be really expensive if i wanted to buy multiple lessons a week (and i simply cannot afford that) and tandem, hellotalk, online forums for finding a tandem partner have been unsuccessful as well, so i am kinda wondering if and how you guys practiced speaking? did you find a partner? did you use any other options?

i feel like having monologues with myself is okay-ish but to me language learning is sooo much more, it’s exploring different worlds, getting to know the country, its citizens, forming friendships, interacting with other people, its pop culture, food, comedy, funny stories from the locals, etc., and that just can’t be achieved through my method..

i am looking forward to any tips and am thanking you guys in advance! :)

Hey guys, I grew up in Norway but left at 8/9 years old. I have Duolingo downloaded but I think it’s too easy. I want real resources to properly relearn the language. I know the basics but I’m not confident to have a conversation. I want to be confident in speaking. Any help will be appreciated so I can speak to my grandma and my family in norsk.

I have been learning Norwegian for two months now, I think I did some progress, but I have no one who can evaluate my pronunciation. what do you think? and is there anything to focus on improving?

https://voca.ro/1mOej9tADy1l

I know Pikk and Kuk and Tissemann are all words for the genitals of a male but is there a specifically rude way to insult a person's size?

Bonus question, is there a way to do so without gendering it a certain way? Basically i'm teasing a norwegian friend of mine who is a trans girl with a small penis humiliation fetish and am looking for pet names to call her

Forklaringen virker rotete - does this translation work alright in this case? Actually rotete is more closer for me to "messy", should I use forvirrende then? Or maybe there's a closer analogy to "muddled"?

Disclaimer:I know that there isn’t always a direct translation for specific words. I'm just asking in case one exists, and I haven’t found it yet. Thanks!

I’ve lived in Norway a couple of years now and when I’m discussing with people what kind of Norwegian I use I say that I use bokmål because I think it makes it easier to understand me because I have an accent and I think adding specific dialect to that might make it even harder to understand me. But, some Norwegian people say that you can’t speak it because it’s a book language while other Norwegian people know exactly what I mean.

My question is: if I want to specify what kind of Norwegian I speak, what can I say to be specific about what I mean?

Hvilke ord bruker dere i "Trollmors voggesang"? Teksten er opprinnelig på svensk, så jeg lurer på hva nordmenn synger i stedet?

Hello, I would like to know how to translate Gogol's quote for my article. I am not sure that I know the exact translation.

“Do not be dead souls, but alive. There is only one door to life, and that door is Jesus Christ.”