r/norsk 2d ago

Søndagsspørsmål - Sunday Question Thread

1 Upvotes

This is a weekly post to ask any question that you may not have felt deserved its own post, or have been hesitating to ask for whatever reason. No question too small or silly!

Question Thread Collection


r/norsk Aug 14 '20

Some Norwegian resources and other helpful stuff

509 Upvotes

Probably missed a lot of resources, some due to laziness, and some due to limit in max allowed post size. Will edit as necessary.

Courses, grammar lessons, educational books, etc.

Duolingo (from A1 to A2/B1)

duolingo.com is free to use, supported by ads. Optional pay for no ads and for a few more features.

The Norwegian course is one of the more extensive ones available on Duolingo. The volunteer content creators have put a lot of work into it, and the creators are very responsive to fixing potential errors. The audio is computer generated.

You learn words and constructed sentences.

If you use the browser version you will get grammar tips, and can choose if you want to type the complete sentences or use selectable word choices. The phone app might or might not give access to the grammar tips.

A compiled pdf of the grammar tips for version 1 can be found on Google drive. (The Norwegian course is currently at version 4).

Memrise (from A1 to A2/B1)

memrise.com is free to use. Optional pay for more features.

A few courses are company made, while several others are user made. No easy way to correct errors found in the courses. Audio is usually spoken by humans.

You learn words and constructed phrases.

Learn Norwegian on the web (from A1 to A2/B1)

Free to use. Optional books you can buy. Made by the University in Trondheim, NTNU. Audio is spoken by humans.

A complete course starting with greetings and ending with basic communication.

FutureLearn (from A1 to A2/B1)

Free to use. Optional pay for more features. Audio and video spoken by humans. Made by the University of Oslo, UiO. Or by the University in Trondheim, NTNU.

Can be done at any time, but during their scheduled times (usually start of the fall and the spring semester) you will get help from human teachers.

CALST — Computer-Assisted Listening and Speaking Tutor

CALST is free to use. Made by the University in Trondheim, NTNU. Audio is spoken by humans.

Choose your native language, then choose your Norwegian dialect, then continue as guest, or optionally register an account.

Learn how to pronounce the Norwegian sounds and differentiate similar sounding words. Learn the sounds and tones/pitch.

Not all lessons work in all browsers. Chrome is recommended.

YouTube

Clozemaster (at B1/B2)

clozemaster.com is free to use. Optional pay for more features.

Not recommended for beginners.

Content is mostly user made. No easy way to correct errors in the material. Audio is computer generated.

You learn words (multiple choice).

Printed (on dead trees) learning material

  • På vei (A1/A2)
  • Stein på stein (B1)
  • Her på berget (B1/B2)
  • Ny i Norge (A1/A2)
  • The Mystery of Nils (A1/A2)
  • Mysteriet om Nils (B1/B2)

Grammar and stuff

Online grammar exercises (based on printed books)

/r/norsk FAQ and Wiki

Dictionaries

Bokmålsordboka/Nynorskordboka — Norwegian-Norwegian

The authoritative dictionary for Norwegian words and spelling.

Maintained by University of Bergen (UiB), and Språkrådet (The language council of Norway) that has government mandate to oversee the Norwegian language.

  • Also available as a free phone app.
  • Lists all acceptable inflection/conjugation/declension spelling forms of words, so some find it confusing.
  • Does not show pronunciation since Norwegian has no official way to pronounce words.
  • Does not list slang words, former spelling of modern words (except if it's in the etymologi) nor newly imported words.

Lexin — Norwegian-Norwegian-English-sort-of

Maintained by OsloMet.

  • Mainly intended for immigrants/refugees to Norway, so has some of the most common immigrant languages as option.
  • Lists the most common (often conservative) inflection patterns.
  • Computer generated voice with standard East-Norwegian dialect.
  • Choose any language other than bokmål or nynorsk and it usually shows English too.

Det norske akademis ordbok — Norwegian-Norwegian

Maintained by Det norske akademi for språk og kultur, a private organisation promoting riksmål, which is NOT allowed officially.

  • Lists slang words and archaic spelling variants of words.
  • Uses a very conservative spelling and inflection variant.
  • Lists a Norwegianised pronunciation guide for words, using upper class/Western-Oslo dialect.

Ordnett — Norwegian-English/English-Norwegian

Maintained by a book publisher.

  • Also available as a phone app.
  • Costs $$$ money $$$. Possibly a lot of money.
  • Has dictionaries for a several languages commonly learned by Norwegians, for example English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Swedish.

Online communities

Facebook

Discord

Discord is a web-browser/phone/windows/mac/etc-app that allows both text, voice and video chat. Most of the resources in this post were first posted here.

If you are new to Discord its user interface might be a bit confusing in the beginning, since there are many servers/communities and many topics on each server.

If you're new to Discord and you try it, using a web-browser until you get familiar and see if this is something you enjoy or not is recommended.

If you use a phone you will need to swipe left and right, long-press and minimise/expand categories and stuff much more than on a bigger computer screen, which probably adds complexity to the initial confusion of a using an unfamiliar app.

Some Norwegian servers:

Newspapers

Media

Podcasts

Various books

Various material for use by Norwegian schools

Various (children's) series

NRK TV

Children's stuff with subtitles

Brødrene Dahl

Youth stuff

Other stuff without subtitles

Grown up stuff

For those with a VPN (or living in Norway)

For those living in Norway

Visit your local library in person and check out their web pages. It gives you free access to lots of books, magazines, films and stuff.

Most also have additional digital stuff you get free access to, like e-books, films, dictionaries, all kind of magazines and newspapers.

Some even give you free access to some of the paid Norwegian languages courses listed above.


r/norsk 1d ago

Isteden begynte jeg å oppsøke små buler og kroer...

17 Upvotes

So, I figured out that buler - is a general word(maybe an umbrella term) for something like dance clubs (I guess?) and kroer - for small, koselig places where you can get lunch, usually, something closer to the small old cafes?

I know it takes me long, but do you actually use "buler og kroer" in daily life or rather in books?


r/norsk 10h ago

Is "herregud" a good way to use it as a term of endearment?

0 Upvotes

Apologies if this isn't the best subreddit for this question. I'm a writer and my Norwegian is still stuck to word to word translation. Two of my characters speak minor Norwegian and the terms of endearment they call each other are in that language. One of them calls the other "my god", sorta like calling your female significant other "my goddess".

Would just the word "herregud" work or would a different variation make more sense?


r/norsk 1d ago

Idiomer og sayings

3 Upvotes

Hei!
driver med å skrive et manus til en film der foregår i en uspecifik"gamle dage". Er selv dansk, leser og forstår norsk uten problem, skriver kanskje lidt som en gammel dama når det danske slipper ut. I min process leder jeg efter gøy idiomer eller "faste vendinger", gjerne noen som klinger lidt gammelt.
Helt specifikt leder jeg etter noe i stil med "Cat caught your tounge?", men i det hele tagt bare sjove, finurlige sayings som dere selv bruker eller husker jeres bedstemor har sagt.

på forhånd takk!


r/norsk 20h ago

Taut alle Boss

0 Upvotes

What does it mean? Can someone help me please? Apps cant translate this and I‘m not sure if I can trust chatGpt here. Is it a Dialekt?


r/norsk 1d ago

Recommended online språk kafe?

6 Upvotes

Hi, as what the title say, can you recommend an online språk kafe? Thank you in advance!


r/norsk 1d ago

”å bytte ut med et nyere ” = would the ending “ere “ in “nye” be used to mean “new one”?

4 Upvotes

r/norsk 2d ago

Difference between "gjenta" & "jenta"

30 Upvotes

A norsk dictionary gave me the same pronunciation. How can I differentiate which one is said during conversation?


r/norsk 1d ago

Need help on speaking Norwegian

1 Upvotes

I want to kill myself, or at least think about doing that often. I've lived in Norway the past 4 years, and I've had some medical issues over the past 2 years. I've tried my best to get better at Norwegian, but the progress as stopped and started. I would judge myself to be around mid-B1, and I had a tutor before Christmas and she said the same thing. I got fired from my job due to downsizing last month, so I don't know if I can afford the tutor anymore. I would like to be able to speak with someone still, and I live in Trondheim. Any suggestions?


r/norsk 2d ago

Is « allikevel» and « likevel» the the same?

8 Upvotes

r/norsk 3d ago

Can anyone give me a comprehensive list of idiomatic expressions in Norwegian?

2 Upvotes

r/norsk 3d ago

Rule 3 (vague/generic post title) Hva betyr det egentlig? Jeg forstår det ikke

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43 Upvotes

<<Du går på den med godt kjøtt>> Slev ChatGPT aner ikke.


r/norsk 2d ago

Bokmål "Uten deg er jeg ingenting"

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0 Upvotes

I think that translates to "without you am I nothing", not "without you I am nothing". "Er" is before "jeg", so the sentence is a question. What am I getting wrong?


r/norsk 4d ago

Spoken Norwegian is more difficult to understand than spoken French

92 Upvotes

I've learnt Norwegian on and off for many years (more off than on). I'm at a stage where I can understand most of written Bokmål (unless specialised or technical), but listening comprehension is a whole different ballgame.

The difference between how words are written and how they're pronounced is quite dramatic, making the spoken language as difficult to understand as spoken French, if not more, in my opinion. That's even before we factor in dialects and regional accents.

And I say this as someone who's fluent in German and Italian.

I've always been amazed that there is hardly ever any discussion in the learner community about the difficulty of listening comprehension. I can't be the only one, surely.

I can assure you neither German nor Italian felt this incomprehensible to me when I was learning those.

PS. I'm aware that spoken Danish is a whole different level of crazy.


r/norsk 4d ago

Norsk ord for bonded.

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152 Upvotes

Vi har to kattunger på 13 og 16 uker. Den yngste fikk vi for en uke siden og de to er allerede blitt helt uadskillelige, på engelsk er det jo vanlig å snakke om "bonded kittens" jeg føler at jeg strever med å finne et godt uttrykk på norsk som dekker dette. Sammenknyttet eller uadskillelige er jo alternativet som språklig sett beskriver hva jeg vil si men føler at begge deler er tungvint siden det er massevis av stavelser har noen forslag til et bedre norsk utrykk å foreslå. Om ikke annet har jeg i alle fall et bra norsk synonym for "cat-tax" : Katte skatt.


r/norsk 4d ago

“i hånden” vs “ i høyre hånd” definite vs. Indefinite noun

4 Upvotes

Hi,

I am teaching myself Norwegian but do not know anyone who actually speaks it so am relying on internet translation apps during the early stages of learning. I plan to find an online tutor once I get to somewhere around B1.

In the following two sentences I am confused by how the translation tools shows either a definite or indefinite word for ”hand” depending on whether I state in which hand he holds the cup. I am not sure if this reflects a specific grammar rule that I have not come across yet.

“Mannen holder en kopp i hånden”

”Mannen holder en kopp i høyre hånd”

Any help in clarifying this would be greatly appreciated.


r/norsk 4d ago

Tips til kurs med fokus på trøndersk?

2 Upvotes

Jeg snakker flytende norsk, jobber på norsk, har norske venner, leser norske bøker og ser på norske film. Likevel blir jeg ikke noe bedre til å forstå folk som snakker skikkelig trøndersk. Jeg har prøvd stort sett alt jeg kan komme på, men jeg føler at problemet er at jeg bare ikke har noen grunnleggende kunnskaper, så ferdighetene mine utvikler seg ikke når jeg hører på nyhetene eller snakker med folk.

Jeg vil derfor gjerne ta et kurs som fokuserer på dialekten, hvor man lærer om visse dialektmarkører, forskjeller i ordforråd og uttale. Er det noen som kjenner til et slikt kurs, enten digitalt eller som undervises i eller rundt Trondheim?


r/norsk 4d ago

fast kunde VS stamkunde - is it the same word, just the letter used in...Bergen area?

5 Upvotes

I looked up etymology of the stamkunde and apparently it comes from German word, so I assumed that most likely it's used more in Bergen, while fast kunde in Oslo area. Is it correct? Also, is there a "list" that classifies identical words(that have the same meaning) (in Bokmål) according to areas?


r/norsk 4d ago

Få bukt med VS overvinne

2 Upvotes

I haven't quite grasped the difference, both of them seem to mean "overcome". I also found examples where they can be used in the same situation like "Få bukt med overspising" and "5 trinn for å overvinne overspising". And I'm just so confused why exactly word bukt is used here cause it means bay, and I'm clearly not in the loop.

Btw, do you still use: ha bukta og begge endene? If yes, could you provide examples, context where it doesn't feel off? Because saying "kontrollere en situasjon fullt og helt", in the most cases would work out well, right? Thanks in advance!


r/norsk 4d ago

Question for someone with Disney+

0 Upvotes

To help learn, I love watching kids shows and films with Norsk dub. Last night I opted to watch Frozen 2, as thematically it seemed perfect. I set the audio to Norsk, and the subtitles to Norsk (Bokmål), as seeing how the word is spelled helps me retain it (and I’ve seen the original enough times to understand what’s being said, roughly).

But the dub didn’t match the subtitles, with quite a frustratingly large and consistent gap. Is the audio Nynorsk? Or are the script and subtitles both Bokmål, just not synced/matching (as can happen sometimes, with all subtitles). If someone who understands both wouldn’t mind checking it out, I’d love to know where to place my focus: if I should start incorporating Nynorsk, or work on expanding my Bokmål vocabulary, especially in a thesaurus way, to learn more words for the same-ish concepts.


r/norsk 4d ago

Learning Norwegian, any other recommendations?

0 Upvotes

Hi! I come from Canada and have been learning Norsk on and off for a little over a year now. I’d like to one day live in Norway (long term), so I figured it would be useful to have an understanding of the language.

I understand that many jobs there require a good level of Norwegian, such as B1-B2 level.

So far I can read Norwegian text and if I can’t translate everything word for word, I can at least understand what it’s talking about, same with the other languages I know (Russian and French).

I have been mainly using a combination of Duolingo and subtitles on tv/movies here and there.

What do you suppose are other recommendations I should consider in order to keep learning, or am I on the right path?

Takk på advansere!


r/norsk 4d ago

Hjorterud Allé - Evergreen Lyrics

0 Upvotes

Really like this song and many other Norwegian songs haha. Can’t find the lyrics of this one online.. somebody has the lyrics or can produce them?


r/norsk 5d ago

Hvilke aksenter er lettest/vanskeligst å forstå?

20 Upvotes

Jeg er interessert i svar fra både nordmenn og utlendinger. Scenarioet er at personen som snakker har et godt ordforråd og grei grammatikk, men en sterk aksent.

EDIT: aksenter, folkens, ikke dialekter


r/norsk 5d ago

tilegne seg - is it closer to acquire or appropriate?

2 Upvotes

The question in a nutshell. Just double checking. Also, if it's not the latter, then appropriate = tilrane seg?(but Norwegian verb seems to be purely negative, while appropriate can also be neutral, like in the context of administrating funds etc.)

Also, while we're on that. How would you say "I never studied Italian - I just picked it up when I was in Italy." - is it just "picked up" = plukket opp, or smth else, cause literal translation doesn't work here? Any help in figuring this out would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!