Five Easy Tips to Learn Norwegian and Other Languages Without Moving Abroad, part 2
This article is an updated version of one I originally published on my personal food blog in 2013 as a part of a two part series. However, as there is so much more information and resources out there now, I've extended this two-part series into a five-part series.
?Part one in the series can be found here, below is part two.
1. Mimic what you hear in Norwegian out loud multiple times until you feel comfortable you can pronounce it correctly.
Watch videos on YouTube for Norwegian language tips. Be sure to watch the?videos all the way through once, and then watch twice more, each time repeating?everything the speaker says in Norwegian?OUT LOUD. I know, you’ll feel silly the first?few times, but this really helps get your mouth used to making new sounds and?your tongue working in a new way. Here?are a few YouTube videos I have found useful:
?Look out for part 3 and 4 in this series for a long list of my favorite Norwegian language learning resources. Most of them are free and available online.
2. Online tools are great, but physical books still have their place in your language learning habit.
The language books which have been most helpful to me in learning Norwegian are?the “Teach Yourself” Series. I’ve also used the book Practical Norwegian Grammar by Ase-Berit Strandskogen to great success. This book explains Norwegian grammar in?detail, in English.
3. For speaking practice, find groups of practicing non-native speakers moderated by native speakers.
When?I first started learning Norwegian in 2006, I was still living in Germany and my first two Norwegian classes were designed for native German speakers who wanted to learn?Norwegian.
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The city I lived in only offered Scandinavian language classes for?native speakers of German, so I actually had to petition the instructor (who did not speak a word of English) to let me into the class-in NORWEGIAN. That's right-in order to participate in a beginner level Norwegian course, I had to petition the German instructor in Norwegian.
?In?order to prepare for this “test”, I found a few Norwegian language groups on Yahoo?Groups (this was a time pre-Facebook, pre-social media, etc.),?and found some people to chat with via Yahoo messenger in Norwegian. I spent?several nights after my English teaching work, chatting online with people from the group in?Norwegian trying to use what I was learning through the “Teach Yourself” Series.
?Point of the story, seek out Norwegian communities online or in?person and participate?p? norsk. Find?groups online like I did, or ones in your area, so you can practice speaking. I know, everyone wants to practice with native speakers so that they?don’t pick up bad habits BUT practicing a little and being a little wrong is A?LOT better than practicing nothing at all! And it’s a lot easier to change the?bad habits that you learn, then to wait and not learn at all.
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4. There are free online and offline resourses everywhere - use them.
When I was first learning Norwegian, there wasn't nearly the volume of Norwegian language content out there are there is today. That is one of the reasons I wanted to share this series on Linkedin - alot has changed!
?I'm publishing a long list of my favorite Norwegian language learning resources in part 3 and 4 of this series, but in the meantime here are a few links to get you going:
5. Listen to Norwegian radio via online radio tuners such as?TuneIn.
?In?my early days in Norway, I listened to the radio for HOURS every day just to get a feel for the?intonation pattern in Norwegian and to begin to learn the dialects. This really helped me understand natural speech in?Norwegian (Norwegian spoken at a normal pace, not the slower more?understandable pace in which most Norwegian instructors speak at during?classroom time). It really helped me alot, so?
Simply conduct a search for?stations in?Norway,?then look city by city for a station you like. Norwegians love both music and?talk radio, so you’ll have the option to choose either statio format on TuneIn.
Bonus Tip: There are a few different approaches to learning a language, find one which works for you.
Here are a few interesting articles on learning languages which you might want to check out:
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So?that’s it! There are 5 more of my top tips-plus a bonus tip- for learning Norwegian without?moving to Norway. In my opinion, learning a new language is fun but also really?hard work. Save your sanity and try to make it as fun and easy as possible. In?my experience, the most important thing to learning a new language is to build?up your confidence and add to your skills as time goes on.
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Did?you like my easy tips for learning Norwegian and other languages without?moving abroad? Do you have any special tips or tricks for learning Norwegian or?another language quickly? Be sure to leave?your tips in the comments down?below.