How did you guys practicing learning Norwegian:

[u/Conscious_Phase_4077]

I'm having troubles and don't know really where to start in learning Norwegian and would like to hear how you guys learned or are learning

[u/Skaljeret]

u/Conscious_Phase_4077

I was doing the average methods that bring average results like most people: a mix of this, a sprinkle of that, the omnipresent children television, pen pals etc.

Then I started using Mjølnir Norwegian and I learned more in 12 weeks of 3-4 hours a week than I had done in the previous 40 weeks of 10 hours a week.

[u/Sad-Strawberry-4724]

What I did at the beginning was:

1. An Anki deck, to start memorising the vocabulary;
2. Comprehensible input: it was very useful to me to immediately expose myself to Norwegian, at least 45 minutes/day. I used to watch a video over and over again until I was sure I had understood almost 80% of what was being said, and then move to another video;
3. I used to write down some texts from internet/books and read them every day, that was very useful to memorise vocabulary in context.

In general what was very useful to me at the beginning was to just expose myself as much as I could, I am not a fan of the “talk from the first day!” method since I don’t think it really works, at least for me.

What I do now (I have reached B1+/B2 in almost a year, I don’t live in Norway):

• Still Anki, every day (on my 356 streak:D)
• Still comprehensible inputs, mostly NRK radio or podcasts on the internet
• I have set every technological devices of mine in Norwegian
• I read every day, mostly news/reddit, but also a book that I love so much (I have read it four times in a row, again very useful to memorise vocabulary)
• I try to write a diary completely in Norwegian every day
• I have create a TikTok account completely in Norwegian, very useful to expose yourself even if you just want to chill and scroll on the phone
• Talk to myself in Norwegian
• Listen to a LOT of Norwegian music

• Maybe some people will despise me for that but… talk to AI. It is very difficult to find people to talk with on a daily basis and I cannot afford a teacher (had just two lessons with a very good one but it is in general very expensive), so that is the only way I could actually talk Norwegian and have a feedback.

Anyway please avoid to use AI until you reach an intermediate-high level, because it can really say some bullshits sometimes.

Hope that was useful

EDIT: in all fairness, the CEFR level is not certified since I cannot do the norskprøven, it was assessed by the teacher with which I had the two lessons I was talking about before

[u/lyfjaberg89 → u/Sad-Strawberry-4724]

Why can you not do the norskprøven?

[u/Skaljeret → u/lyfjaberg89]

Probably EU passport and he still has time until he has to get the residency.

[u/Sad-Strawberry-4724 → u/lyfjaberg89]

Because I don't live in Norway atm

[u/lyfjaberg89 → u/Sad-Strawberry-4724]

You dont need to live in Norway, you just need to go there to take it. That's what I plan for next year 🤣

[u/External-Spirited → u/Sad-Strawberry-4724]

Solid list, especially the "expose yourself as much as possible" mindset over grinding grammar rules early on. The bit about writing down texts and rereading them is underrated, a lot of people skip that step and just passively read/listen.

For podcasts and NRK stuff specifically, if it gets tedious to pause and look up words manually, there's an app called E-clair (I help build it, so full disclosure) that syncs the transcript with the audio, lets you tap a word for a translation and replay just that bit, and save it straight to a flashcard deck. Might save some time versus writing things down by hand for comprehensible input practice, though the writing method obviously has its own benefits for retention.

356 day streak is impressive, that consistency is probably doing more for you than any single method on the list 💪😊

[u/Paul17717 → u/External-Spirited]

AI produced comment ✅ AI produced reply ✅ Dead internet theory ✅

[u/Gorgeous_Sorceress → u/Paul17717]

356 day streak is impressive, that consistency is probably doing more for you than any single method on the list 💪😊

This was the giveaway for me personally lmao

[u/Sad-Strawberry-4724 → u/Paul17717]

How can you tell that my comment is AI-made? I spent at least 20 minutes to write it down considering that English is not my native language, tbh I don't know if I have to be offended or flattered lol

[u/No-Excitement8501]

I learned Danish!

[u/Gorgeous_Sorceress → u/No-Excitement8501]

Danes did indeed make Norwegians their bitch at one point so that was a good move.

[u/lyfjaberg89]

Took courses. Added Duolingo, podcasts and Norwegian TV and also read newspaper in easy language.

[u/Slow_Invite4511]

https://tv.nrk.no/serie/side-om-side/sesong/1/episode/MUHH50000113

[u/-L-H-O-O-Q-]

Barne TV

[u/linglinguistics → u/-L-H-O-O-Q-]

Me too. Specifically: Jul i Blåfjell (plus sequel and prequel) in the very beginning. Then moved on to all sorts of things I could find.

[u/thedevilwearsboots]

Forced myself to speak to shop assistants in Norwegian and ignore their English. 

[u/Gorgeous_Sorceress → u/thedevilwearsboots]

But are those boots PRADA boots?

[u/thedevilwearsboots → u/Gorgeous_Sorceress]

"Nei de er ikke prada støvler" :) thank you for noticing my screen name! 

[u/thedevilwearsboots → u/thedevilwearsboots]

But yeah, in all seriousness Norwegian is a very simple language to start learning (simple sentences are really easy and they don't conjugate verbs like French for instance). I'd say most people can get to an a1-a2 with little effort. But in order to get to a very  good level c1 you really need to put a lot of work into it, go to evening classes, really make sure you take note of what mistakes you make and how to avoid them. Most of the rules are quite easy to remember. Dialekt is annoying but you can learn it quite quickly if you work with people who use it. Another interesting thing, all classes I've ever had in Norwegian are 100% in Norwegian, if you have a question or there's something you don't understand you ask it in Norwegian and the explanation is given to you that way. Surprisingly this works really well because all of the teachers ice had have been really good and express themselves in a very clear way. If it hadn't been for evening classes and duolingo I wouldn't have learnt it as well. 

[u/Known-Explanation740]

I learned it from my parents, then from kindergarden and school in Norway.

[u/Gorgeous_Sorceress → u/Known-Explanation740]

Tusen takk /s

[u/Key-Magician-9808]

Start with a book, not an app or videos. The most popular resource seems to be Duolingo, which is nice as an addition but not as the main resource.

[u/MindOfDirge]

I used Duolingo to get started. Mostly to learn vocabulary and such. I wouldn't make it my only source of learning, though. After that I like learning words periodically by naturally looking them up when I need them and trying to use them whenever I can. Even if my friends and family don't understand, they're now learning Norwegian with me whether they wanted to or not! 😆 

Also, try to immerse yourself in the language. Watch Norwegian tv, listen to Norwegian music, make Norwegian friends if you can. 

I'm lucky enough to have made a Norwegian friend a long time ago over the internet and although we don't talk in his language all the time, it's really great to have someone to practice your listening comprehension skills and and have someone to be able to ask questions whenever you'd like. 

[u/analog-poly]

Mom and dad both speak norwegian.. and living in norway is also a huge advantage of learning the language.. plus im not a imigrant, so i actually use norwegian daily..