Having a quick flick through my posts I've decided I have definitely not talked enough about learning Norwegian. After thinking about it for a while I can think of a few reasons why this is, I think its mainly because its a touchy subject and if I'm honest I've not been trying hard enough. I hate admitting it to myself but its true. I am learning a little all the time but I'm probably not being nearly as forceful with myself, I'm also a very hard critic.
So what level am I at now you may ask, and I would answer, a very low one (although Marianne being the kind loving person she is would probably disagree, at least she does to my face). I'm learning its very very difficult to assess progress, something I find very frustrating. On the one hand, I do know many words, and the very basics of sentence structure. I have a comically large knowledge of food in Norwegian for example and I know all the basic human activities such as;
Jeg er trøtt - I am tired.
Skal vi sove - Shall we sleep
Jeg er sulten - I am Hungry
Skal vi spiser - Shall we eat
Må på do - Directly translates as must on toilet, not the most polite way I understand but totally acceptable.
Douche - Shower
And yer lots of other basic things like that. I also know enough about the written language that most of the time I can read things in the correct way. Such as knowing the extra letters and pronouncing and not pronouncing certain letters, the e at the end of a word for example, it would be silent in English but isnt in Norwegian, and its more of an 'a' sound. Douche for exaple is pronouched 'doosha'. (I discuss this in the following two posts too http://gent-turning-troll.blogspot.no/2012/02/tias-birthday.html, http://gent-turning-troll.blogspot.no/2012/01/pals-birthday.html)
Combining my small known vocabulary with common sense words that sound like English and even more common sense of scenario and body language/gestures I am often pleasantly surprised and surprise others with the short conversations I can follow. However its very much pot luck, sometimes even short simple statements I have not got the foggiest whats being said.
There is of course also the dialect problem. People from Bergen for example speak what is called 'Bergensk' and this is a far cry from the Eastern dialect heard in and around Oslo. Its like comparing really extreme London cockney and Newcastle geordie accents, its technically the same language, but only just. This creates a problem for me as 90% of the shows on TV and 100% of the available audio books and online tutorials pronounce words completely differently to the way I've been taught so far and the from the people I hear speaking every day. All in all its a mine field of stress and confusion.
I'm going to bring this to a close as I could probably write thousands of words on this but I'll summarise by just saying, I love learning in small doses, I find it genuinely interesting, and I also want more than anything to be able to speak Norwegian. Not just for huge amount easier it would make my life but also for the people around me who are so patient with my ignorant English ways. But alas it is not easy, so I should probably stop writing about it and start practising.
A very helpful little kids book that I really must spend more time reading
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