# Learning Norwegian....



## Brannoc

Whilst my Swedish is still quite a bit rusty having lived there in the Eighties for several years, I've been enjoying watching a lot of old Norwegian films and TV shows recently so as to learn Norwegian and soon saw and heard the similarities between the two.

Are there any tips or specific things to watch out for on the way or is it just a matter of constant practice as I'm already doing ? Also if there are many regional dialects like in Swedish, which is the one in most common use ?

I'm also curious to know more about the languages and dialects down the years generally spoken in towns and districts on the borders of both countries as well, for example as on the E6 road with Seläter in Sweden and Sponvika very close by in Norway. Presumably families who've lived in the area for generations must be fluent in both languages or do they perhaps have a mixture of the two, thinking of countries like Switzerland with its small mountain villages on the borders of France, Germany, Italy and so on....

Thanks


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## Svenke

Hi, Brannoc

if there are many regional dialects like in Swedish

In general, dialects are much more prominent in Norwegian than in Swedish. While dialectal differentiation historically may have been at least as significant in Sweden as in Norway, there has been a more marked tendency towards standardization in Sweden. In Norway, you will hear dialects spoken in all contexts -- for instance by ministers of government, in parliament, by university people and business people, etc. But of course, this doesn't hold for all individuals. Especially in business, I would say, it is common to accommodate one's language towards the written language (especially Bokmål) and the language spoken in and around (above all) Oslo and other cities like Bergen and Trondheim. The dialects of Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim are rather different from each other especially in pronunciation, but also partly in grammar. But they do tend, more than surrounding rural dialects, to approach written Bokmål.

which is the one in most common use?

That (Those) of Oslo and surrounding (esp. urbanized) areas, no doubt, although this/these dialects too has/have a lot of variation.

Svenke


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## Svenke

By the way, if you watch old Norwegian films, you will probably mostly meet a rather old-fashioned kind of Oslo-and-surroundings language.


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## Brannoc

Complicated so presumably Bokmål is the one to go for ? If so can you recommend a good teaching video(s) to watch and listen to ?

Incidentally and for general information, when listening to all Swedish videos I use an excellent player called Pot Player which slows down the speech remarkably well especially if people are talking too fast or in an accent. The only one I've ever found that really works too....


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## Sepia

@ALSO if there are many regional dialects like in Swedish, which is the one in most common use 

The one used on national television in the news is usually OK - everywhere.


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## raumar

Sepia said:


> The one used on national television in the news is usually OK - everywhere.



This is more complicated in Norway - there is not "the one", but "the two". There are two standards for written Norwegian,_ bokmål_ and _nynorsk_. News presenters in the state-owned public service broadcaster had to use a spoken version of one of these two standards, but this has been relaxed a bit. Some years ago, a news presenter was allowed to use her own Northern dialect. 



Brannoc said:


> I'm also curious to know more about the languages and dialects down the years generally spoken in towns and districts on the borders of both countries as well, for example as on the E6 road with Seläter in Sweden and Sponvika very close by in Norway.



The border dialects in Sweden are quite close to the dialects on the Norwegian side of the border, if you compare them with other Swedish dialects --  and vice versa. This is especially the case in the Swedish regions Jämtland and Härjedalen, and also Bohuslän (the area that you mention). These regions belonged to Norway until the 1600s. However, centuries of national language standardization has affected the border regions as well, so there is a clear language difference that follows the national border.


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## Brannoc

Generally speaking is it true that many Norwegians and Swedes find it difficult to understand each other often lapsing into English ?

A loose comparison for me is trying to understand a really deep Scottish or Irish brogue which can be really funny at times when you try to think of a polite way to explain why you can't understand a word they're saying, only for them to repeat the same thing again.

Finally only too glad to escape by saying thank you very much indeed for your kind help....!


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## raumar

Brannoc said:


> Generally speaking is it true that many Norwegians and Swedes find it difficult to understand each other often lapsing into English ?



No, I don't think so. My experience is that Danes sometimes lapse into English when they speak with Norwegians, but Swedes generally don't.  But Swedes may find it  difficult to understand some of the dialects of Western Norway (far away from the Swedish border).

Having said that, there is an asymmetry here: Norwegians understand Swedish better than Swedes understand Norwegian. I believe the reason is that Norwegians have been much exposed to Swedish language, through movies, TV series and music. In contrast, Norwegian culture has not been popular in Sweden (at least not until the Norwegian TV series _Skam_ came a couple of years ago). 

When I grew up (I am born in 1965) we only had one TV channel in Norway. But those of us who didn't live too far away from the border (including myself) could watch Swedish TV, and they had two TV channels -- so we watched a lot of Swedish TV. Now we have cable TV, lots of channels, and people watch less Swedish TV, so younger Norwegians are less exposed to Swedish language, and mutual understanding may be more difficult.

Even if we don't lapse into English, we adapt our language. A good example is the Norwegian talk show host Fredrik Skavlan. His shows -- with Swedish, Norwegian and international guests -- are broadcasted in both Norway and Sweden (partially subtitled in both countries). He speaks a strange mix of Swedish and Norwegian in his shows. Swedes think that he speaks Norwegian, because his intonation is 100 % Norwegian, but he replaces many Norwegian words with Swedish words.


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## Brannoc

Very interesting and amusing especially the talk show host !

As I've always assumed that Swedish grammatical structures follow English structures, would this apply to Norwegian ones as well ?


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## raumar

There are some differences between Swedish and Norwegian grammatical structures, on the one hand, and English on the other, but only small (if any) differences between Swedish and Norwegian.


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## JonTve

Moste of the verbs are "stronger' in norwegain and swidish than the english, they don't need the 'do' or other 'help'.


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