A Close Relative?

Here on exchange I have had the lucky honor to meet so many various people from all over the world. And along with that, came the chance to get interested and learn about new languages & countries. One of my good friends, Astrid, has gotten me very interested in her country, Norway, and the language. I have had the lucky pleasure to become close friends with her over my 9 months so far on exchange and can’t wait to visit her country some day, and maybe, hopefully speak with her in her native tongue.

The main reason I now want to try and learn Norwegian was because, well we kinda have to do a little flashback. It all started when Astrid and I were sitting on our bus to Lyon ready to depart for Marseille for or spring vacation. (you can check out some blogs about that here). Astrid and I were talking and then a moment of silence kinda happened and before I knew it Astrid was telling me, “Oh did you know ‘egg’ is ‘egg’.” I remember just looking at her completely confused and said, “Yea, I know.” Because to me she was saying ‘egg’ in english is ‘egg’.” The whole phrase was confusing. She looked at me and suddenly realized what she had said and then started laughing, “ahah, no. I mean ‘oeuf’ in French is ‘egg’ in Norwegian.” I looked at her finally understanding what she meant and said, “Oh, so like ‘egg’ is ‘egg’. Like you said the first time?” We both stared dumbly confused at each other and then we both started to laugh. “Oh my gosh. I totally forgot ‘egg’ was ‘egg’ in English too.”

To give Astrid credit she does speak one more language than me and if I get English and French confused I couldn’t imagine having Norwegian, English, and French all in my head. During that four hour bus ride I asked some other Norwegian words that were common to English and she told me ‘hiccups’ were ‘hikke’ in Norwegian. Soon after I began to find out that Norwegian grammar is similar to English grammar so, that’s a plus. It also means it will be so much easier to learn.

Now on my Duolingo account I have Norwegian as another language that I’m learning, or slowly trying to learn. I mean I want to learn so many that it’s getting even harder, but I guess that’s my fault for being so interested. ASL, Norwegian, Italian, etc. Will I ever even be able to speak? I guess I’ll never know till I try right?

As I said before I am slowly trying to learn so, in this slow process I want to share what I have learned. And if anyone has tips or is trying to learn as well, check out the comments, leave one, and maybe we can help each other out! (or any language for that matter!)

Pronouns:

jeg – I                                  vi – We

du – You           dere– you all / you guys

han, hun, det – He, She, It       de – They

Verbs:

*verbs don’t change according to the subject!*

jeg er – I am         vi er– We are

du er – You are       dere er – You all are

han, hun, det er – He, She, It is       de er – They are

Sounds:

Å : the ‘o’ in ‘open’ or ‘old’

Ø : no equivalent but, like ‘bird’ or ‘earth’

Æ : the ‘a’ in ‘add’ or ‘apple

Jeg : rhythms with ‘guy’ (yai)

Det : like ‘deh’, silent ‘t’

De : like ‘dee’

check out this hand cream, which is great for dry hands!

check out this book next time to help plan you next trip to Norway!

*move to next page to read see some questions I asked my friend Astrid.*

I decided to ask my friend Astrid some questions about Norway, her language and other random little things. All questions are also translated into Norwegian as well.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to visit in Norway? Or one thing you have visited that you would recommend to someone? // Hva er din favoritt ting å besøke i Norge? Eller en ting du har besøkt som du vil anbefale til noen?

fun fact: the cheese slicer was invented in 1925 by Thor Bjøklund in Norway

A: “If your going to Norway make sure that you check out fjords, Prekestolen, the northern lights, Trolltunga, south of Norway and the famous stavkirkene.”

Q: What’s one thing you love about your country? // Hva er en ting du elsker om landet ditt?

A: “The nature, culture and the people.”

Q: One word you find that sounds funny in Norwegian? in English? in French? // Ett ord finner du det morsomt på norsk? På engelsk? På fransk?

A: “Snålt = werid, n’importe de quoi = no matter what, jelly”

Q: What is one of your favorite traditions in Norway? // Hva er en av favoritttradisjonene dine i Norge?

fun fact: Norway’s national symbol is a lion.

A: “My favorite tradition in Norway is our Constitution day the 17 of may. We Norwegians say that the 17 of may is the childrens day and everybody is exited for 17 may. We get to wear our Bunad national costume, eat sausages, and eat a bunch of ice cream the whole day and just have a great time with family and friends.”

Hopefully you guys enjoyed this post because I’m very proud of this and I couldn’t wait to publish this, which I have been waiting since March. I am so happy that on my exchange I met so many amazing people from all over the world, who taught me so much more about their countries!

ps. jeg savner deg Astrid ❤

Saw a Norwegian when we were at the Tour de France in Rodez, France!