Learn Norwegian
Norwegian, the official language of Norway, is a North Germanic language. It is spoken by about 4.8 million speakers in Norway and is very similar to Danish and Swedish. It is believed that Norwegian, along with Danish and Swedish, developed from Old Norse. In 872, when Norway was united under the rule of King Harald Fairhair, runic letters were used in written Norwegian. The Latin script became popular only after Christianity made its way to Norway in 1030.
Norwegian Grammar and Pronunciation
To learn Norwegian, it is imperative that you learn verb conjugation. This is the basis for learning any language. Thankfully, verb conjugation in Norwegian is relatively easy and most English-speaking people will not find it that difficult.
There are strong verbs and weak verbs in Norwegian. Strong verbs have irregular conjugation. Usually, the present tense is formed by adding an “r” at the end of the verb, while past tense is made by adding “te” at the end of the verb. Furthermore, the word order in Norwegian is closer to English than German or Dutch.
There are 29 specific letters to grapple with when you learn Norwegian alphabets. Of these, the letters c, q, w, x and z are only used for foreign loan words, which are assimilated into Norwegian spelling and pronunciation.
When it comes to pronunciation, Norwegian sounds very similar to Swedish but there is huge variation between the different dialects. Nonetheless, in Norway, all native pronunciations are considered correct. The two most common dialects in Norway are Nynorsk and Bokmal.
Learning Norwegian
Today, there are so many different ways to learn Norwegian. You can choose a method that best suits your learning style, abilities and needs. There are online websites that offer Norwegian language courses. If you like, you can also learn the language via a traditional language course where you go to a language school and sit in a classroom with other learners. If you want to make your learning process even more interesting, you can spend time in Norway to master the language. There are even exchange programmes for students that can make language learning easy.
However, if you are looking to make Norwegian language learning fun and interesting, you should make it a point to use the services of Babbel.com. The site is a great place to learn Norwegian as it has a hoard of multiple learning methods to offer. You can make use of the fun and absorbing multimedia exercises or hone your pronunciation with the help of voice recognition. However, the best part of using Babbel is the ability to pace the learning to meet your needs. You will not feel rushed to go to the next level unless you are comfortable and ready. With courses designed for beginners, learning Norwegian through Babbel is enjoyable, easy and interesting.
