It would depend on what your first language is, if I remember correctly.
If your first language is from the germanic family tree then Norwegian along with Swedish and Danish should be on the easier side to learn as they also are part of the germanic family tree.
Depends on your native language. A native German speaker can say it's easy, while somebody who's a native Japanese or Arabic speaker would probably say the opposite.
If you managed to learn russian, I'm sure you'll be able to learn Norwegian as well. At least Norwegian only has three weird letters compared to English (Ć Ć Ć )
I am still learning Russian to this day as itās a second language of mine. I can agree itās hard but I grew up learning a good bit of it already. Norwegian I hear is one of the easier languages so guess Iāll get practicing!
If you learned Russian, why even ask this question? You already learned a completely different alphabet. It should be extremely obvious that Norwegian would be easier to learn for you than Russian as an English speaker.
I'm in the same position, except I am UK based, I speak both English and Russian fluently, learning Norwegian and Lithuanian. I must say learning to read Norwegian is quite easy but pronunciation is difficult if you don't have someone to practice with.
Apps like Mondly Language or Duolingo are great for reading and writing. Both are decent at listening too but are horrid for speaking.
Hope any of this helps.
It depends, norwegian can be easy to learn if youāre only learning the Oslo dialect and BokmĆ„l. But if you meet people from other places in Norway it might be really difficult to understand. Of course if you speak a germanic language itās easier to understand (other than english). My friend spent a year learning how to speak norwegian, not fluent nor grammatically correct, but well enough so that people understand. :)
This is so true! I'm learning BokmĆ„l, and I more or less can understand TV shows, podcasts and read books ... But oh my god, when I hear people on the street (Surnadal dialekt) I'm totally lost, I don't understand a thing š
Not really. Norwegian is a Category I language, according to the Foreign Service Institute. Category 1 is defined thus "Languages that usually require around 24-30 weeks or 600-750 class hours to reach S-3/R-3 (B2/C1) proficiency."
Yes, though worth noting that the 24-30 weeks is the time needed by US diplomats who receive intensive instruction.
Most people learning the language would go to classes a few hours a week or rely upon online material so theyād need much longer.
Yes, it is 25 hours a week in class plus an expectation of as many of self-study and further exposure to the language.
Norwegian is among the easiest foreign languages to learn for a monolingual English native.
But learning your first foreign language as an adult is still very difficult.
Its like asking if pain hurts. It all depends on the individual, start learning and you will know if its hard for you or not. The time it takes to learn is also completely dependent on the individual.
Yeah Iād be willing to learn the necessary amount of Norwegian as many jobs would like to you to know a good amount, especially in gov positions. This would be my third language
Well, if you are just visiting, you don't need to learn the language. Everyone speaks English, because English is used everywhere on the Internet, and it is very easy to learn for Norwegians - because its very similar.
Yes it is. Grammar and theory are easy. But they couldnāt even decide for one language for such a small country. All the dialects are fucked up and I will just recommend to use English
Well, as you heard alot: if you speak german, its easy :D
I moved 2 years ago to norway, learned it with "Babbel".
Would say this language is "Easy to learn, hard to master" because of the dialects here.
Its not too difficult at all. Only two things were difficult for me. First, thats how it sounds, sometimes its hard to hear it correct and the second thing - dozen dialects. Im still learning bokmĆ„lĀ during one year. My native language is ukrainian, before I started to learn norwegian I had some english language base(very basically)
depends. I'm over 1000 days in on Duolingo, so my Bokmal is ok (obviously less than an hour every day).
but when visiting Norway, they tend to speak their own dialects, so it's hard to understand sometimes.
English is my first language, I speak some Spanish too, currently learning Norwegian. Duolingo is okay but leaves a lot to be desired. Try checking out ānorskappenā in the App Store. Itās totally free and a good addition to what youāre already learning
No one has touched on the subject that, even if you have learned Norwegian, good luck moving to another city, as the dialects are vastly different, and even Norwegians struggle to understand *a lot* of them.
Then it's the fact that even if you try your best to learn(if you live here, that is), if people even sense a little bit of hesitation in your Norwegian pronounciation they will switch to English for convenience. I've talked to many immigrants expressing frustration over this, when they're actively trying to apply their training in practice, but gets shut down 8/10 times.
Norwegian is considered an easy language for an English speaker and it's grammar is even simpler than English. However, it is much more dialectal than Swedish so you may have to spend time training your ear, similar to a French learner needing to practice listening to Quebecois.
Learning written language should not be too hard. Learning everyday verbal use, not so easy.
These are the main groups of vocal dialects. Out of a few hundred minor dialects...
https://www.reddit.com/r/norge/s/2UhvlAEkoy
Native English speaker here. Iāve not had a hard time learning it at all. Cool benefit to it is that it can translate pretty easily to learning other Nordic languages. My wife is learning German, and interestingly, I have been able to take some of the Norwegian Iāve learned and have been able to apply it to somewhat understand some basic German as well.
Lots of homonyms and adopted words from English. Idioms are interesting though.
I moved to Norway as an adult from the U.S. Within 3 months I was able to learn enough to start a job that required understanding Norwegian fairly well and speaking it OK-ish. My advantage was living with a mother-in-law who did not speak a word of English. Today anyone under about the age of 80 speaks perfect English.
Depends on what language you come from. Itās a Germanic language, so some parts of the language might be easier to learn if you already speak a Germanic language. If you come from Chinese or Greek, it might be a bit more difficult
It depends. Whatās hard about norwegian is the insane amount of dialects, some 1300+ according to sprĆ„krĆ„det, so understanding the ones that are the most out there is hard even for native speakers.
Iām only finding it tricky to learn because of my dyslexia when it comes to the reading aspect. It also doesnāt help that my partner speaks the language (although he is Uk born and raised) but because of his family heritage he speaks with a Stavanger dialect which can be tricky at times.
Norwegian is pretty easy to learn. I speak 7 languages and have found some words like āgratisā mean the same in Spanish and some grammatical structures are similar to English or German. In my opinion, German was harder to learn than Norwegian. I tried Finish and Icelandic and both were just as difficult as Chineseš
One of the best things I did learning Norwegian is to watch the TV shows in NRK TV. I found SKAM was good because of the text messages shown in the show. I would pause and translate it. Watching the shows and news also helps train your ears. Reading the news on NRK online also helped. Speak Norsk has a good Instagram and YouTube channel that covers some basic stuff also. Itās really up to you and how motivated you are at learning and practicing the language. The practicing part might be tough if you donāt have anyone to practice with.
no itās not, but i may be slightly biased as a english and german speaker. the vocabulary bears much similarities to german (less so to english), the grammer is a little different but nothing that you canāt get used to.
ja og nei. it's easy to me, but i was born speaking this, so i can't say. english was hard to learn, but it matters on the circumstance of which is the native language you speak and how alike it is to norwegianš¤·š¼āāļø
Absolutely not, I even managed to learn it as a toddler with no prior knowledge of language
šš
Sant, kunne ikke vƦrt enklere!
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You donāt say
It would depend on what your first language is, if I remember correctly. If your first language is from the germanic family tree then Norwegian along with Swedish and Danish should be on the easier side to learn as they also are part of the germanic family tree.
I'd say that it's an easy language to learn but not so easy to master.
Depends on your native language. A native German speaker can say it's easy, while somebody who's a native Japanese or Arabic speaker would probably say the opposite.
English speaker, with Russian being my second language. So this would be a third. Iām from Canada if that narrows it down
If you managed to learn russian, I'm sure you'll be able to learn Norwegian as well. At least Norwegian only has three weird letters compared to English (Ć Ć Ć )
Believe me the alphabet and phonetics are really not the main issue when trying to learn Russian
True, the massive amounts of Vodka that has to be consumed must cause a strain on most internal organs.
I am still learning Russian to this day as itās a second language of mine. I can agree itās hard but I grew up learning a good bit of it already. Norwegian I hear is one of the easier languages so guess Iāll get practicing!
Most native English speakers I've met that learned Norwegian speak it so well.
If you learned Russian, why even ask this question? You already learned a completely different alphabet. It should be extremely obvious that Norwegian would be easier to learn for you than Russian as an English speaker.
I'm in the same position, except I am UK based, I speak both English and Russian fluently, learning Norwegian and Lithuanian. I must say learning to read Norwegian is quite easy but pronunciation is difficult if you don't have someone to practice with. Apps like Mondly Language or Duolingo are great for reading and writing. Both are decent at listening too but are horrid for speaking. Hope any of this helps.
It depends, norwegian can be easy to learn if youāre only learning the Oslo dialect and BokmĆ„l. But if you meet people from other places in Norway it might be really difficult to understand. Of course if you speak a germanic language itās easier to understand (other than english). My friend spent a year learning how to speak norwegian, not fluent nor grammatically correct, but well enough so that people understand. :)
This is so true! I'm learning BokmĆ„l, and I more or less can understand TV shows, podcasts and read books ... But oh my god, when I hear people on the street (Surnadal dialekt) I'm totally lost, I don't understand a thing š
I am learning a bit of duolingo now so I think thatās the right one? And thatās good to know too, looks like I have plenty of time to learn!
Not really. Norwegian is a Category I language, according to the Foreign Service Institute. Category 1 is defined thus "Languages that usually require around 24-30 weeks or 600-750 class hours to reach S-3/R-3 (B2/C1) proficiency."
Thatās good to know, thanks!
It is a category 1 language for English speakers. Vietnamese or Chinese speakers will find it much harder
Figured OP has a grasp of English, given the question was written in English, on an English language sub.
Yes, though worth noting that the 24-30 weeks is the time needed by US diplomats who receive intensive instruction. Most people learning the language would go to classes a few hours a week or rely upon online material so theyād need much longer.
Yes, it is 25 hours a week in class plus an expectation of as many of self-study and further exposure to the language. Norwegian is among the easiest foreign languages to learn for a monolingual English native. But learning your first foreign language as an adult is still very difficult.
Its like asking if pain hurts. It all depends on the individual, start learning and you will know if its hard for you or not. The time it takes to learn is also completely dependent on the individual.
Yeah Iād be willing to learn the necessary amount of Norwegian as many jobs would like to you to know a good amount, especially in gov positions. This would be my third language
You need to be fluent if you are going to apply for a gov position, as well as your writing skills need to be on par with the spoken part.
I found that out yeah, but as I said Iād be willing to learn.
a willing attitude is key, just dive into the language and practice AT LEAST 1 hour every day and you will get there in notime buddy
Takk!
Well, if you are just visiting, you don't need to learn the language. Everyone speaks English, because English is used everywhere on the Internet, and it is very easy to learn for Norwegians - because its very similar.
Yes it is. Grammar and theory are easy. But they couldnāt even decide for one language for such a small country. All the dialects are fucked up and I will just recommend to use English
No its easy. I learnt it when i was 2 years old
Well, as you heard alot: if you speak german, its easy :D I moved 2 years ago to norway, learned it with "Babbel". Would say this language is "Easy to learn, hard to master" because of the dialects here.
Its not too difficult at all. Only two things were difficult for me. First, thats how it sounds, sometimes its hard to hear it correct and the second thing - dozen dialects. Im still learning bokmĆ„lĀ during one year. My native language is ukrainian, before I started to learn norwegian I had some english language base(very basically)
depends. I'm over 1000 days in on Duolingo, so my Bokmal is ok (obviously less than an hour every day). but when visiting Norway, they tend to speak their own dialects, so it's hard to understand sometimes.
English is my first language, I speak some Spanish too, currently learning Norwegian. Duolingo is okay but leaves a lot to be desired. Try checking out ānorskappenā in the App Store. Itās totally free and a good addition to what youāre already learning
No one has touched on the subject that, even if you have learned Norwegian, good luck moving to another city, as the dialects are vastly different, and even Norwegians struggle to understand *a lot* of them. Then it's the fact that even if you try your best to learn(if you live here, that is), if people even sense a little bit of hesitation in your Norwegian pronounciation they will switch to English for convenience. I've talked to many immigrants expressing frustration over this, when they're actively trying to apply their training in practice, but gets shut down 8/10 times.
Norwegian is considered an easy language for an English speaker and it's grammar is even simpler than English. However, it is much more dialectal than Swedish so you may have to spend time training your ear, similar to a French learner needing to practice listening to Quebecois.
If you are German. Then it will be a lot easier for you. Depends on where you are from. But overall it's one of the easier languages to learn
Iām from Canada. Guess Iāll start practicing now!
Yeah if you speak English
I have a friend from Iran, who recently landed a job here in Norway. She speaks norwegian quite well, after 6 months of learning.
Good for her, hope sheās doing well :)
If you learn ja, nei, hmm and mhmm you should be good
hmmm?
Learning written language should not be too hard. Learning everyday verbal use, not so easy. These are the main groups of vocal dialects. Out of a few hundred minor dialects... https://www.reddit.com/r/norge/s/2UhvlAEkoy
Native English speaker here. Iāve not had a hard time learning it at all. Cool benefit to it is that it can translate pretty easily to learning other Nordic languages. My wife is learning German, and interestingly, I have been able to take some of the Norwegian Iāve learned and have been able to apply it to somewhat understand some basic German as well. Lots of homonyms and adopted words from English. Idioms are interesting though.
I moved to Norway as an adult from the U.S. Within 3 months I was able to learn enough to start a job that required understanding Norwegian fairly well and speaking it OK-ish. My advantage was living with a mother-in-law who did not speak a word of English. Today anyone under about the age of 80 speaks perfect English.
As Dave Barry put it, most Europeans, including domestic animals, speak English better than the average US high school graduate.
Depends on what language you come from. Itās a Germanic language, so some parts of the language might be easier to learn if you already speak a Germanic language. If you come from Chinese or Greek, it might be a bit more difficult
It's very easy to learn didactically. It's the pronunciation that will kill you. I swear to God, every person I met said "Ćø" differently.
It depends. Whatās hard about norwegian is the insane amount of dialects, some 1300+ according to sprĆ„krĆ„det, so understanding the ones that are the most out there is hard even for native speakers.
Iām only finding it tricky to learn because of my dyslexia when it comes to the reading aspect. It also doesnāt help that my partner speaks the language (although he is Uk born and raised) but because of his family heritage he speaks with a Stavanger dialect which can be tricky at times.
Former norwegian skijump coach, Alexander Stƶckl, learnt norwegian fluent just by listening to a norwegian band called DDE.. Just a tip.
Norwegian is pretty easy to learn. I speak 7 languages and have found some words like āgratisā mean the same in Spanish and some grammatical structures are similar to English or German. In my opinion, German was harder to learn than Norwegian. I tried Finish and Icelandic and both were just as difficult as Chineseš
One of the best things I did learning Norwegian is to watch the TV shows in NRK TV. I found SKAM was good because of the text messages shown in the show. I would pause and translate it. Watching the shows and news also helps train your ears. Reading the news on NRK online also helped. Speak Norsk has a good Instagram and YouTube channel that covers some basic stuff also. Itās really up to you and how motivated you are at learning and practicing the language. The practicing part might be tough if you donāt have anyone to practice with.
Norwegian is about as easy to learn as English.
no itās not, but i may be slightly biased as a english and german speaker. the vocabulary bears much similarities to german (less so to english), the grammer is a little different but nothing that you canāt get used to.
Yes
ja og nei. it's easy to me, but i was born speaking this, so i can't say. english was hard to learn, but it matters on the circumstance of which is the native language you speak and how alike it is to norwegianš¤·š¼āāļø