How to learn Norwegian
General approach to learning Norwegian
In addition to learning Portuguese (and English) I have been teaching both in classroom setting and in individual online classes.
When talking about adults the tendency is clear. Some will learn a new language quite quickly while others will struggle to get basic competence.
Of course there are
some individual differences regarding how easy it is to learn a foreign language, particularly when it comes to phonology (pronunciation).
However, usually the problem is related to student's effort and way of learning. If we assume that you have a private tutor, but principles are much the same if you study on your own or in a class.
If you have a private tutor you will go through new material in each class, followed by a space of time until next class.
In the beginning of the course you might have both motivation and interest in learning the new language. So you might have no problem with learning the new grammar and vocabulary.
After a few weeks your learning might slow down or you might lose interest. It is of utmost importance to keep up with the work between classes.
Problem is that it often is difficult to keep up motivation. One issue is that whenever you get to new texts, they tend to continue to be quite boring.
Eventually you will know most words, making it a more tedious process to learn the new words. The best tip is to use flash cards to memorize.
I have heard good things about
Eurotalk for the ones starting to learn Norwegian for the first time. Personally I have not tried them, so I will not give a personal recommendation.
I have tried
Anki, however, and I can recommend the free desktop version. I have used it for Portuguese and what make this one particularly useful is that you have huge flexibility both when you fill out the front and the back of the flash cards. You can write full phrases or individual words in a context. The program also keeps track of your progress. While a new word can be repeated with a few days interval, it can take months before a word that you already have answered many times reappear.
Slottet i Oslo - Picture taken from Google Earth
In addition to flash cards, it is also very important to listen to Norwegian between classes. In my classes we try to use a lot of audio. Getting used to listen to the new language right from the start with audio just using a limited vocabulary, will both train your understanding of the pronunciation of the words and give you confidence and make you relax when hearing the language.
The listening should be done in intervals between the classes. Ideally you should listen a little Norwegian every day, even if it is just for 15 minutes. This will also help you maintain the language between the classes without too much effort from your part. The listening should be at your level. Try listening to audio where you understand the overall theme and not listen just to listen.
