The language

As you may know last week I spent in class. I have been trying to learn Norwegian since November and even though I did quite well, it was the pronounciation that stumped me a great deal. So, when I saw a course being advertised in Norway, I liked the sound of it and registered. It would be one week of intensive Norwegian and also meeting Norwegians and seeing businesses. A minimum of ten participants was required. Unfortunately they never got more than about four and the course was cancelled. However, I still had time off and felt that even though that course had been cancelled, that didn't need to mean I couldn't do a course anyhow.

I contacted a company that did offer courses, both for groups and for individuals and asked them to put together a course for me on my own. And not that lousy hour and a half per week, no four hours a day for five days. Which in the end turned to five hours a day for four days. So, on Tuesday morning I took the bus to Groningen, where the course was to be held and arrived nice and early to meet my teacher: a Dutch girl studying Norwegian in University.

The first day I was still a bit self-consious about reading out loud and by the end of that day I was exhausted. Learning pronounciation while having a massive cold and a headache isn't a good combination, I can tell you. Day two however I was a bit more confident. I managed to pronounce unnskyld to a satisfactory degree, even though any word with a u and a y in it is a horror to me, the sounds are so similar to me! Besides being able to pronounce quite well, I also saw that my level of grammar was already quite high and that I knew a fair amount of words as well. My teacher was amazed of me and said so on several occasions.

By the end of the week I was a bit sorry I hadn't ordered for a two-week course, it might have been even better, but I already noticed a big difference after I got home: I listen to Norwegian radio quite often and that night I was able to understand a whole lot more than I did before! I was able to distinguish more words from the mush that is Norwegian. Because to be honest, it is quite a mush. It's fairly easy to read, but when it comes to listening, ten words become two and you have to figure out which ten are meant!

This week I will take it a bit easier, although I still have all my grammar notes to type out, since it's a big muddle right now. But I am able to buy an apple now: Jeg vil gjerne ha et eple! And more importantly: I know how to pronounce it!