Practice your Norwegian skills

Good habits

• Write down interesting, useful or amusing words and sentences you come across. If you say something that makes people giggle, write it down too: you will understand the joke when your language improves!
• Buy a book with easy language. For every word you don't know, write the translation in your own language above it. Notice how the sentences are build.
• Use a dictionary instead of Google Translate. When you look up a word, you get more information about how to use it and in which context. You also have to scan over a lot of other words that will catch your attention.
• Read the headlines of the newspapers.
• Switch on Norwegian subtitles when you watch TV.
• Listen to Norwegian radio shows and podcasts.
• When you have some basic understanding of Norwegian, try easy-to-read editions of Norwegian books, or read the same book in both Norwegian and English (or any other language off course). There are also many beautiful children’s books you might find enjoyable.

Social exposure

• Speak Norwegian to people who work in shops and cafés.
• Ask people to speak Norwegian to you, even though you answer them back in English (or another language you share).
• Start an activity where you have to interact with locals, like a swim team, football team, hiking group or any organised activity. This gives you an opportunity to get to know Norwegians on their home turf, using their everyday language in a natural setting.
• Join Facebook groups and Meetups near Oslo based on your interests and go to local events.
• Go to learn Norwegian on a buget for information on language cafés (språkkafé).

Learn about Norwegian culture

Learning the language and developing an understanding of social codes are two closely related processes. As your language skills develop, you will pick up cultural references, and you will have a more intuitive understanding of the social structures.

Go to Learn about Norwegian culture for easy ways to widen your perspective on Norway and Norwegian culture.