Do you really have to learn Norwegian?

I never gave any thought to learning another language. Fluent in Urdu, English and Persian, I considered myself multilingual enough for this life. There was once a scary hype about Mandarin “taking over the world”  but seriously??? Who wants to sound like that?!

When I moved to Oslo, I remained complacent. The thought of learning norwegian was daunting, it sounds very complicated, like German and Danish. And since Norwegians speak English very well, I happily trotted on with the occasional “tusen takk” (thank you or thousand thanks), “hei hei”, “God dag” and “nei”. I called it Norlish.

Surprisingly, many words that we simply take for granted in other languages seemed completely unnecessary and lost in Norway. For starters, there’s NO word for “please” in norsk. Imagine a world without “please”. Its lovely!!!

And “excuse me” (unnskyld) – people will brush past and make their way through crowds and there won’t be any “excuse me”. Even though there’s a norwegian word for it, you’ll seldom hear it. And sometimes when I do hear a murmuring “unshh”, I’ll literally jump out of the way.

Another word “sorry” (beklager) – which is overused in english, almost as if we’re ALWAYS sorry about something, is barely used in norwegian. According to some myths, a person only says its when they are extremely remorseful of their actions.

On the other hand, if you ask anyone for help or advice, Norwegians will happily and seriously give out information sufficient for a college thesis. And it doesn’t end there. If/when they see you again, they’ll remember and ask if “it was ok”. And this is one of my favourite norwegian characteristics that helped me settle down here. To decide which bread i’ll buy (nordic breads are very confusing for newcomers), where to rent an apartment, Helly Hanson vs. Canada Goose, Kvikk Lunsj or Kit Kat (obviously Kvikk Lunsj!!!).

So barring the words “please”, “sorry” and (sometimes) “excuse me”, English is sufficient.

Then why learn Norwegian at all?

1) The painfully obvious reason that any immigrant can confirm: if you don’t speak Norwegian, its difficult to get a job in Norway. Swedish and danish help some, you can at least work at shops, restaurants and cafe’s. You could work as an au pair, but even that requires compulsory enrolment in norskkurs (norwegian course) during the contract. Therefore, if you intend to work full-time or half-time for any period of time, its highly recommended to invest time in learning the local språk. Apart from local schools like Folkuniversitetet and Alfaskolen, there are some useful online resources too. There are also “Language Meetup Groups” where you can practice and learn in groups.

2) Moving to another country (or even city) poses many challenges. One of the biggest in Norway is that its difficult to make “a new set of“ friends or permeate into existing social groups as people are not “approachable”. There is a typical “clique mentality”. They will help and even be friendly but they don’t become your friends easily. Unless you are working, have friends or family, learning the local language lowers barriers  and makes it easier to approach people, initiate friendships, network for jobs or just have a better life time.

In such an isolating situation, norskkurs, is a welcomed social activity and the best way to make new friends who are equally ignorant as you. Many of them might even understand why its initially embarrassing for english-speakers to keep saying “ganske bra” (pretty good), “veldig bra” (very good) or just “bra” (good)!

I completed my third norwegian course at Folkuniversitetet this week and can vouch that the nicest people and some of my closest friends in Oslo are from my “norskkurs”.

3) Shopping becomes easier as you actually know what you’re buying now. No more of “I thought I bought greek yogurt, why does this taste like cottage cheese?”.

Its also easier to identify sales and offers or avoid waiting for the bus for an hour because the service is “stengt” (closed).

4) After a coupe of drinks, “speak in english because she can’t understand” is taken over by “who cares about english and who is she??”. Everyone will speak only in norwegian. You can try and catch up but they’ll speak so fast you won’t know what happened. If you try and shift the conversation back to english, they’ll speak even faster.

To avoid helplessness and boredom, drink more than anyone or leave the party by 11 pm. Advice from partners (girlfriends/boyfriends/wives or husbands) of Norwegians, who go through this kind of drinking social alienation very often a) stop smiling and pretending you understand. No one cares, Or (b) start singing a “what did the fox say…” , they’ll stop talking and sing along.

5) When you learn norsk, its highly appreciated by the norwegians. They love that you’re making an effort to learn their language . They will gently correct your mistakes and help you learn along the way.  And soon you’ll be able to say “menneskerettighetsorganisasjonssekretæren” without even coming up for air. Yes thats ONE word and it means “the secretary of a human rights organization”. 

6) Speaking in norwegian is fun. Like you’re singing a song, alternating between the high and low pitch. Luckily, its also the nicest sounding Scandinavian language.

7) But most importantly…..when the two girls sitting opposite you in the tram are talking about “what happened last night”, you can understand EVERYTHING!!!

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OsLove to all 🙂