Why should you learn Norwegian?

Learning Norwegian is a very exciting experience, a rollercoaster of emotions, discoveries and frustrations.

Many people will ask you “why did you learn Norwegian?” the answer will depend on what your situation is.

If you are not yet sure as to why your reason is, let us give you some ideas on why you and everyone should learn this exciting language.

Norwegian language sits right in the middle of 2 other Scandinavian languages: Swedish and Danish.

In case you didn’t know, Norwegian has not only one official written standard, but two: Bokmål (literally ‘book language’) and Nynorsk (literally ‘new Norwegian’).

Written Bokmål is a development of written Danish, hence; it becomes very easy to read Danish after you’ve learnt enough Norwegian.

On the other hand, while spoken Danish might be a more challenging task, it is not an impossible feat. With enough training and a slight immersion into the Danish language, you will be able to understand it relatively easy.

Now, spoken Norwegian is closer to Swedish. This means that if you learn Norwegian and become good enough, you’re actually getting three languages for the price of one (or four, if you count Bokmål and Nynorsk).

Well, this happens with absolutely every foreign language you learn.

It is a doorway to a new culture.

True, most Norwegians speak almost a perfect English so you may fall into the trap of just speaking English with them and not getting past this point. But boy are you missing out on the best part!

Norwegian culture is fascinating, much of it can be traced back to the Vikings, a group of Scandinavian seafaring pirates, traders, and pioneers that settled in Northern Europe in the eighth century.

It has evolved in such a way that learning the language becomes a must when you try to understand it.

As with other languages, learning Norwegian will give you access not only to the way people live their life but also, the way they understand it.

The way that a society represents the reality they perceive is through their multiple cultural expressions such as their language.

Only when you overcome this barrier you will get the true meaning of beautiful (and very useful) wordssuch as Dugnadsånd.

If you work for a company in Norway, wouldn’t it be great to take an active role when having group conversations? Wouldn't be awesome to understand their perspective just by understanding their language?

There are many cultural advantages that you can get only by learning Norwegian. Being able to properly differentiate between “Koselig” and “Hyggelig” is one of them…

No joke, for anyone whose mother tongue is English, Norwegian is a simple language to take up.

According to Babbel, Norwegian language tops the rank of the easiest language to learn for English speakers.

This may come as a surprise at first but it shouldn’t. Consider this for a bit: Norwegian is part of the Germanic languages just like English, so they both share a great part of their vocab.

On top of this, one of the first things that any language learner struggles with is pronunciation. In Norwegian there is normally more than one correct way of pronouncing things, this brings down the level of difficulty when learning Norwegian.

Last thing to add here is the fact that Norwegian boast a rather simple grammar, the cherry on the cake!

As we mentioned in one of the points above, learning Norwegian opens up a new world to you. But knowing Norwegian may imply also a great professional advantage.

If you are going to move to Norway for professional reasons, believe us, knowing the language will give you an edge and open up more opportunities for you to move up the ladder in your professional career.

On the same note, whether you are a student or someone who is moving to Norway due to family bonds. Learning the language will make your life even more comfortable here.

If you’re planning on building your life in Norway; speaking Norwegian will be a necessary step to make long-lasting friendships, finding a job and ultimately integrating into Norwegian society.

Don’t be afraid to immerse into this beautiful language and let yourself into a new culture.

It will be a thrilling journey.