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Colour your tongue! Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on May 28, 2016
Can you imagine a day without farger (colours)? It’s no wonder that many language courses are quick to introduce a few colours. Here are the basic ones in Norwegian – can you guess the meaning of the words? 1 rød 2 blå 3 gul 4 grønn 5 brun 6 oransj [oRANSH] 7 lilla 8 svart…
17 a-may-zing Norway facts Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on May 17, 2016
Gratulerer med dagen! (Happy Constitution day!) I dag er det 17. mai (today is May 17th), and store og små (big ones and little ones) have been out in the streets of Norway to celebrate their grunnlov (Constitution) and frihet (freedom). Here’s 17 things that help making Norway so amazing: Norges kvinnelandslag i håndball (Norway…
May 1st and Norwegian Politics Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on May 1, 2016
Liker du politikk? (Do you like politics?) Even though a lot of Norwegians, like people elsewhere, synes politikk er kjedelig (think politics are boring), første mai (May 1st) is a day when many are eager to hit the street and voice their mening (opinion). Traditionally known as arbeidernes internasjonale kampdag (the workers’ international struggle day)…
Your Norwegian Possessives Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Apr 25, 2016
When you want to say ”your” or ”my” something, there are really three things to consider in Norwegian: 1. Before or after? In Norwegian, a possessive pronoun (”our”, ”their”…) may be placed either before or after a noun: Det er min dag i dag! (”It’s my day today” = It’s my lucky day) vs. Har…
Norwegian Pronouns – it’s personal Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Apr 15, 2016
Nothing speeds up communication like a good pronoun! 🙂 Instead of having to repeat a personal name umpteen times, it’s really great that once everybody agrees on a topic, ”you” can manage with a short ”I” or ”she”. At first glance, Norwegian pronomen look a lot like the English ones: Jeg venter på trikken. (I’m…
A visit to Bergen Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Mar 31, 2016
When it doesn’t rain, Bergen is probably Norway’s most vakker (beautiful) city. I recently had a chance to revisit Bergen. Having studied there, I have to smile when the city’s hjemmeside [yem-] (homepage) writes: Byen hadde 235 regndager i 2014 – og innbyggerne er stolte av det. (The city had 235 days of rain in…
Norwegian Springtime Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Mar 25, 2016
Det er vår! (It’s spring!) To really know how fantastisk våren er, you have to spend a vinter i Norge. Nothing compares to fuglesang (bird song) and fresh vårluft (spring air) after months of snø (snow) and darkness! With two visits to Norway so far this year, I’ve been able to follow utviklinga (the development)…