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Is Norwegian the new Chinese? Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Feb 20, 2013
”I don’t understand a word Norwegian, but I love listening to Norwegians speaking it! It’s so melodic, it sounds like they’re singing!” Sometimes people say things like that. And in a way, they’re right. Did you know Norwegian and Chinese had something in common? Almost any basic intro to Chinese will mention the word ma. Depending…
Tir n’a Noir Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Nov 23, 2012
Are you looking for Norwegian music? A band I’d recommend to anyone is Vamp. Based in the west coast city of Haugesund, they’ve been famous for their Irish-inspired folk rock since the 1990’ies. They’re a staple at televised festivals, and have won an armful of the prestigious spellemann (”fiddler”) awards. The band was founded by Torbjørn Økland and…
From Play to Playful Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Nov 14, 2012
Sometimes you need to change a word from one grammatical class to another. In English you do that all the time, for example when you make the verb ”to read” into a noun by adding an -ing suffix: Reading makes me happy. When you want to swap the class of a Norwegian word, you have several…
Familien Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Sep 24, 2012
One of the basic things in life is … familien [famEELee-uhn] (the family). Everybody has a mor (mother) and a far (father) – although lots of Norwegians would rather say they’ve got a mamma (mom) and a pappa (dad). There are many different ways of talking about ”my” mother or father: moren min, mora mi…
Crazy Norwegian Band Names Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Aug 29, 2012
Many bands have strange names, and Norwegian ones are no exception! Since Morten Harket and the rest of a-ha were big stars in the 1980’ies (with global hits such as ”Take On Me”), a large number of Norwegian bands have hit the world with their music … and their names. Below are a few of…
Going on holiday Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jul 25, 2012
Norwegians rarely stay at home during the whole sommerferie (summer holiday), as most people can afford to go somewhere more exciting. A favorite destination is hytta (the cabin). Many families keep a cabin or cottage på fjellet (in the mountains, literally ’on the mountain’) or ved fjorden (at the fjord). These cottages can be everything…
Children of the Rainbow Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jul 22, 2012
One year ago, on July 22, 2011, Norway experienced its darkest day since WWII. Right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik bombed and brutally gunned 77 innocent civilians to death, in Oslo and on the Oslo Fjord island of Utøya. Children and teenagers fell victims to Breivik’s bullets, and the whole deed was so unbelievably atrocious and…