Lying, sitting, standing Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jun 20, 2013
Do you know teatersport? It’s basically a kind of unscripted theatre, where you and your mates pick an øvelse (exercise) or ”set-of-rules” and use it to make a scene that’s totally improvised. I love to take part in creative collaborations like that, and one øvelse always makes me think about Scandinavian languages… It’s called sitte…
Hello Goodbye! Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on May 29, 2013
Having your first conversation in a foreign language is always a feat. If you know how to say ”hello” and ”goodbye”, you have the tools to break the ice – and to sneak away, if the whole thing gets too embarrassing! Hei! is the normal way to say ”hi!” The sound lies somewhere between English…
Hooray, it’s bunad time! Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on May 17, 2013
Hipp hurra for 17. mai! It’s May 17th, the day when all Norwegians går mann av huse (go to the streets, literally ’go man off house’) to celebrate their beautiful country. In every Norwegian by (town) and bygd (little town, hamlet) there are 17. mai-tog (May 17th parades) with people waving norske flagg (Norwegian flags)…
How to get directions from a dropped letter Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on May 10, 2013
When you want to tell the world where you are, prepositions come handy: I’m in the garage; we’re on the mountain. (And so it is in Norwegian: Jeg er i garasjen; vi er på fjellet.) However, very often some kind of adverb can do the job as well: I’m home; we’re out. Jeg er hjemme…
The I, the Y and the J Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Apr 21, 2013
Norsk er lett å stave. Norwegian is easy to spell. For learners being used to the quirks of English spelling (why on earth is ”weemen” spelt with an o?), the Norwegian system may seem like a godsend: You write things more or less like they sound: sjåfør (chauffeur), miljø (milieu; environment). Fortunately, there are still…
Eat Chocolate, Learn Norwegian Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Apr 11, 2013
The next time you’re in a Norwegian kiosk shopping snop (sweets, candies), look out for the melkesjokolade (milk chocolate) called ”Et lite eventyr” (a little fairy-tale). There is only a single piece of chocolate inside the little yellow plastic wrapping. But then you don’t buy this product for the sjokolade – on the back side…
Exotic Easter In Norway Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Mar 31, 2013
Do you celebrate påske (”PAWskeh”, Easter) in your country? A lot of people around the world look forward to påsken (or påska) – even if they’re not Christian. They enjoy decorating their homes with påskekyllinger (Easter chickens) and eating delicious påskeegg (Easter eggs) of chocolate. These things are the same in Norway. But most other…