700 hours of Norwegian
Many things have happened since last time:
- moved to norway!
- started my phd!
First thoughts about Norway
- People are much friendlier here than switzerland, despite what everyone has told me. idk if it's just having less language barrier or also the culture, but everyone is much more willing to talk with me here :,)
- I miss pastries
- They are never in stock with the herbs in the grocery stores so at this rate I am going to have an extensive herb garden
- I am not good at riding a bike.....
- I think germans are actually the weird outlier bc people in norway actually speak norwegian? idk man I was in convos in germany where it would be all germans and me and we'd be like we all speak german why are we talking in english, and then everyone would continue to talk in english. very strange
Me and Norwegian
My Norwegian sucks but it's like, fine. I can understand most people unless they have strong dialects, but the real issue is whenever I open my mouth and say the ugliest and most incorrect thing you've ever heard. It's understandable so it's fine and everyone I've ever talked to has been super nice and patient, so objectively I am cool and smart but you know. Always hurts to hear me talk after I'm used to hearing real norwegians talk :,)
I've also definitely improved since I first got here, now I'm quite comfortable doing introductions and such in norwegian. I can talk about more things with my norwegian roommates without defaulting to english. I even said approximately 3 things at norwegian book club so good job me! Nearly everyone is happy to talk norwegian to me and they don't just change to english which is very appreciated :)
Next goals
I've never actually learned something to C1 so no idea how long it could take. But we'll say my (very optimistic) goal is to be C1 in another year??
The goals that actually matter though are the smaller ones. So let me first talk about all the areas I need to improve in:
- Comprehension: I have issues with dialects, and just generally understanding people who talk normally and not like radio hosts. It can also be difficult when you get multiple people talking at once. Obviously it will help just to talk with more people, it would also help to intentionally find things with dialect/real people, like reality tv shows (or tv shows generally). I am very bad at watching TV shows though so idk, we'll see.
- Grammar: I have many grammar issues and I will get better by doing my workbook. Unfortunately I don't like the part of the workbook that I'm in right now (all exercises on random things with no explanations or anything...) so that does not put me in the mood to do the workbook. At least my roommates agree that this workbook is very hard.
- Vocab: I've done a lot of flashcards for the past year and I am getting pretty sick of them! So I'm going to stop doing flashcards for the time being. Reading will also help. (I wish I had all the time in the world and could do like in elementary school and devour books at the speed of light. Imagine how good I could be at norwegian if I read more!! Need to go to the library.)
- Speaking/writing: My biggest problem at the moment is I know a LOT, but my ability to actually produce any of it is kinda garbage. What I really need is for someone to force me to talk only in Norwegian for some time every day. My issue really is that it's just so easy to change to english and not try. I would also like to get into journaling again. My eternal struggle with journaling is that I have fun once I get started, but I despise having to start. I would rather do nearly anything other than open my notebook and start writing. I'd have to get into a habit of doing it every morning.
- Pronunciation: I could stand to do some more shadowing so I sound less awful. But really it's fine.
Current plans
Honestly I'm in a bit of a motivation slump. Don't feel like I have any time for language stuff. It's frustrating!! The last couple weeks have been super busy though, so I will probably feel better once I get back to a normal schedule. I also don't have any commute for podcasts or any fixed things to do on a daily basis now that I'm taking a break on Anki, so idk.
My real goal this semester is just to get settled in, make friends, understand what I'm doing at work, get into a rhythm. Any Norwegian I can do is just the cherry on top. Also objectively I do get quite a bit of norwegian on a daily basis from the roommates and just living in Norway, so it's not a complete wash, even if it never feels like I have time to do the things I want to do! :/
But some things I'd like to find the time to do before the end of the year are:
- read Følelses forvirring, it's short so shouldn't take so long
- read some of the rest of my book collection. It feels silly to have books on my bookshelf that I haven't read
- have another go at looking for youtubers in norwegian, because I find videos wayyyy easier to watch than TV (not linguistically easier, but the activation energy is lower if u know what i mean)
- get a library card
- go to book club & try out other clubs and make friends :)