Table Of ContentNorwegian
Margaretha Danbolt Simons
TEACH YOURSELF BOOKS
Acknowledgements
My greatest lhanks are due to myedito," at Hodder & Stoughton: lo Helen eoward, who first
approached me aboul writing lhis book and gol me under way, and lo Sarah l\Iitchell, who saw me
through the whole process. I am immensely grateful for all the help I have reeeived, from beginning
to end, from Gillian James at the University of Surrey. Gillian also acted as my guinea pig. I would
like to thank John Hart of Esher College for patiently improving my English The eneouragemenl
and praetical assistanee from Gunilla Anderman and my eolleagues at The Centre for Translation
Studies, University of Surrey, have been of tremendous value, and I would like to thank John
Pretlove and Richard Nice (in the Departmen!s of Mechanieal Engineering and Linguisties and
International Studies respectivelyL both of the University ofSurrey, for their computing help. with
out whieh I would ha\"e been lost. And finally, the enthusiasm of my children, William, Steven and
Pooh, Rebekka and Niek, has been a grea! inspiration.
ForTom
Long-renowned as the authoritative source for self-guided learning - with more than
30 million copies sold worldwide - the Teach Yourself series includes over 200 titles in
the fields oflanguages, crafts, hobbies, sports. and other leisure activities.
A catalogue record for this title is av aila ble from the British Library.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 96-68476
First published in UK 1997 by Hodder Headline Plc, 338 Euston Road, London
NW13BH
First published in US 1997 by NTC Publishing Group
An imprint of NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company
4255 West Touhy Avenue, Lincolnwood (Chicago), Illinois 60646-1975 U.S.A.
The 'Teach Yourself name and logo are registered trade marks of Hodder & Stoughton
Ltd in the UK.
Copyright © 1997 Margaretha Danbolt Simons
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Typeset by Transet Limited, Coventry, England.
Printed in England by Cox & Wyman Limited, Reading. Berkshire.
Impression number 10 9 8 7
Year 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
Pronunciation 4
1 Hei! Hva heter du? (Heilo! What is your name?) 10
Greeting people and introducing oneself.
Making simple statements and questions.
2 Jeg vil gjerne reise til Norge. (l would like to go
to Norway.) 22
Talking about what you do for aliving. Counting to ten.
Planning how to get to Norway. The days ofthe week.
3 På vei til Norge. (On the way to Norway.) 35
Norwegian food and saying skål! Saying what you
would like to eat and drink. Norwegian driving regulations.
4 Sightseeing i Oslo. (Sightseeing in Oslo'; 48
What to see in Oslo and how to get about. Left and right.
Talking about what you think of the sights.
5 John går til byen. (John goes lo town.) 63
Buying posteards and stamps. Cashing travellers' cheques
and understanding Norwegian money. Asking for directions.
Counting from ten upwards.
6 HalloI (Hella!) 76
Using the telephone. Using numbers in sums.
Making appointments and saying please.
7 Bentes familie. (Bente's {amily} 88
Dealing with family relationships and the family tree.
Talking to children. Showing irritation.
8 John kolliderer og kommer på sykehus. (John is in a
crash and ends up in hospital.) 101
Expressing pain and discomfort. Describing symptoms of
illnesses and pain. Parts of the body. Being in hospital.
9 Bente får jobb og John går på apotek. (Bente gets a job,
and John goes to the chemist's.) 114
Buying clothes and medicines. Describing clothes, colours
and patterns. Telling the time.
10 John og Bente går i selskap. (John and Bente ga to parties.J 127
Norwegian party customs. What to say to your hosts
during and after a party. Months and dates.
11 God Jul! Godt Nyttår! (Happy Christmas!
Happy New Year!) 142
Writing Christmas cards. Christmas in Norway.
More about telling the time.
12 Kjære Kari. (Dear Kari.) 156
Formal and informalletters. The use of titles.
Describing the weather and the seasons.
13 Påske på fjellet. (Easter in the mountains.) 171
Skiing. Expressing delight and fear. Winter scenery.
14 Syttende Mai i Oslo. (Seventeenth of May in Oslo.) 185
The National Day in Norway. Talking about the past,
and expressing interest in something. How to say sorry.
15 Sankt Hansaften på Vestlandet. (Midsummer in
the West Country.) 198
Yet another Norwegian celebration! Booking hote l
accommodation. Making a complaint. Paying the bill.
16 Hva nå? (What now?J 211
Expressing thoughts and feelings, and perhaps a
little nostalgia.
Key to the exercises 226
Grammar 232
Norwegian-English Vocabulary 236
Index 250
INTRODUCTION
The aim of this course is to enable the student to speak and read
everyday Norwegian, and to gain insight into the Norwegian culture
and way of life.
Teach Yourself Norwegian is designed for the absolute beginner; no
previous knowledge of any foreign language is required. Grammar is
kept to a minimum; only what is necessary for this course is included,
and grammatical terms are carefully explained.
Norwegian is not a difficult language for an English-speaking person.
Many words are similar. Pronunciation may at first seem a bit
difficult, but there are some basic rules to follow. These are covered in
the following section. The cassette is a further help.
You will see in the list below that each unit has severai sections in it.
To start you off, there is a list of What you willlearn in the unit; then
you can work through three dialogues or texts. These are
followed by detailed vocabulary boxes that list, in detail, the new
words and phrases that have been introduced in the preceding dia
logue or text. In this way, you can re ad through the dialogue or text,
and/or listen to it on the cassette at the same time, a few times so
that you can get the gist of the situation. Then, to increase your
vocabulary learning, you can look through the vocabulary box and
make sure you understand all of it. It is helpful to say the words and
phrases out loud, and to write them out so that you memorise them
more easily. Finally, the re are some TrueIFaIse? phrases to make
sure that you have really understood the dialogue/text.
1
NORWEGIAN
Remember that the best way to learn a language is to listen and read
a little and oft en and to increase your confidence gradually - this is
far better than spending long infrequent sessions poring over the
books!
The next section is called What to say, and this gives you plenty of
new phrases relating to the situations in the unit as a whole.
Language patterns and structures are the basis of the language and
you need to master these so that you can express yourself freely in
spoken and written Norwegian. It is not the most difficult language,
but there are lots of turns of phrase and unexpected structures that
are clearly and fully explained in this course. Make the most of the
examples in this section because they will come in useful later when
you are doing the practice section and the prompted spe aking
exercise at the very end of every unit.
What you need to know, the next section, gives you lots of useful
information about the Norwegian way of life: just the sort of thing
you will find most intriguing whenever you visit Norway, or ifyou get
talking to a Norwegian abroad.
Finally, it is a good idea to do the exercise section soon after reading
the language patterns sections so that the grammar is still fresh in
your mind. However, remember to look back at previous units' lan
guage patterns sections to revise as you work through the course. At
the back of the book there is auseful index to the grammar subjects.
There are also lists of irregular nouns, irregular verbs and modal
verbs as a useful reference once you are producing written Norwegian
and you need to pay attention to the details.
All the answers to the exercises are listed in the back of the book, but
make sure you com pl ete each exercise, or even each unit of exercises,
before looking up the answers.
Listen to the cassette as much as you can. Even when you are not
actually working with the book, remember to take the cassette with
you in case you have a few spare moments to listen to the cassette -
in the car, on a personal stereo on the train, while gardening or doing
housework! It is a good idea to listen to the dialogues that you have
worked on so that you refresh your memo ry of all the words and
phrases used.
- 2 --
INTROOUCTlON
This course focuses on two central characters: an English student,
John, and a Norwegian girl, Bente. We follow them through their ups
and downs in a variety of situations during a year in Norway. Notes
on travelling in Norway, food, illness, bookings and letter-writing are
included. Norwegian festivals are covered.
There are 16 units, each following the same pattern.
Introduetion. This is an English summary of what you willlearn in
each unit.
W.
Samtale Wialogue) ~ or Tekst (Text) There are three at the
beginning of each unit. Use the cassette to hear the correct pronunci
ation.
Ill.
Ordliste (Vo ca bulary) After each dialogue or text there is a list
of new words and expressions in the order in which they appear in
the dialogue or text.
Sant eller usant? (True or false?) After each text the re are same
statements which may or may not be true. The aim of this exercise is
for you to check whether you have understood the text.
Slik sier vi det (What to say l. A repetition of useful expressions from
the text and some extra ones which may come in useful.
Grammatikk (Language patterns) ~. Notes on grammatical struc
tures and how to use them.
il!J.
Øvelser (Exereises These are for you to practise wh at you have
learnt. (Answers at the back.)
Hva du trenger å vite (What YOll need to knowl. Comments about
the Norwegian way of life, travel facts etc.
Forstår du? (Do you understand?) Another dialogue, but this time
your part is in English, so you have to translate.
-- 3 -
PRONUNCIATION
Norwegian is quite easy to pronounce, because it is usually spoken as
it is written. There are some rules to follow, and some special sounds
to get used to. When you have managed these, you will not find it
difficult to pronounee Norwegian.
It is a good idea to listen to the cassette and imitate the Norwegians
you hear. Norwegian radio stations can be found, but the reception is
usually best late at night.
The most important thing to remember is that each letter is pro
nounced. An 'e' at the end of a word is always pronounced distinctly.
The Norwegian alphabet has 29 letters. There are three extra letters
at the end of the alphabet used by English speakers. These are: Æ (as
ø
in eat), (as in first) and Å (as in awful).
III
A a (pronounced ah) K k (pronounced kaw) U u (pronounced 00)
B b ( u beh) L l (U el) V v (U veh)
C c ( seh) M m ( em) W w (
dobbeltveh)
Dd ( de) Nn en) Xx ( eks)
Ee ( ehl 00 o) Yy ( yew)
Ff ( ei) Pp peh) Zz ( set)
Gg ( geh) Qq koo) Ææ( a)
Hh( haw) Rr air) ø ø ( ir)
I i ( ee) Ss ess) Åå ( aw)
Jj ( jod) Tt teh)
The last three letters are vowels. Y is always a vowel in Norwegian
and is pronounced more as in typieal than type.
4
PRONUNCIA TION
Vowels
There are nine vowels in Norwegian: a, e, i, o, u, y, æ, ø, å. The
vowels are pure sounds as in French or Italian, and not diphthonged
as in English.
The Norwegian vowels may be short or long. As a general ru le vowels
are long in open syllables, e.g. si (say), or if followed by a single
con sonant, e.g. tak (roofJ.
Vowels are short be fore a double consonant, e.g. takk (thank you).
hat (hatred) hatt (hat)
dit (there) ditt (yours)
Exceptions: Norwegian words cannot end in a double m, so there are
some words which are pronounced with a short vowel even if there is
only one consonant. For example:
rom (room)
hjem (home)
Also with a short vowel and single consonant are some common
words:
han (he)
hun (she)
den (it)
The vowels are divided into two groups:
a, o, u and å are hard vowels
e, i, y, æ and ø are soft vowels
This distinction is important for the pronunciation of words starting
with gor k.
Norwegian vowel Pronunciation Example
a long like a in father far (father)
a short hatt (hat)
e long like a in air sted (place)
e short like e in bed gress (grass)
i long like ea in eat min (mine)
i short like i in kiss sild (herring)
o long like o in moor, but with
tightly rounded lips bok (book)
-- 5
NORWEGIAN
O short like or in organ sokk (sock)
u long like u in true hus (house)
u short like u in full full (full)
y ee with
rounded lips by (town)
kyss (kiss)
æ like a in eat være (to be)
lærd (learned)
ø like i in bird dør (door)
først (first)
å long like aw in awful år (year)
å short like o in not åtte (eight)
The prolllUlciation as described is only approximate. Listen carefully
to the cassette.
Pronunciation exercises
Longvowels Short vowels
a Kari Mari Anne Hanne
e Erik Eva Bente Petter
i Nina Liv Nils Silje
o Ole Gro Trond Otto
u Rut Rune Tulla Gunnar
y Yberg Tyra Yngve Yvonne
æ Sæverud Træna Kjærstad Værnes
ø Søren 0land Sølvi 1?jørn
å Åse Åge Bård Asta
Diphthongs
There are three important diphthongs in Norwegian:
ei as in the English mate, say. vei (road)
reise (trauel)
øy no English equivalent. Don't say Oi!
Say '0' and then add the 'y'. høy (tall)
øye (eye)
au 'a' as in eat followed by 'u'. au! (ouch!!
sau (sheep)
6 -
