Selected Online Resources for the Study of Norwegian
There are many resources available on the Web for students of Norwegian. The sites listed on this page have been chosen especially for adult learners in the Language Program at Mindekirken, the Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Background | Dictionary | Grammar | Pronunciation | Norwegian Dialects
Online Learning Opportunities | Newspaper | Radio and TV Broadcasts | Keyboard Help
Search the Web in Norwegian | Additional Resources for the Study of Norwegian
Other Norwegian Language Programs
Background
- Norway: small country with two written languages
- Essential background material for students of Norwegian. From the source: "it is hard for foreigners to comprehend why Norwegians, who 150 years ago did not have a written language of their own and managed quite well with Danish, have, over the past 100 years, developed for good measure two Norwegian tongues. The purpose of this article is to attempt to explain this paradoxical situation."
Dictionary
- LEXIN Norwegian-English Dictionary
- For best results, use Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or a
later version.
 | Type the Norwegian word you are looking up in the box.
You may copy and paste the special Norwegian letters printed here
æ ø å
or see Keyboard Help below for additional
options. |
| Click on søk (search). |
| If the word you are looking for is found in the dictionary, all
the information about that word -- including definitions in English
and Norwegian - will appear on the screen. |
| A small flower image behind an entry means that a picture is
available. Click on the flower to see the picture. |
| Use the * as a wildcard. For example, hus* will search for all
words beginning with hus. |
| Here is a
link to a set of fully illustrated pages in LEXIN. |
Grammar
- Norwegian Grammar
- Compact presentations on word order, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs from the Norwegian Language Teachers Association of North America.
Pronunciation
- Norwegian Pronunciation Guide
- Useful guide to Norwegian pronunciation from Norskklassen. Click
on the Norwegian words to hear them pronounced.
Note: To hear these files you will need to have Windows Media Player installed on your computer. You also need to have speakers. Windows Media Player can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads .
Norwegian Dialects
- Nordavinden og sola
- Transcriptions and recordings of "Nordavinden og sola" read in
various Norwegian dialects. The recordings are in
.mp3-format.
To listen to these files:
| Click on the Liste link. |
| Click on Sorter under Sted, Kommune, or Fylke. |
| Click on the desired .mp3 link under Opptak. |
Please see Note under Norwegian Pronunciation Guide above.
Online Learning Opportunities
- Norskklassen
- Norskklassen is an online class in the form of a mailing list.
Norskklassen is a good resource for finding out how others are
learning Norwegians, what questions they have, and what resources
they have identified. Follow this link to
subscribe or send an email to
norskklassen-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
- NorWord
- NorWord is an email course of 160 daily lessons in Norwegian at the beginning level created by Nancy Aarsvold and Louis Janus in 1995 and now made available by the moderator of Norskklassen.
Newspaper
- Klar Tale
- Klar Tale is Norway's only newspaper written especially for immigrants and others who are learning Norwegian. The newspaper is easier to read than standard Norwegian newspapers.
Radio and TV Broadcasts
- NRK Lyd- og Videospiller
- NRK offers a wide variety of both radio and television programs
(news, sports, entertainment, etc.) through its own player.
To use NRK's player you must register even though many programs are available free of charge. To register:
| Click on the new user (Ny Bruker) link. |
| Enter your first name (Fornavn), last name
(Etternavn), e-mail address (Brukernavn), and a
password of your choice (Passord). Then re-enter your
password (Gjenta passord). |
| You may now use the tabs on the site to choose your
program. |
| NRK may run to a test to determine your connection speed. Click
on Lagre to save the results of the test. Your radio or
television program should now begin. |
| The next time you use the player, click on Logg Inn instead of Ny Bruker. Now you only need to enter your e-mail address and password. |
Please see Note under Norwegian Pronunciation Guide above.
Keyboard Help
- Typing Norwegian Characters on the IBM PC
- Typing Norwegian Characters on the Mac
- Invaluable help from Norskklassen for
those who want to be able to type the full Norwegian
alphabet.
- Norwegian Keyboard Layout
- View all the options by passing the mouse over the Caps, Shift, and AltGr keys.
Search the Web in Norwegian
- The Norwegian version of a familiar search engine.
Other Norwegian Language Programs
- Concordia Language Villages
- Summer programs for young people, ages 7-18. There are also programs for adults.
- The International Summer School (ISS)
- Offers Norwegian language instruction at all levels. From the source: "The International Summer School (ISS) is an academic center for learning in an international context, and a forum for fostering intercultural understanding. Every summer from late June to early August it welcomes some 500 students from all over the world to its wide variety of graduate and undergraduate courses, mostly within the liberal arts and social sciences."
- Sommerkurs i Bergen
- For students who already speak some Norwegian.
Comments to Tom Nichol:
wtnichol@hotmail.com.
Links checked: 6 July 2005. Last updated: 30 May 2004.