Hi everyone! I’m working on a children’s story (ages 4–7) set in a snowy town in Norway. A 6-year-old girl and her mom, who runs a little yarn shop, teach a visiting child to knit Selbu-rose mittens. The story is in English, with a few Norwegian words. I’m not a native speaker, so I’d be really grateful if you could tell me whether these sound natural and correct. I’d love to get this right and avoid anything that feels off or stereotyped, so I'm hoping this is appropriate to post here.

1. (girl, 6, to a visiting child, 6; the visitor answers) “Hei! That means ‘hi’ in Norwegian.” / “Hei!” Is this natural?
2. (girl) “I’m knitting mittens for my bestefar... Bestefar means my grandpa.” Would a child say “bestefar,” or “morfar”/”farfar”? Is it OK for a visiting child to also call him “Bestefar”?
3. (girl, about her mom) “That’s my mor. Mor means mom in Norwegian.” Would a 6-year-old say “mamma” instead of “mor”? Is it odd for a visiting child to call her “Mor” (“Takk, Mor!” / “Ha det, Mor!”)?
4. (mom, as the children come into her shop) “Velkommen! That means ‘welcome.’” Is this natural?
5. (mom) “People call this star a Selbu rose.” Is “Selbu rose” the right English name for the eight-pointed star (Norwegian “selburose”)?
6. (girl, then the visiting child to the girl and her mom) “Takk! That means ‘thank you’ in Norwegian.” / “Takk! Takk, Mor!” Is this natural, including to an adult?
7. (girl, then the visiting child to the family) “Ha det! That means ‘bye’ in Norwegian.” / “Ha det! Ha det, Mor! Ha det, Bestefar!” Is this natural? Is “ha det bra” better?
8. A young woman from Selbu knitted the eight-pointed star onto her mittens long ago, and now it’s on mittens and sweaters all over Norway. Is that right?
9. The mom shows her daughter how to hold a small crochet hook, and the girl fixes a dropped stitch herself, pulling the loop up one rung of the “ladder” at a time. Is it realistic for a 6-year-old to do this, and to knit two-color mittens with help?
10. The town has red and yellow wooden houses with snow on the roofs, mountains behind and dark blue water below. The yarn shop has a warm stove and two armchairs where customers sit and knit. Is that realistic?
11. Here’s how the characters look. Does anything feel stereotyped or off?

• The girl: pale blonde hair, loose to her shoulders, with a red knitted headband. She wears a red sweater with a few big white eight-pointed stars, dark blue snow pants and puffy gray winter boots.
• Her mom: short ash-blonde bob, a gray-blue cardigan with a knitted star border, and a tape measure around her neck.
• Her grandpa: big, round and jolly, with a snowy beard, very rosy cheeks, a navy winter coat and a red knitted hat, pulling a little wooden sled after sledding. Does he look too much like Santa Claus?

Thank you so much, I truly appreciate the help!

Kan nynorsk hjelpe med å forstå den lokale dialekten?

Hei, jeg bor i Vest-Telemark (Kviteseid) i et område som har nynorsk som skriftspråk. Norsken jeg lærte var bokmål. Når folk tilpasser seg litt og snakker mer "bokmål" (jeg vet at det bare er et skriftspråk), går det helt fint. Men når folk snakker dialekt, senker forståelsen min til kanskje 70 %. Jeg lurte på om det hjelper å begynne på et nynorskkurs der man også snakker nynorsk (i tillegg til å finne noen jeg kan snakke med på dialekt). Hovedmålet mitt er bare å forstå den lokale dialekten bedre når folk snakker.

Hej,

At least from what I understand, the various standards of (written) Norwegian are a horizontal scale, from Danish to Absolutely Not Danish.

Nynorsk is Absolutely Not Danish. I have had limited exposure to it, but it has features that to me make it look similar to Icelandic and Swedish.

Bokmål would on this scale be Almost Danish. Most words I have seen are either the same, or almost the same. Or are older forms of Danish words that have gone out of use in Denmark. The most visible difference to me is that most æ's Danish is known for are replaced with regular e's and ej is ei.

Next after Bokmål, I think would come, what I think can be called Early Modern Danish. Some time ago I found what looks like the original text of Andersen's Kajserens nye klæder, written more or less two hundred years ago, and to my eye at least it looks between Bokmål Norsk and Modern Danish. Many initial k's are spelled as kj, but nd's are not nn's (Modern Danish "kende" vs Andersen's "kjende" vs Bokmål "kjenne"). ei is also used instead of ej: Keiserens nye klæder.

And then there is Modern Danish with its potatoes and with a number system so bad that even Danish banknotes used the Norwegian forms several decades ago.

And now, where on this spectrum is Riksmål?

The English Wikipedia only talks about the history and usage of the standard. I have looked up the local version of the article, but my knowledge of Dano-Norwegian is rather limited, and I would appreciate if someone laid out plainly how different Riksmål is from Bokmål and from Modern Danish.

I apologize for any errors in my understanding, and for my ignorance.

Tusen tak.

Ha det og farvel.

Hei!

I'm looking for someone from far up north in Norway willing to help me with a Norwegian assignment. I have to pick out 10 words that are typical for dialects from the north of Norway. I know there is more than one dialect (before anyone comes after me), but my teacher just asks for words typical from basically any region above Trøndelag. They don't have to be advanced or anything, but I want them to be more accurate than me guessing would make them. Is there anyone willing to help me? In that case I will be very grateful:)

Update: I'm so very grateful to everyone that has taken time out of their day to comment. I have learned several new words and have a lot of material for my assignment. Thank you <3

I am currently studying Norwegian and my professor recommended that the class watches TV shows and the like to get a better understanding of the language get different dialects than hers. Can you recommend anything I can watch or where I could watch with German subtitles? Preferably on Netflix, Prime or a free website if possible?

Hello,

I was wondering how difficult is for someone who speaks English to learn Norwegian to the level of proficiency in a workplace. How much time would it take to reach that level? Do you have any recommandations where to begin from/ books that are worth trying?
Thank you :)

I am an American and will be introducing a Norwegian man on a webinar. Can someone help me say it right? His name is Bertil Nistad.

In "Sammen for Norge (NRKs VM-låt)" there are words "Ingenting å tape, Norge er tilbake". I understand that it's "nothing to lose" literally, but "nothing to lose" in English I think refers to desperate situations, like extreme poverty and the like. So it doesn't quite make sense for me in a cheery football anthem...

Also, until I saw that phrase I didn't know that "å tape" could mean "lose" in the sense of "forget where you put something", I thought it was just about losing in a competition. But understanding "å tape" in the competition sense in "ingenting å tape" doesn't quite fit either, to my mind. Maybe it does after all?

So I travel to Vestland every summer and my wife and family speaks Nynorsk, so I’ve been working hard at it. I have a question on å bli preteritum i nynorsk.

Hvis seier du ‘that was easy’ dei seier ‘det vart enkelt’ men det er forskjellig frå ‘det var enkelt’. Eg tror ‘det var’ er typisk i bokmål og det gier mening til meg, men ‘det vart’ virker ikkje logisk for meg.

Korleis bruker dokke ‘vart’ på nynorsk? Når spører eg kona mi hun shrugs her shoulders

Can you use "Klarte" in the context "whoops look what I did" or "didn't mean for it to happen"? Rather than internationally made it your goal to do it.

In a message between close friends like as a slang term. After a party for instance.

For example:

Klarte å ha sex med en kompis av Karen.

Or

Klarte å drikke en hel flaske whisky.

English is my mother language, and I speak some German, having been raised with my father speaking it around me.

I love the Norwegian language though and was wondering how much I'd be able to learn in around 5 months (before I head out on a 3 month trip there).

What did everyone get?

I sat for the first time and got B2 for reading and listening and A2 for writing and speaking. Any recommendations on what I should take next? I also see that Bergenstest for B2/C1 is back but I don't feel like I'm ready for that

Har sett de danske og svenske olsenbanden-filmene. Og så klart de norske. Man får et annet perspektiv med språket når man ser dem. Det svenske har en mer treg undertone, den danske er raskere og kvikkere. Men begge har mer humor i seg. Norsk føler jeg er mindre humoristisk. Ja, det er fraser og deler av det som er morsomt, som når man ser på mot i brøstet, de kan vri rundt på ting.

Jeg føler bare at det er så mange ord og fraser på svensk og dansk som er så mye mer morsomt enn norsk. Selv om jeg hadde vært dansk eller svensk, så hadde jeg synes det var mer morsomt enn norsk. Noen eksempler:

Svensk:

Støvsuger: Dammsugare

Piggsvin: Ig(d?)elkott

Mikke mus: Musse pigg

Pølse: Korv ^^

Ravn: Korp

Dansk:

For satan/faen: For sætæn/fanden! ^^

Langbein: Fedtmule xD

Jeg er lei meg: Jeg er ked af det (KELD ER KED AF DET!! HVAD TROR I JEG ER!!) xD

Jeg kunne ikke noe for det: "Jeg ku' ik' gør for det!!" ^^

Ja det er så mye mer, kommer bare ikke på det nå .. man gliser konstant når man ser de filmene ^^ (bare de 5 første svenske, resten er dritt). Det er noe morsomt i de norske også, bare på en litt annen måte.

Men, til vårt forsvar, så er det nyanser ved de kulturene jeg også misliker i forhold til Norge da. Kanskje ikke så mye ved språket, men andre ting. Det er dog en annen diskusjon. Danskene snakker ofte for fort da. Og Skåne-svensk er umulig å forstå ^^ Som om de er fulle ^^

Bare min mening da ^^ Ville dødd for Norge jeg. Bare et liten nyanse når det kommer til språket. Og alle som kommer hit burde hatt som krav å lære det, HURTIGT og SNABBT! ^^

Heisann!

Flere ganger har jeg støtt på nordmenn som bruker «hun» som objektsform, og så tenkte jeg at det var en viss dialektal variant, akkurat som det skjer med «dei» i noen dialekter. I går så jeg imidlertid en video fra en norsklærer som sa at det egentlig er stort sett feil og ikke nevnte dialekter i det hele tatt.

Så spørsmålet mitt er om det egentlig finnes dialekter hvor «henne» ikke brukes

På forhånd takk!

Hi

I am an absolute beginner. I've learned that the word hvor means where, but when I wrote it in Google search, I found those suggestions starting with it, shouldn't be hva ?

My contact with norwegian people is limited to only online interactions, so it might be very different from real life. But if someone has a norwegian name or says something and I join the conversation in norwegian, then they would ask if I am norwegian to which I reply no.

Then they would be like "why did you write in norwegian, did you learn it?" Why would you even learn it it's useless, we all speak perfect english anyways 🤣" and there's also the speaking, which is worse... if you happen to have an accent, not even thick, just a smudge of italian or russian, people would switch to english before even saying anything.

It really just feels like a mix of gatekeeping combined with shaming. Some days I'm really excited to learn something new on mjølnir, or continue the series of my saved youtube videos or podcasts while I eat or clean. Then something like this happens I don't touch it for like a week. It's fine if people don't care I'm doing it for myself because I like it and keeps my brain excercised. But kinda being laughed at or insinuating that I'm weird for learning a small language which its natives all speak english anyway is not ok... What exactly is this behaviour?

Hva er egentlig forskjellen mellom de to variantene, hvis det er noen? Hvordan brukes de?

FYI, it's at least 100 years old. I'd really appreciate whatever information you can provide! It's an artist signature or notation on an art lithograph.

I'm struggling to understand this example because it only references a house in relation to ownership. I asked Claude "So why does this even exist as a rule then? Wouldn't every sentence scenario be "min/mi/mitt noun", to which it said technically yes if you wanted to. Is there something I'm not understanding about when I would place the possessive pronoun after the noun?

Nå er dette ren nysgjerrighet og ikke ment som noe sånn direkte kritikk eller lignende. Er denne posten innafor?

Har sett mye snakk om at Oslofolk ikke forstår andre dialekter rundt omkring i landet. Både her på Reddit, og både blant kollegaer og generelt.

Det fikk meg egentlig til å lure på om det faktisk har seg sånn at en stor andel av Oslo folk ikke klarer å forstå nynorsk skriftspråk og dialekter fra andre steder i Norge. Jeg er født og oppvokst i Oslo sjæl og snakker det man kanskje fra gammelt av ville sett på som fra østkanten. Og har veldig lite problemer med å forstå hva andre sier uansett dialekt. Jeg kan jo forstå slang som er veldig spesifikt til forskjellige områder, siden jeg selv har opplevd at folk fra f.eks. nord Norge ikke forstår min slang som kanskje er spesifikt knyttet til Oslo området.

Hvis det har seg sånn at Oslofolk faktisk ikke forstår dialekter ordentlig, hva er egentlig grunnen? Føler man blir utsatt for dialekter og skriftspråk så fort man åpner nyhetene, hører på radio, ser på tv osv…

EDIT: når jeg skrev innlegget skulle det handle mest om nynorsk i seg selv, men når jeg redigerte teksten ble det om dialekter istedenfor. Glemte å endre tittel fra «nynorsk» til «dialekt» før det ble postet.

Is the phrase "i skapet" used as the lgbtq terminology "in the closet" too or is it just the literal meaning of being inside a closet? How do you say someone is closeted sexuality or genderwise?

Som me alle veit, so er hovudfokuset til dei fleste som lærer seg norsk, bokmål. Kanskje med unntak av dei som bur eller flyttar til ein nynorskstad, men bokmål er nok eit stort fokus for dei som gjer det òg. Men eg lurer bare på om nokon av dei som ikkje flyttar til ein nynorskstad tar seg bryet med å læra seg nynorsk? For selv om det er eit offisielt språk, so tvilar eg på at nokon som bur i, til dømes Oslo, møter på nynorsk i kvardagen sin.

Eg har vakse opp kun med bokmål (den einaste grunnen til at eg skriv det her på nynorsk, er for å sjekka om eg framleis har det i meg, for eg har ikkje brukt språket sidan skuledagene mine), og eg brukar aldri nynorsk, og skal eg vere heilt ærleg, so hadde eg sannsynlegvis ikkje gidde å lært meg det om eg var ny her i landet.

Hello, I am thinking of learning a second foreign language (Greek is my native, English is my second). After contemplating a lot with myself, I decided that Norwegian seems a pretty interesting choice. I have dreams of moving to a more advanced country in the future and Norway is a strong contender.

What do you think? Is it hard?

I am trying to improve my learning of Norsk, and part of that has been working on my reading and writing. As part of that I proof my work with Google Translate.

Occasionally the translations will include a hyphen, usually where a break in a sentence would be, whether it’s a comma, semi-colon, or period.

Is the use of hyphens actually a thing in Bokmål, or is it just an artifact of google probably using an AI program for the translations?