How To Learn Norwegian For Free Before A Trip To Norway

Speaking a little bit of the local language can go a long way on your travels. Even the most basic vocabulary can enrich your trip and give a deeper cultural understanding. Before the trip, it helps build anticipation for the experiences you will have.

Thanks to online tools and resources, it’s never been easier to get started learning a foreign language, no matter what your language learning experience was like in school. If you decide to learn some Norwegian, starting early is key.

Do you need to learn Norwegian?

The latest edition of the EF English Proficiency index ranked Norwegians fourth in the world for non-native English competence. That ability is highest in the two biggest cities, Oslo and Bergen.

But even in the rural regions, virtually all Norwegians speak at least some English—certainly enough to help out a lost or confused traveler—but most are fluent from a lifetime of education, TV and movies, English soccer fandom and global travel.

So unless you’re planning to move to Norway in which case learning Norwegian needs to be high up on the to-do list, putting in the hours before a trip isn’t at all necessary. That being said, locals will be truly delighted should you want to try out some of your newly-learned phrases while in the country.

Free online courses

There are many paid online courses of varying quality and price, but the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) offers a fantastic free resource to get started with the language.

Called Norwegian on the Web, the 12-part course is designed to get newcomers to Norway up and running with the language from day one. The beginner level course uses stories, audio and flashcards to teach vocabulary and pronunciation while following the adventures of new families in Norway.

Available downloads include a 139-page textbook, grammar tables and audio tracks. While it’s not intended as a course for travelers, the first two lessons deal with introducing yourself and basic travel vocabulary.

Experts at the University of Oslo have also contributed to the Future Learn platform with a free beginner course on learning Norwegian. While it’s a paid platform, access to the Norwegian course is free for a limited time.

Once you have reached a certain level, you may wish to test yourself. The companion exercises to the book Exploring Norwegian Grammar are free to use.

Language apps

There are many options to learn languages on smartphones. The best-known is Duolingo, which is free to download or use on the web. A paid upgrade is available, but the ad-supported free version is a very capable language learning tool.

Learning a language is best achieved through daily practice. Duolingo’s built-in gamification makes building a daily language learning habit fun and easy.

Memrise is another popular app that uses a flashcard approach to help make words stick. The company says its introductory Norwegian course teaches participants to introduce themselves, get around and “learn a bunch of useful colloquial Norwegian expressions to make people smile.”

Norwegian music and podcasts

Pronunciation is often the biggest hurdle when learning a new language. To help you in the early days of learning Norwegian, a lot of Norwegian music and podcasts are available to listen to.

Listening to Norwegian regularly—regardless of whether you understand the words or not—will help you pick up the cadence and peculiarities of pronunciation. This will make it much easier to understand when a real Norwegian replies to you!

Klar Tale is a weekly print newspaper and website that publishes news in simple Norwegian. It’s a great resource for learning to read the written language in the context of current affairs. Lesser-known is the free weekly podcast, which is an audio version of the newspaper.

Relax with Slow Norwegian is another great way to take on board authentic Norwegian spoken at a slower pace. Following a short English introduction, each episode presents a ‘bedtime story’ read by a licensed hypnotherapist and professional voiceover artist.

Music is another fantastic way to get an ear for the language. While you’re sure to find a few Norwegian artists in your favoured genres, folk music or children’s songs will be a good use of your time, especially if you read along with the lyrics as you listen to the songs. Daughter and father Siri Nilsen and Lillebjørn Nilsen are two names to check out.