Is anyone else trying to learn a language?

[Rokje]

I'm learning Norwegian because we will emigrate to Norway in a couple of months.

[Kirbstone]

Very sensible, Rokje. When I was in my 40s I 'emigrated' to West Germany to work and in advance of that took about 6 months one-to-one tuition in the language. It was very helpful of course, but the steep learning curve hit me when I actually got there and most of each day was a total immersion experience. I didn't study the language as a subject, perhaps I should have done, but all my communication skills were acquired by absorption and the German I actually learnt was colloquial, quite far removed from Berlitz school of languages German. For official correspondence I relied on my mature Practice receptionist to set out my letters into proper grammatical German.

Watching their TV was very helpful too, but conversation learnt on the job was by far the best. It is now nearly 30 years since I left the (reunified) place after 8 years and I regularly communicate with my friends there, also meet up with them every year sometime. That too is once again total immersion.

Tom

[Fred in Skirts]

Don't take this as a joke but I am still trying to learn English! I know I was born in the USA but I have never been a student of any language. My teachers once told me I was better off not trying to speak or write at all. I found out that English is two languages spoken by two different countries. And as I celebrate my 81st birthday I still only speak one and badly at that!

[denimini]

Well as I mentioned on another thread, I am trying to learn to read and write in Japanese including the Chinese character based Kanji, as well as Hiragana and Katakana which are easier as they are phonetic.
Also, I do know a bit of the local Aboriginal languages (Paakantji and Ngiyampaa) where a lot of words and phrases are used intermixed with English. There are very few fluent speakers left as most of that generation have now died and it was not passed on because there was a systematic banning of people speaking their own language in a colonial effort to destroy any evidence of a previous culture.

[Stu]

I'm learning Norwegian because we will emigrate to Norway in a couple of months.

I started learning Danish 30 years ago and it took me about four years to become something like fluent. It's an easy language for a native English speaker. Danish is very similar to Norwegian, especially in its written form as I can mostly read Norwegian. I also lived in Sweden for 11 years.

Don't be surprised if people in Norway instantly revert to English the moment you start speaking. Scandinavians like to show off their English skills.

Stu

[Rokje]

I'm learning Norwegian because we will emigrate to Norway in a couple of months.

I started learning Danish 30 years ago and it took me about four years to become something like fluent. It's an easy language for a native English speaker. Danish is very similar to Norwegian, especially in its written form as I can mostly read Norwegian. I also lived in Sweden for 11 years.

Don't be surprised if people in Norway instantly revert to English the moment you start speaking. Scandinavians like to show off their English skills.

Stu

Bokmål and NyNorsk making it somewhat difficult what to use, and the dialects are making it even harder, but we will manage to speak norwegian in a relative short while. Every evening we watch Nyheter on TV. So close and not available in the TV package so we use the NRK app, and streaming it on to our TV.

[Jerevo]

I've learned several languages over the years, and weirdly, Norwegian is one I really struggled with, despite its relative grammatical simplicity. I'm fine with eldritch grammar - Basque was a hoot, though it was over twenty years ago and I've forgotten it all again - but my brain just doesn't want to do tones. :-/

I always try to learn the language before visiting a new country, which has earned me more than a few free drinks in several places

J

[Rokje]

From the 1st of June we have to take the deep dive into Norwegian, because from that date on, we will be living in Noresund, Norway. Finally.

It was a long search for the right home. And there it was, a Prestegard (house of a priest) Two weeks ago we visiting the house, and fell in love with it.
The view, and our backyard.

[Barleymower]

Priest house? That reminds me of another house I've seen

Screenshot_20240325_165314_DuckDuckGo~2.jpg

Will you have a cup of tea?