Learning Norwegian does not have to be expensive. There are many free resources on the internet. Keep in mind that lots of words in Bokmål and Nynorsk (two of the three national languages in Norway) are similar, but not the same. [example: sykehus (Bokmål) or sjukehus (Nynorsk)]
Written and spoken Norwegian are different, and dialects are even more different. Chances are, where you're headed they speak a different dialect than where member Bjørn Sveigdalen lives. See this wikipedia article on dialects.
For example, the North norwegian dialect they say "I" differently-"æ" rather than "e" like in Gudbrandsdal. Formal norwegian would be "Jeg" pronounced (e)yay, where the (e) is a very brief and clipped sound.
Here are some learning resources recommendations by vp Jenn Sveigdalen:
- Live Mocha - Live Mocha is social networking merged with elearning. This site has recently added a 101-level norsk course. Because many old documents you may have from your family may actually be in Danish, you could take a quick course in Danish as well. When you join, add jtsveigdalen. Once you get involved, you can add other native norsk speakers to review your writing or just to get to know.
- 500 commonly used words - Not an official list, but pretty darn useful.
- Dictionary- from InfoNorway.
- Flash Card Exchange - For example this basic norsk verbs is here.
- Master Any Language - Samples of norwegian, videos.
- Quia Flashcards - Not as advanced as an installed program, but still a good source.
- Yorku.ca - Clippable Flashcards
- BYKI - "Before You Know It" language courses. BYKI is a program you can purchase, however they have free portions as well. Worth checking out. (Thank you Karen Thompson!)
- Kari Lie & Nancy Aarsvold Sett i Gang books have free audio and first chapter. Great introduction :)
There are also some fee-based options. University of North Dakota has Norsk 101 offered this summer. | 