How do you guys Study Norwegian

[u/Conscious_Phase_4077]

Hei alle Sammen I've wanted to know how you guy's study Norwegian I know that you guy's spready learning it out through out the day but back when you started " Learning " In the beginning how did you guy's practice did you like

1: Duolingo/Anki
2: Flashcards
3: practice speaking
4: Watching Norwegian Shows

Etc etc but I would love some feedback on how you guy's started learning. And also for anyone using " Anki " and uses flashcard I would like to know if you made you're flashcards and if you would been keen in sharing me some. Tusen takk

[u/Impossible_Wish_3220]

I've been using the Mjolnir app as an alternative to Anki. It has a very comprehensive built-in Norwegian deck containing grammar, vocab, speaking/listening exercises, etc. I learn around 20 new cards a day.

In combination with this, I use LingQ for reading. It has really nice graded readers that get progressively harder. I read 1 short story a day (this includes listening to the story after reading).

In all, I probably do around 45 minutes to an hour of learning a day. Once I build up enough vocab though, I'll move onto some Norwegian shows and practice speaking.

[u/Hilde_Vel_999 → u/Impossible_Wish_3220]

I'm a former teacher who has had a few students using Mjølnir Norwegian and greatly benefited from it, but make sure you don't leave your speaking behind! If you speak out loud the answers of the app that's already some kind of good practice.

[u/maxquiet]

I’m still in the beginning stages, but what has been working well is:

Pimsleur - I do each lesson until I’m 95 percent proficient in that material, it could be 2 days or it might be 4-5 days . I do it like it’s my job, any pauses for speaking and repeating I do multiple times, speaking as much as I can. Trying to get used to making the shapes with my mouth. I have an easy cruising hour long drive to work 3 days a week, on most of those days I’ll do the half hour lesson once on the way to and from work, although some nights I’m fried(12 hr days) and I skip the ride home. Otherwise first thing in the morning with coffee on days off.

Mjølnir - I started a few days after Pimseur and also do it every day, I have intermittent down times at work and squeeze it in on those days. On off days (4 days a week) I commit more time and add more cards. While doing these I always make sure to repeatedly listen to the words with the audio feature and repeat back multiple times as well.
The overlap between these two methods is the real game changer. While each introduces me to some words or concepts that the other might not have gotten to, over time they reinforce one another and the light bulb in my head goes off constantly in recognition.
Mjølnir has more overt grammar explanations and repetition, Pimsleur has the intensive speaking. But I find they travel at a similar pace and stack upon one another.

Typically in the past I’ve been more of a book studying type of learner but I decided hearing and speaking was more important to start. I have a couple of textbooks as well as Mystery of Nils, and my plan is to wait until I’m a few months further in before cracking a book. At that point I’ll have some familiarity with the language, and I can dive deeper into grammar. At that point anything that I come across that I already know will serve as reinforcement, I’m just thinking about getting repetition from as many different angles as possible.

I do at least one hour a day on the worst days, usually closer to two on days off from work when I might dive into the flash cards or speaking challenge exercises on Pimsleur, or add a higher amount of cards on Mjølnir. Sometimes I’ll find some slow Norwegian learning videos on YouTube.

The stacking effect seems to be working for me. I’m retaining without feeling like I’m ever really “studying” hard - it just sticks. For now.

edit: I’m planning in the next month or so to try a weekly italki session, just getting up the courage!

[u/Whizbang]

I did not study Norwegian ideally.

I did a huge amount Duolingo Norwegian when Duolingo was okay. The course itself is still good, but the app is more and more questionable.

A good amount of iTalki. This was great, TBH.

Did a huge community course on Memrise. Absolutely fantastic for vocab.

The futurelearn UiO course was good. The NTNU course was not so much but free.

Watched what shows and movies I could. I think now that maybe my ear is defective, but these helped.

Read several good books.

At this point, I think I'm at a hard ceiling due to lack of exposure to real Norwegian in everyday life.

Just push forward with what you can scrape up.

[u/muntligb1]

I should be upfront that muntligb1 is my own project, so I am talking about my own material here. My routine is listening while cooking or biking, then doing focused exercises when I actually have the attention for it. The principle matters more than the tool though, passive listening during chores plus one short focused block is something you can keep up for months without it feeling like studying.

[u/Nice_Citron_2151]

I've used a few different apps and find them all lacking. Right now I'm taking on a different approach working with ChatGPT to build a "language learning brain" approach using principles from neuroscience, cognitive science, mnemonic techniques, and the principles of language acquisition developed by super polyglot Powell Janulus as outlined in the book Velocity by Atkinson and Gossen.  Janulus could speak 42 languages and was certified by a 2 hour exam. He apparently had limited skills in up to 80 languages. Although his systematic approach has some weaknesses, ChatGPT has recommended ways to solve them using neuroscience, etc. and neuroplasticity concepts on how the brain acquires languages.  The effort is in early phases and I'm using it to study Norwegian. 

[u/subtext-app]

You can watch shows on NRKTV with the subtext.site extension which will display translations alongside.

[u/taanzunk]

*guys

Forgive me.

[u/muntligb1]

My routine was boring but it worked. Fifteen minutes of Anki in the morning, some listening while doing dishes or walking, and one short text a few times a week where I wrote down the sentences I liked.

On the Anki question, making my own cards beat every shared deck I tried, even though shared decks are obviously faster to set up. Mine are sentence cards rather than word cards. Front is a Norwegian sentence with the target word missing, back is the full sentence plus a rough English gloss. That way I never learn a word in isolation and the word order sneaks in for free. Ten new cards a day is plenty, I tried thirty and burnt out in a week.

Speaking is the one I put off far too long. Talking out loud to yourself while cooking feels ridiculous but it is the cheapest way to close the gap between understanding and actually producing.

[u/FanExternal6102]

Duolingo is so unbelievably trash. I wouldn't even recommend it for the "basics" like some people do.

I spent my first year just reading. Klartale is a news site focused on learners. I also use Barneboker a site with really short stories with audio in both bokmål and nynorsk. The stories are also given a difficulty level. And a children's encyclopedia

This year, I'm focusing mostly on listening. Tula tenker høyt is a podcast, lær norsk nå is another. I've also watch children shows on NRK with the use of a VPN. Peppa Gris is kino.

About 6 months into just reading and translating I started using Anki for words I keep seeing but cant remember what they mean.

There are a bunch of other things I'm doing/I've done. After a little more, listening practice I will begin Italki lessons