Teaching My Daughter Norwegian (and Getting My Writing Groove Back)

One night, my daughter asked me to teach her some Norwegian. I was pleased that she was interested in learning the language. So I agreed.

 I am not a native speaker. I learned Norwegian while I was an exchange student after high school. I spent a year in Hamar, Norway, and was fluent by the time I left. Unfortunately, I have not spoken the language out loud in years.

I decided to start with the basics like “Hello” (God dag), “How are you?” (Hvordan går det med deg?) and “Fine, thanks” (Bra, takk). The words felt too large for my mouth. My tongue did not want to roll like it did back in Norway. The Norwegian sounds that do not occur in English were difficult to pronounce correctly. This was so easy once, long ago, but now I sounded like I was just learning the language. I was rusty, to say the least. I was also glad that none of my Norwegian friends or family was there to hear.

My daughter did not know all this, however, so I continued with the lesson.

I wrote down each phrase, along with a phonetic spelling of each word and its meaning. My little one studied the phrases and practiced them a few times. Then, she asked me to teach her more. We continued with “My name is….” (Jeg heter ……) and “What is your name?” (Hva heter du?). We then added “I like ________” (Jeg liker _______), along with various activities/items that she could add in the blank. We took turns naming things that we like.

Then, to my surprise, she wrote out “Jeg liker du” (I like you). I did not teach her this phrase. She pulled it together from the phrases we had just learned. I beamed proudly at her, even though, technically, “Jeg liker du” is incorrect. The correct phrase is “Jeg liker deg” - “deg” being the object form of “you.” I did not correct her, though. I just smiled – just like the Norwegians smiled as I mangled their language far worse than my daughter did.

My Norwegian did improve as the lesson progressed. My tongue finally got back into the rolling groove and the other sounds got closer to what they are supposed to sound like. I started to feel comfortable with the language again, although I still have a long way to go to be fluent. To get there, I need to practice, which means speaking. A lot. I now say “Jeg elsker deg! (I love you!) to my daughter when I drop her off at school. And I have taken up going through my Ikea catalog and saying the names of their products out loud. (Yes, I know Ikea is Swedish, but the two languages are very similar and I use the Norwegian pronunciation). My daughter rolls her eyes and my husband says I sound like the Swedish Chef but I persevere.

You cannot be afraid of a little laughter when you are new (or returning) to a language.

Ironically, it is this precise fear that has hindered my writing of late – at least my public writing. I began to worry about how people might react to what I wrote. I wanted each post to be better than the last and shelved it if it was not. I wrote, edited, wrote, edited, wrote, edited, over and over again. Often, by the time I got my message “perfect,” the moment to express it had passed or I lost interest. I started at least half a dozen posts and then abandoned them.

When my daughter wrote “Jeg liker du,” however, I remembered how I often improvised when I lived in Norway. I mashed up phrases from the few words I knew and, on occasion, used hand gestures to get my point across. I remember receiving more than a few chuckles with this method of communicating but my need to express myself was stronger than my pride. Eventually, of course, the language became easier and the Norwegians laughed less at my accent and goofy sign language. By the time I left, I was thinking and dreaming in Norwegian. In many ways, it had become my first language instead of my second.

So while it was tough to go from zero to fluent living in Norway, I managed. I hope it will be the same with writing. It may not always be pretty but I will put my ideas out there. As I said, my need to express myself will have to be stronger than my pride. So, having said all of this, I guess my next post should be sooner than later.