Hacking the Norwegian Language: Learning Norwegian in a fast and furious manner.

Learning Norwegian felt like a challenge at first, but once I found a rhythm that worked for me, things started clicking fast. I combined reading books with Google Translate, watching English films with Norwegian subtitles, transitioning to Norwegian media, and utilizing news articles for practice. Familiarizing myself with Norwegian prefixes and suffixes increased my vocabulary comprehension, enabling me to engage with the language confidently. So, even though I didn’t study any textbook for Norwegian B1-B2 levels, I still got a B2 level in reading and listening the first time taking the test. Here’s exactly what I did:

📚 Reading Books with Google Translate + Audio

One of the most effective techniques I used was reading Norwegian books while using Google Translate as a support tool. I took photos of books and pressed the read-out-loud button of the app. That helped me learn a lot of vocabulary.

🎬 Watching English Movies with Norwegian Subtitles

To reinforce vocabulary and sentence structure in context, I watched English movies or shows — but with Norwegian subtitles. Since I already knew what the actors were saying, I could easily match the meaning of the Norwegian subtitles to the English dialogue. This gave me an intuitive feel for how Norwegian works — word order, idioms, and slang. It also helped me see vocab in action that I had just learned while reading.

🎞️ Transitioning to Norwegian Movies with English Subtitles

Once I felt comfortable recognizing basic words and sentence patterns, I flipped the setup:

• I began watching Norwegian movies or series (Wisting, Skam, etc.) with English subtitles.
• This was huge for listening comprehension. I was hearing how native speakers actually speak — not textbook Norwegian — with all the speed, intonation, and dialect quirks.

This phase helped train my ears, especially with how words connect in fast speech because in the listening test, there can be accents from various regions in Norway.

📰 Reading News on VG.no + Text-to-Speech

Another secret weapon in my toolkit was reading daily news on VG.no — a major Norwegian news outlet. Many articles on VG.no come with a listen to the news feature, which was perfect for practicing both reading and listening while increasing your knowledge on local cultures, which is also helpful for the speaking test.

🔤 Learning Norwegian Prefixes and Suffixes

In parallel with all the reading and listening, I also made an effort to study common Norwegian prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes and suffixes are affixes added to a root or stem to form new words or inflected forms in Norwegian. Prefixes are placed before the root or stem, while suffixes are added after it. It’s very helpful because I did encounter words I didn’t know when taking the reading test. However, since I understand word roots, prefixes, and suffixes, I could often guess the meaning of unfamiliar words, even if I hadn’t seen them before.

Prefixes

These are elements added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning. For example:

Prefix for – often produce a meaning of exaggeration:

• hindre (prevent) – forhindre (prevent)
• elske (love) – forelske (love)
• spise (eat) – forspise (devour)
• bitre (bitter) – forbitre (bitter)
• mørke (dark) – formørke
• bedre – forbedre (improve)

Prefix an – , be – can give a verb a more or less clear meaning:

• klage (complain) – anklage (complain)
• vise (show) – anvise (direct)
• smitte (infect) – besmitte (contaminate)
• fri (free) – befri (liberate)
• rolig (calm) – berolig (calm down)

Suffixes

These are elements added to the end of a word to create new words (derivational suffixes), often with a different word class than the base word:

Suffix -nad:

• søk (search) – søknad (application)
• skilnad (divorce)
• kostnad (cost)
• merknad (note)

Suffix -ing, -ning denote the action or state expressed by the corresponding verb. However, -ning is more usually used for those that have specialized or concretized meaning. Meanwhile, the -ing suffix preserve the connection with the original verb and its guises.

• diktning (poetry)
• forskning (research)
• avledning (derivation)
• ridning (riding)
• rømning (escape)
• overvåkning (survelliance)
• visning (display)
• avsetning (deposition)
• drukning (drowning)
• nyskapning (innovation)
• rensning (purification)
• holdning (attittude) – holding (holding)

versus

• sykling (cycling)
• kåring (rating)
• fengsling (confinement)
• roing (rowing)
• betaling (payment)
• blanding (mixture)
• dekorering (decoration)

Also, in the following case, we only use -ing:

• The verb setm ends in -n, -nn, -nd: mening (meaning), tyning (thinning), utlåning (lending), åpning (opening), banning (cursing), tenning (lighting), nynning (humming), sending (sending)
• The verb stem ends in -l, -ll, -ld: deling (deviding), filing (filing), hangling (hanging), rangling (wrangling), medling (message), smelling (slamming). Exception: kvelning (choking)
• The verb stem ends in r, rr: erfaring (experience), gjæring (fermentation), muring (walling), formering (multiplication), fortæring (consumption), bedring (improvement), utformdring (challenge), purring (nagging)

Many Norwegian prefixes are quite similar to English ones, especially since both languages have roots in Germanic languages and have borrowed from Latin and Greek. Here are some common examples:

Learn the confusing words together

Learn Norwegian confusing words together is a good way to learn writing, because many Norwegian words sound similar but are written differently and means different things

1. etter vs. etterpå

• etter = after
  • Eksempel: “Vi skal spise etter møtet.”
    (We’ll eat after the meeting.)
• etterpå = afterwards
  • Eksempel: “Vi snakker etterpå.”
    (We’ll talk afterwards.)

2. hjem vs. hjemme

• hjem = (to) home (motion)
  • Eksempel: “Jeg går hjem nå.”
    (I’m going home now.)
• hjemme = at home (location)
  • Eksempel: “Jeg er hjemme.”
    (I am at home.)

3. ingen vs. ingenting

• ingen = no one/nobody (refers to people)
  • Eksempel: “Ingen vet svaret.”
    (No one knows the answer.)
• ingenting = nothing (refers to things or ideas)
  • Eksempel: “Det er ingenting her.”
    (There’s nothing here.)

4. får vs. for

• får = gets/receives
  • Eksempel: “Hun får en gave.”
    (She gets a gift.)
• for = for (preposition or cause)
  • Eksempel: “Dette er for deg.”
    (This is for you.)

5. godt vs. galt

• godt = good/well
  • Eksempel: “Han gjorde det godt.”
    (He did it well.)
• galt = wrong
  • Eksempel: “Noe er galt.”
    (Something is wrong.)

6. sitt vs. sitte

• sitt = his/her/their (neutral possessive form)
  • Eksempel: “Barnet tok sitt leketøy.”
    (The child took its toy.)
• sitte = to sit
  • Eksempel: “Du må sitte stille.”
    (You have to sit still.)

7. når vs. når

• når = when (question or conjunction)
  • Eksempel: “Når kommer bussen?”
    (When does the bus arrive?)
• når = reaches/arrives at
  • Eksempel: “Bussen når Oslo klokka åtte.”
    (The bus reaches Oslo at eight.)

8. det vs. den

• det = it (neutral singular)
  • Eksempel: “Det er en fin dag.”
    (It is a nice day.)
• den = it (common singular)
  • Eksempel: “Den boka er min.”
    (That book is mine.)

9. Mønster vs. Monster

– Mønster

• Meaning: Pattern (design, structure, or recurring form).
• Eksempel:
  • “Dette teppet har et fint mønster.”
    (This carpet has a nice pattern.)
  • “Han følger alltid det samme mønsteret.”
    (He always follows the same pattern.)

– Monster

• Meaning: Monster (a scary or mythical creature).
• Eksempel:
  • “Barnet var redd for monsteret under senga.”
    (The child was afraid of the monster under the bed.)
  • “Filmen hadde et fryktelig monster.”
    (The movie had a terrifying monster.)

10. eller vs. ellers

• eller = or
  • Eksempel: “Vil du ha kaffe eller te?”
    (Do you want coffee or tea?)
• ellers = otherwise/else
  • Eksempel: “Skynd deg, ellers blir vi for sene!”
    (Hurry, otherwise we’ll be too late!)

11. man vs. mann

• man = one/you (impersonal pronoun)
  • Eksempel: “Man må gjøre sitt beste.”
    (One must do their best.)
• mann = man/husband
  • Eksempel: “Mannen min jobber på sykehuset.”
    (My husband works at the hospital.)

12. vært vs. vert

• vært = been (past participle of å være)
  • Eksempel: “Jeg har vært i Norge før.”
    (I have been to Norway before.)
• vert = host
  • Eksempel: “Han var vert for festen.”
    (He was the host of the party.)

13. ligger vs. legger

• ligger = lies/is lying (static position)
  • Eksempel: “Boka ligger på bordet.”
    (The book is lying on the table.)
• legger = lays/is laying (motion)
  • Eksempel: “Jeg legger boka på bordet.”
    (I am laying the book on the table.)

14. lenge vs. lang

• lenge = a long time
  • Eksempel: “Vi har ventet lenge.”
    (We’ve waited for a long time.)
• lang = long (distance or length)
  • Eksempel: “Det er en lang vei å gå.”
    (It’s a long way to walk.)

15. rett vs. rettet

• rett = right (correct or direction)
  • Eksempel: “Du har rett.”
    (You are correct.)
  • Eksempel: “Gå rett frem.”
    (Go straight ahead.)
• rettet = corrected/aimed
  • Eksempel: “Hun rettet feilen.”
    (She corrected the mistake.)

16. få vs. fått

• få = get/receive (present tense)
  • Eksempel: “Kan jeg få litt kaffe?”
    (Can I get some coffee?)
• fått = got/received (past participle)
  • Eksempel: “Jeg har fått en gave.”
    (I have received a gift.)

17. stille vs. stiller

• stille = quiet/silent
  • Eksempel: “Det var stille i rommet.”
    (It was quiet in the room.)
• stiller = sets/asks/positions (verb form)
  • Eksempel: “Han stiller mange spørsmål.”
    (He asks many questions.)

18. Kun, kan, and kunne

– Kun

• Meaning: Only
• Eksempel:
  • “Jeg har kun én bok.”
    (I only have one book.)
  • “Det er kun for voksne.”
    (It’s only for adults.)

– Kan

• Meaning: Can (present tense, ability or permission)
• Eksempel:
  • “Jeg kan svømme.”
    (I can swim.)
  • “Kan jeg få låne boka di?”
    (Can I borrow your book?)

– Kunne

• Meaning: Could (past tense or conditional of kan)
• Eksempel:
  • “Jeg kunne ikke komme i går.”
    (I couldn’t come yesterday.)
  • “Hvis jeg hadde penger, kunne jeg reist.”
    (If I had money, I could travel.)

Quick Comparison:

• Kun = restriction (only).
• Kan = present ability or permission (can).
• Kunne = past or conditional ability (could).

19. Svart vs. Svært

Svart

• Meaning: Black (color)
• Eksempel:
  • “Himmelen er helt svart i kveld.”
    (The sky is completely black tonight.)
  • “Han har en svart jakke.”
    (He has a black jacket.)

Svært

• Meaning: Very/extremely (adverb) OR large/significant (adjective)
• Eksempel (adverb):
  • “Jeg er svært fornøyd.”
    (I am very satisfied.)
• Eksempel (adjective):
  • “Det var en svært viktig avgjørelse.”
    (It was a very important decision.)

20. Endre vs. Ende

Endre

• Meaning: To change/modify (verb)
• Eksempel:
  • “Vi må endre planen.”
    (We need to change the plan.)
  • “Kan du endre teksten for meg?”
    (Can you change the text for me?)

Ende

• Meaning: End (noun or verb, meaning to end/terminate)
• Eksempel (noun):
  • “Dette er slutten på historien, en lykkelig ende.”
    (This is the end of the story, a happy ending.)
• Eksempel (verb):
  • “Filmen ender med et mysterium.”
    (The movie ends with a mystery.)

21. Slik vs. Slike

• Slik = such/like this (refers to something specific, singular or abstract).
  • Eksempel: “Dette er en slik bok jeg har lett etter.”
    (This is such a book I’ve been looking for.)
• Slike = such/like these (refers to something plural).
  • Eksempel: “Jeg har aldri sett slike bilder før.”
    (I’ve never seen such pictures before.)