Jeg snakker ikke Bjørnsk!

I'm reading Norwegian better all the time, to the point where I understand most of the threads on diskusjon.no and rarely look up anything. I'm also getting more and more comfortable with writing. I've had some good conversations on messenger about politics, music, global warming, and whatever the hell else I want, all in Norwegian! :D

So it's great. Except that I completely fail at listening. I've gathered a little group of very nice Norwegian contacts on messenger to help me with speaking and listening, but when I tried it with Snorre, I completely froze... I was too nervous to speak much, and my listening left a LOT to be desired. A bit annoying.

So I got to thinking about what I could do for practice that wouldn't waste other people's time. Radio? Yeah, I've got a bunch of Norwegian podcasts, but radio is one of the most difficult things to listen to of all, really. It's SO fast, and there aren't the slightest visual or context clues.

Movies. :D First, Uno. It killed me. Then I found some Norwegian subtitles and put them on... it was easy as pie that way! I went through the whole movie at natural speed and understood 80% of it... 95% of the important stuff. So not terrible, but still relying on reading. I was a bit worried though, as Oslo dialect is supposed to be the easiest.

Next, Kill Buljo. I wasn't going to as Evan said it was Trøndersk and harder, but I'm going to Trondheim next summer so I figured I'd better start. I left it on without the subtitles and watched the first dialogue... before they come in and shoot everyone at the wedding|thing. So far, so good. I understood a few words per sentence, and they were the important ones. I sort of followed what was going on. Then I replayed it with subtitles and... I didn't understand it any better. I went through the movie without them. I understood enough... even a few of the jokes. Luckily a lot of it was visual humour and words weren't that necessary. Didn't love the movie, but thrilled at how much I learned. And this is the wicked hard Trøndersk everyone talks about? Seemed easier to me that Uno's Oslo Dialekt!

Then I downloaded Villmark and watched the first bit. Fjord! Pretty! But wait... scary music... Didn't quite think I could handle it alone in my dark sad sterile office. That's just sad. So I'm waiting for that one.

Then I decided to go easy on myself. I got Brother Bear and Finding Nemo in Norwegian. Granted, I've seen both movies. I've seen Brother Bear twice, and Finding Nemo enough times to know most of the words. But who cares. Without subtitles, I find myself getting almost all of it. About as much as I got with subtitles in Uno. Dunno if it's familiarity with the subject matter, difficulty level (they are Children's movies... :D), some sort of really universal dialect used, or what... But I feel as though I've made progress.

Så... som Koda sier, "Jeg er på vei nå"!