|
 |
Trip to Scandinavia in a month, studying? | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Skandinavisk & Nordisk |  | |
| Greendog Triglot Groupie United States Joined 5269 days ago 47 posts - 52 votes  Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: German | Message 1 of 4 26 June 2010 at 9:09am | IP Logged |
|
Hello,
In a little less than a month I will be taking a trip to Scandinavia. I will be spending 14 days there, divided up between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (http://www.tauck.com/tours/europe-tours/scandinavia-travel/ scandinavia-tour-sc-2010). I don't have many opportunities to travel outside of the US, it only happened that my aunt decided to take me on this trip because I only have a year or two left before I go off to college and she wants to get to know me a little better while she has the chance. Anyway, I've always wanted to learn Norwegian and recently I have been studying more seriously. I have this book: http://www.amazon.com/Norsk-nordmenn-Norge-Beginning-Norwegi an/dp/0299086909 and have been doing one lesson a day. It seems very good, and by the end of the book it has you reading rather long texts in Norwegian of about 10 pages or so. It also has 9 hours of audio. However, with this being such a great opportunity to really improve my Norwegian, I was thinking I need your experienced advice on how to maximize this opportunity. How much should I study a day? I'm off for the summer so I have a lot of time. Besides reading this book, what else do you recommend I do? Another thought I had after reading the site creators testimonial for FSI courses (and seeing that the site doesn't have one for Norwegian) was that maybe I should learn Swedish instead, and then learn Norwegian after if the FSI method really teaches you that quickly. I wouldn't mind learning Swedish instead, because mostly what I'd like to get out of this trip is to improve some language, not necessarily Norwegian. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to maximize this opportunity (I really don't have much money and I don't know when I'll be able to travel out of the country again), so if that means doing boring drills for 6 hours a day for the next month, I'll do it. All my social commitments normally begin after 7 anyway so there won't be much conflict. Thanks so much in advance! EDIT: I don't know if this information is useful, but I'm very good at picking up vocabulary fast if I use flash cards. When studying for my Spanish regents I learned about 150 words in 20-30 minutes. I don't know if that will have any effect on your advice. Edited by Greendog on 26 June 2010 at 9:50am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5837 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 2 of 4 26 June 2010 at 11:41am | IP Logged |
|
Nice to hear that you will be visiting Scandinavia, hope you'll enjoy it!
There is no magic formula to language learning it's just a matter of sticking with it, cramming grammar and vocabulary in a mix and exposing yourself to lots of written and spoken material. The more time you can spend at it, the better. Different people have different learning styles; what works for one person may not work for another. Are you aware that you will not need to speak the local languages for a tourist trip to Scandinavia? Everyone can speak English to a functional standard. I would not waste that much time just for a tourist trip but if you have a special interest or would like to live there, then I'd say go for it! It doesn't matter if you learn Swedish or Norwegian, they are similar; see separate thread. If you have already started Norwegian it's probably best to stay with that. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Fasulye Heptaglot Winner TAC 2012 Moderator Germany fasulyespolyglotblog Joined 5846 days ago 5460 posts - 6006 votes 1 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 4 26 June 2010 at 3:55pm | IP Logged |
|
I have just received an invitation for a visit in the South of Sweden, where my Swedish penfriend lives. We have been corresponding by letter since 1996, but we have never met in person. Of course I would like to get aquainted with him and to get an impression of Sweden.
As I live in constant poverty the only possibility to visit him could be to add a week of holidays in Sweden JUST AFTER the Esperanto Congress in Kopenhagen in July 2011. I will discuss this possibility with the Esperantist who will finance my trip to Kopenhagen next year. Qua language there will not be any change for me. In any case I will stick to learning Danish, which will allow me to understand some Swedish as well. I am also seriously thinking about becoming a member in the Scandinavian Club of my city again, but this will not happen before January 2011. Fasulye Edited by Fasulye on 26 June 2010 at 6:03pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Greendog Triglot Groupie United States Joined 5269 days ago 47 posts - 52 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: German | Message 4 of 4 26 June 2010 at 9:19pm | IP Logged |
|
Thanks for the replies!
I'm aware that I will not need to speak the languages in order to get around, but I do have a special interest in the Scandinavian languages. I'd like to improve my Norwegian as much as I can during the trip (that's what I mean by maximize the opportunity). I actually do have a dream of moving to Norway, but that's far off at the moment :). Edited by Greendog on 26 June 2010 at 9:25pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
