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Relative rarity of Norwegian texts | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Zwlth Super Polyglot Senior Member United States Joined 5037 days ago 154 posts - 320 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Arabic (Written), Dutch, Swedish, Portuguese, Latin, French, Persian, Greek | Message 1 of 6 11 December 2013 at 9:01am | IP Logged | ||
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I've noticed something that strikes me as rather peculiar: compared to the ease with which I can find Swedish and Danish texts in other countries, it is quite hard to come across Norwegian texts outside of Norway. This struck me when I was in the Dasa Book Cafe in Bangkok recently (a great used bookstore with a whole top floor of books in languages other than English). They had a healthy selection of books in both Swedish and Danish, but next to none in Norwegian. Thinking back, this seems to be a constant in used bookstores. Also, I've noticed that Audible offers about 400+ audiobooks each in Swedish and in Danish, but none in Norwegian.
Has anyone else ever noticed this? Any theories as to why this might be the case? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5131 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 2 of 6 11 December 2013 at 10:38am | IP Logged | ||
I don't have any theories, but if you have a tablet or an eBook reader, check out MobileRead, one user, SBT, so far has uploaded 90+ Norwegian ePub books, mostly PD novels, but also some non-fiction. To display them visit MobileRead and search for [Norwegian]. Edited by Doitsujin on 11 December 2013 at 10:45am 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| vermillon Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4489 days ago 602 posts - 1042 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, German | Message 3 of 6 11 December 2013 at 1:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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In London, I'd say it's the exact opposite. I've seen dozens of books (novels, non-fictions..) in Norwegian, and never ever have I seen a Danish or a Swedish book in a used book store.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Ogrim Heptaglot Senior Member France Joined 4450 days ago 991 posts - 1896 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, French, Romansh, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Catalan, Latin, Greek, Romanian | Message 4 of 6 11 December 2013 at 2:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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If we're talking about used books, I guess it all depends on the place and whether there are many Norwegians living there or not. London (and the UK generally) is a very popular destination both for tourists and students, and I believe quite a few Norwegian expats work in London as well, so it's not surprising that you find Norwegian second-hand books there.
Where I live there are more Swedes than Norwegians, and I have come across the occasional Swedish used book, but so far never a Norwegian one. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4479 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 5 of 6 11 December 2013 at 3:32pm | IP Logged | ||
It's because Thailand is the most popular tourist destination with the Swedish. Gran Canaria is the most popular tourist destination for Norwegians. Edited by Medulin on 11 December 2013 at 3:39pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Zwlth Super Polyglot Senior Member United States Joined 5037 days ago 154 posts - 320 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Arabic (Written), Dutch, Swedish, Portuguese, Latin, French, Persian, Greek | Message 6 of 6 12 December 2013 at 1:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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The explanations you all have given - that it has to do with tourist demographics - make
perfect sense for the random selection that can be found in any given used bookstore around the world. I still wonder about the selection on Audible, though. I checked again just to be sure, and they've got 689 Swedish audiobooks, 394 Danish audiobooks, and 0 Norwegian ones. Why should that be? Is there some other source for Norwegian audiobooks that has cornered the market? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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