Norsk, nordmenn og Norge 1: Textbook for Beginning Norwegian

To the Student

To the Student The following text begins with you. You will be conversing in Norwegian (bokmal) about who you are, where you come from, what you do, when and what you eat, how you live, and who your family members are. Once you have acquired these basic units of vocabulary and structure, you will be using your new.1anguage to learn about Norway . You will visit the cities of Oslo and Bergen, eat in a Norwegian home and restaurant, go shopping, and learn about Norwegian schools. Emphasis will also be given to travel and communications , as well as the seasons of the year and Norwegian holidays. In later chapters you will read about the Norwegian welfare state, the national health insurance system, the discovery ofoil and its impact on the Norwegian life-style, the role of the church in Norway, the geography of Norway, and Norwegian history from Viking times to the present. Interspersed throughout the text you will find supplementary readings (For spesielt interesserte) containing additional cultural information. (It should be noted that the extra vocabulary from these sections is not included in the list of Ord at the end of each chapter, but is defined in the glossary.) The text also includes a special section of supplementary rer dings (Tillegg ) which may be used at various points during your study. The relative levels of difficulty of these readings is indicated in the table of contents. Their subjects range from a fictionalized immigrant diary, to Christmas customs, art, and the applied arts in Norway. As mentioned above, you will find a list of words at the end of each chapter. These words are meant to become part of your active vocabulary. Their definitions, along with pertinent grammatical information about them, are given in the glossary, as is the chapter number in which the word first appears. Although modem Norwegian allows a variety offorms and spellings for many ofits words, it was felt that standardization would be desirable in a first-year text, and we therefore have allowed Tanums store rettskrivningsordbok to be our guide in matters of gender, form, and spelling. xvii The present edition of the text features a short grammar summary , a reference for review to assist you in drawing together aspects of the grammar that are presented throughout the text. In the body of the text itself, we have attempted to have the grammar emerge gradually so that you may focus on learning only one new concept at a time. We have tried to illustrate each grammatical point by example, so that you may deduce the rule, but we have also added explanatory footnotes to assist your understanding of Norwegian grammar. To aid you in developing good pronunciation and intonation habits, as well as to internalize certain items of vocabulary and structure, most chapters contain a practice dialogue (Vi herer utenat or Vi ¢ver oss) which you may practice repeatedly while you are studying the chapter. As you begin your study, keep in mind that your goal is to be able to communicate meaningfully with others in Norwegian. Previous users ofthe book have been delighted by their rapid progress in being able to do so. We hope this will be your experience too. *This asterisk marks passages in the text you can listen to on corresponding audio tapes. XVlll nORsli ~ , o .. .. • ------------------·, ..." \ ...