Easy-to-Learn
"Talk sometimes in a foreign language, not to forget how bad you know it."
- Boleslav Paszkowski
Languages
NORWEGIAN
UNIT 1: Greetings
Fredrikstad Castle
in Halden
South of Oslo, at Fredrikstad Castle in Halden is said to reside Den Hvite Dame (the white lady).
Believers claim she represents a female that suffered trauma in life. She usually appears in old Victorian garb, has whitish cloudy eyes and medium-length white hair. She usually looks sad and those who see her feel that she is trying to tell them something. Den Hvite Dame in Halden is believed to be the spøkelse (ghost) of the fortress commander´s mistress, who killed herself after Swedish forces killed her lover. Those who claim to have seen her say that shevinker (waves) and turns the fortress spotlights off before she shows herself.
Fredrikstad
English
Norwegian:
Transcription:
Dialogue 1
The figure you see is Den Hvite Dame (the White Lady)
who threw herself off the Fredriksten Fortress after her lover got hit by a cannonball. She is said to appear at midnight and sometimes sort of waves to people.
She's looking right at you.
Run!!!
No, wait. I think she's trying to say something to you.
Let's see how you can greet her back.
Here are some examples:
Good morning
God morgen
[guː ˈmoːɔɳ]
Good day
God dag
[gu: dɑːg]
Good afternoon
God ettermiddag
[gu: 'etəɾmɪdɑːg]
Now, you are ready
to answer to Den Hvite Dame.
I bet you have already guessed what
"hva heter du" means.
[ʋɑː he:ter dʉː]
That's right, it means "what's your name".
How are things?
Hvordan står det til?
[ˈʋɔɾdɑn sto:r de: ti:l]
lit: how stands it to
English
Norwegian:
Transcription:
Now you know what to answer.
Let's continue.
Good evening
God kveld
[gu: kʋel]
Dialogue 3
Hello (informal)
Hei
[hæi]
English
Norwegian:
Transcription:
Good night
God natt
[gu: nɑt]
How is it going?
Hvordan går det?
[ˈʋɔɾdɑn go:r de:]
Norwegian: - Hallo! Jeg heter Den Hvite Dame.
[hɑˈluː] [jæj heːter den vi:te dɑːme]
English: - Hello! My name is Den Hvite Dame.
White Lady: - Hallo!
You: - ................./e.g. Good Afternoon/.
White Lady: - Hva heter du?
You: - Pardon?
Ok, that was rude.
Not you. Your reaction was totally appropriate.
She said "I am bored"
"Jeg kjeder meg"
[jæj 'çeːdə mæi]
and then she said "goodbye"
"Ha det"
[ha: de:]
Let's learn other ways to say goodbye:
English
Norwegian:
Transcription:
Goodbye (formal)
Ha det bra /lit: Have it good!/
[ha: de: bra:]
We'll see each other (later)
Vi ses
[ʋiː se:s]
We'll talk (later)
Vi snakkes
[ʋiː 'snɑkəs]
Here is another way to say "good morning":
Norwegian: God morn
Transcription: [gu: mɔɳ]
God morgen is used only in writing and is rarely spoken.
It is the shorter version god morn that is used in speech. This came about because morgen has always been pronounced morn since the Danish influence.
Ok, let's continue.
Dialogue 2
White Lady: - Hva heter du?
You: - ........./My name is... e.g. Tom Cruise/.
White Lady: - Hvordan har du det?
Tom Cruise: - Eh?
Ah, right. You don't know this expression yet.
"Hvordan har du det?" means "how are you"
[ˈʋɔɾdɑn hɑː dʉː de:]
Here are some other ways to ask a person how s/he is:
Now, let's see how you can answer to this question.
Here are some examples:
English
Norwegian:
Transcription:
It's going good
Det går bra
[de: go:r bɾɑː]
I have it good
Jeg har det bra
[jæj ha:r de: bɾɑː]
Things are good
Det står bra til
[de: sto:r bɾɑː til]
White Lady: - Hvordan har du det?
Tom Cruise: - ............../e.g. I have it good/.
White Lady: - Jeg kjeder meg. Ha det.
Tom Cruise: - What the---?
(big fat empty space)
The Norwegian 'ses' and 'snakkes' are only used in this context. They are passives forms of ‘see’ (to be seen) and ‘talk’.