It’s not really fair to say that C has had a “slow start” on Norwegian, I guess. I’ve heard lots of stories of children in a new country who refrain from speaking the new language for a year or more. C was so young, though… I hoped he would pick it up faster. I think he’s been hampered by the fact that his teachers speak to him in English as well as Norwegian. (Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice that they can understand him, and it’s nice that they can talk to me in English, but it would be better if they stuck to just Norwegian with him.) I think it’s partly his personality, too. He’s often not adventurous, often reserved.
At the beginning of the school year, he came home with a few phrases and words. Ikke for deg means “not for you” and ikke gjør det means “don’t do that.” He also picked up the words pålegg, leverpostei, brødskive, and vann which mean “bread spread”, “liver pate” (which he’s not supposed to eat!) “bread slice”, and “water” respectively.
But! Last week, and this week, he’s been slipping Norwegian words and phrases into his regular conversation. Last week he told me “I speak English and a little bit of Norwegian” whereas before he was adamant that he only spoke English. This week he said to Ruby “vil du ha denne” which means “do you want this?” and later said to me “jeg vil ha den”, “I want to have it”. He’s also saying “passe seg!” (“watch out!”, from sledding on the playground), “leke sammen”, “playing together”, “gå ut” (go out) and “det er ikke lov” (“that’s not allowed”). He’s also saying jakke, regnbukser, and stovler: “jacket”, “rain pants”, and “boots”. It’s a functional vocabulary!
So, it’s coming along. I’m encouraged by this recent flood. I hope it means he’s been holding back until he’s more confident, and that now it’ll come easier for him. Everyone keeps telling me that he’ll be teaching me Norwegian soon. I hope so… somebody needs to!
It’s not really fair to say that C has had a “slow start” on Norwegian, I guess. I’ve heard lots of stories of children in a new country who refrain from speaking the new language for a year or more. C was so young, though… I hoped he would pick it up faster. I think he’s been hampered by the fact that his teachers speak to him in English as well as Norwegian. (Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice that they can understand him, and it’s nice that they can talk to me in English, but it would be better if they stuck to just Norwegian with him.) I think it’s partly his personality, too. He’s often not adventurous, often reserved.
At the beginning of the school year, he came home with a few phrases and words. Ikke for deg means “not for you” and ikke gjør det means “don’t do that.” He also picked up the words pålegg, leverpostei, brødskive, and vann which mean “bread spread”, “liver pate” (which he’s not supposed to eat!) “bread slice”, and “water” respectively.
But! Last week, and this week, he’s been slipping Norwegian words and phrases into his regular conversation. Last week he told me “I speak English and a little bit of Norwegian” whereas before he was adamant that he only spoke English. This week he said to Ruby “vil du ha denne” which means “do you want this?” and later said to me “jeg vil ha den”, “I want to have it”. He’s also saying “passe seg!” (“watch out!”, from sledding on the playground), “leke sammen”, “playing together”, “gå ut” (go out) and “det er ikke lov” (“that’s not allowed”). He’s also saying jakke, regnbukser, and stovler: “jacket”, “rain pants”, and “boots”. It’s a functional vocabulary!
So, it’s coming along. I’m encouraged by this recent flood. I hope it means he’s been holding back until he’s more confident, and that now it’ll come easier for him. Everyone keeps telling me that he’ll be teaching me Norwegian soon. I hope so… somebody needs to!