To Learn: Swedish or Norwegian?

In my gap year this year I will be learning either Swedish or Norwegian, but am not sure which one. I will be spending a roughly equal amount of time in both countries at the end of my gap year, thus the need to learn, but am not sure which one to learn, they are both very similar (and mutually intelligible), the cultures of both countries are equally liked. I have a very slight preference over Norwegian, not sure why, maybe it (Norway) just is slightly less well known as a country = more quirky. Other than this, what are the benefits of learning one over the other? Can Swedes undersatnd Norwegian as well as Norwegians can understand Swedish?

Thanks, any input will be helpful!

Reply 1

tbtommyb

11

Which country are you going to first? It would make more sense to learn that language first, spend a while in the country to get better at it, and then when you go to the other country you should be able to understand things, or at least pick it up quickly.

Reply 2

Yttrium

1

Norwegian hands down. That way, you can read Ibsen in the original.

(am considering learning it purely for this reason!)

Reply 3

brimstone

7

Swedish is widely spoken/understood over all of the Scandanavian area, so that'd be my natural inclination to study.

Reply 4

Jammertal

3

I'm not sure whether Norwegian and Swedish are really similar, perhaps Ankan can comment on this? Anyway, Swedish is quite similar to German in some aspects, i.e. to easy to pick up if you studied German before. I think that I've read somewhere that Norwegian is much closer to its origins, thus more difficult to learn.

Swedish btw. :p:

Reply 5

Lukas

13

i would say swedish, there's quite a lot of swedes in finland as well as in norway...good luck!

Reply 6

BovineBeast

I think Norwegian is more interesting-looking. Fact is, though, they're basically the same language. Learn Norwegian or Swedish, you'll be able to understand most of what people are saying in the other language.

Reply 7

Ludivine

Swedish, so you can converse with the beautiful people of Sweden. Seriously though, I'd love to learn it. But it's a bitch to pronounce.

snorwedish

I'm quite surprised that nobody said "both" yet. :p:

(snorwedish doesn't count, Esquire even though it sounds like a great language)

Reply 10

BovineBeast

Jammertal

I'm quite surprised that nobody said "both" yet. :p:

(snorwedish doesn't count, Esquire even though it sounds like a great language)

Probably because learning both is, well, redundant. As I said, learn one, you can understand a lot of the other.

Reply 11

JayC

1

lol. swedish of course :biggrin:

norwegian is just very very weird... :p:

most scandinavians speak english though...

Reply 12

michaelyus

10

Which Norwegian? Bokmål, Riksmål, Nynorsk or Høgnorsk?

They are both mutually intelligible of course (and proficient in English), so I would recommend that you learn the first country's language first and then the second.

Reply 13

thefin

1

LeeC

In my gap year this year I will be learning either Swedish or Norwegian, but am not sure which one. I will be spending a roughly equal amount of time in both countries at the end of my gap year, thus the need to learn, but am not sure which one to learn, they are both very similar (and mutually intelligible), the cultures of both countries are equally liked. I have a very slight preference over Norwegian, not sure why, maybe it (Norway) just is slightly less well known as a country = more quirky. Other than this, what are the benefits of learning one over the other? Can Swedes undersatnd Norwegian as well as Norwegians can understand Swedish?

Thanks, any input will be helpful!

Hi, I'm half Finnish and half English, and can speak a fair bit of Swedish because of this. I would also love to spend a bit of time in either one of these countries in my gap year, so just out of interest where are you going, and what are you doing, if you don't mind me asking?

Reply 14

LeeC

OP

15

Ok thanks everyone, I think I'm going to go with Swedish and learn the Norwegian 'version' of the words (as they are similar) when I'm there. The resources for Swedish are more widely available and I come into contact with more Swedes online to practice with. Thanks for all the input!

thefin: I have PM'ed you!

Reply 15

ange de la nuit

11

Yay! Oh you are so lucky! I SO wanted to learn Swedish at Uni but it's just not sensible as a career choice (I want to be a translator and there are not enough Swedes hehe, and they speak English anyway I hear...) Would LOVE to go there. So jealous. Lol! ENJOY!!!

Reply 16

LeeC

OP

15

No that's what I'm thinking, I'm going to learn Swedish to a half decent standard and probably forget it all when I come back! There is just no real need to learn it unless I'm going there every year. Oh well, it will keep my brain working in my gap year. Lol come enjoy it with me I'm going alone so far (no I'm not a weirdo, but that doesnt convince you does it?!)!

Juts noticed you're planning on doing French, German and Slovenian at uni, if Swedish isn't 'sensible as a career choice' why is Slovenian lol?

Reply 17

Coloringwiththerainbow

Hey there,

Just wondered if I could help. I am applying at UCL: Scandinavian studies for September 2009 and am currently studying Norwegian. Reading and writing Norwegian will help you immensely with both Swedish and Danish. If you're looking for pair words or similarities, Danish appears closer as Norway was under Danish rule and influenced much of the language although the fairly new language of nynorsk is being implemented although you'll learn bokmål anyway.

So to answer your question, Norwegian first if you're looking to learn Swedish but learning Swedish first maybe be more challenging because of pronounciation however it is similar too.

Hope it helps, any questions hit me back!

Reply 18

hobnob

14

Coloringwiththerainbow

Hey there,

Just wondered if I could help. I am applying at UCL: Scandinavian studies for September 2009 and am currently studying Norwegian. Reading and writing Norwegian will help you immensely with both Swedish and Danish. If you're looking for pair words or similarities, Danish appears closer as Norway was under Danish rule and influenced much of the language although the fairly new language of nynorsk is being implemented although you'll learn bokmål anyway.

So to answer your question, Norwegian first if you're looking to learn Swedish but learning Swedish first maybe be more challenging because of pronounciation however it is similar too.

Hope it helps, any questions hit me back!