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Kaffi

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Posts posted by Kaffi

  1. Dusk the hour  between sundown and dark, there are several words for that the usual one for

    duskis skumring

    The blue hoer or blue light ;blåtimen , den blå timen - this is particular in the summer, when all nights are the blue light, as the sun just hovers right beneath the horizon for a few  short hrs befor rising again, and the sunsets are long and beautiful.

    Another word commonly used is tussmørke tusse, is a something between an imp, an elf, a gnome and maybe even a distant relative of a troll, but generally into mischief and not evil.

    Tussmørke ; tusse-darkness, the light when this creature can move mostly unseen like a shadow in the shadowlight. A well know figure in the Nordic tales and old stories.

  2. Yes, I do.

    Sometimes the system is just not practical.  And it does focus to much on writing in the basic subset, while it should focus on interacting and understanding. As with learning your own language and mother tongue you first learn to speak before learning to read and then to write.

    Some people will not "get" the writing part until they actually have a firm grasp on the language , and can formulate complete and meaningful sentences in speech.

    Other thrive well on the rules and repetition of the vocabulary and grammar rules, and will do great on tests in written form, but can not make a coherent speech in person to person.

  3. I thought of another one that is fairly modern which is to call something "sick" when you mean something is good. It's hardly confusing to us, since I assume most of us have grown up with the term, but of course, being sick wasn't always pertained to something good and it really makes me wonder why these words are being chosen to say something positive.

    This is the point of an idiom, to use words and expressions in an unusual way, to use the opposite meaning is to emphasize it. So when something is sick it means  to be very good, because being sick(ill) is bad, not good.

    This is common in most languages, to use it in the opposite meaning to emphasize it.

  4. There has been attempts to make a universal sign language like Esperanto.

    International Sing Language is  the most common one, although it is most widely spread in Europe and America.  More common is the  Latin alphabet , the signs for the  letters are very similar to languages  using Latin letters , but  naturally you cannot sign anything other than letters, but  then you can sign out words in an other language you have learned.

    Some signs are very common to similar cultures, or can be used in a way to communicate even if not using "specific language" in signs.

    ut confusing for neighboring countries, as in speak  say Italian and Spanish , they have a lot of similar words and can communicate , or German and Dutch . But In Sign the differences can be very big as they are more culturally dependent.

    Almost all languages have their on sign language. One of the reasons is that they often don't sing out all the words like we speak, but the meaning, idea, main action  in the sentence.

    Example :

    Are you driving the bus? Speaking . 

    pointing at you, making the bus  sign + drive sign, and making a question with you face; rising eyebrows. Signing.

  5. God jul !  - Merry Christmas.

    Vi ønsker dere en god jul!  We wish you a merry Christmas !

    Gledelig jul! _ Joyful Christmas!

    Fortsatt god jul! - Continued merry Christmas !

    Godt nytt år! Happy new year !

    Helligdager - Holy days -days when shops are closed. There is plenty in Norway.

    Julaften - Christmas Eve - The day of Christmas celebration in Norway (December 24.) Holy  day from 5pm. Shops closes early,and all public transport is  shut down between 3pm(15.00) and 9pm (21.00)

    1.Juledag ( første juledag) Chrismas Day (december 25.) Holy day, no shops open.

    2.Juledag ( andre juledag) Boxing Day (DEcember 27) Holy Day, no shops open.

    '

    13. dag jul , Januray 6, Hellige 3 Kongers Dag.

    Fromold one celebrated 20 days of Christmas all the days until January 13 ,the last day  before you had to throw out Christmas  as in the Christmas tree.

    Juletre - Christmas tree

    Juletrelys - Christmas tree light(s)

    Med ønsker om en fortsatt fredfull og gledelig jul 2014 og et godt nytt år! (literal translation below)

    With wishes of a continued peaceful and joyful Christmas 2014 and a good(happy) new year !

    Kaffi

  6. Melk - milk

    Brød - bread

    Brødskive - slice of bread

    Rundstykke - breadroll / like bagel

    Knekkebrød - flatbread ,like Wasa hard crispy rectangular piece or round

    Smør - butter

    Margarin - margarine

    Ost - cheese

    Smøreost - spreadable cheese

    Syltetøy -  like jam ; this is not a jelly or marmalade, it is usually fruit and  berries cooked and stirred with sugar and contains pieces and sometimes more or less whole berries.

    Pålegg - whatever you put on your piece of bread or knekkebrød , so cheese, syltetøy, egg, cuts of meat or anything else you put on.

    Egg - egg  (in  Norwegian egg is one of those words that stay the same in single and plural)

    Servelat,

    Skinke(påleegg) - cuts of ham

    Kylling-pålegg - cuts of chicken

    Makrell i tomat - mackerel in tomato-sauce

    Kaviar - usually this is in a tube and is spreadable ; caviar with some sauce

    Sjokade

    Nugatti

    Nutella  - chocolate spreads with or without nuts and milk

    Agurk - cucumber

    Paprika - bell peppers ,paprika

    Tomat -tomato

    Jus /juice - juice

    Saft - concentrated sweet fruit/berry lemonade/juice diluted with water.

    Frokost - breakfast

    Formiddagsmat , lunsj -  brunch, lunch

    Ettermiddags mat - meal between 13.30 and 17.30

    Middag - dinner

    Kveldsmat - evening meal before bed-time(every kid will have a evening meal after dinner)

    Nattmat - midnight or late night meal, typically after a late movie or after a party on your way home or after you get home.

    Matpause - break for food , at school they call the break in the middle of the day for "Matpause" its usually the longest break and you have allotted at least 20 minutes to eating your food.

    Matpakke - your pack of food , that you bring with you usually in your lunchbox.

    In Norway you bring your matpakke with you to school and work, it usually contains slices of bread with pålegg.

    Eple - apple

    Pære - pear

    Banan - banana

    Druer -grapes

    Løk - onion

    Vårløk -spring onion

    Purre - leek

    (hode)kål -cabbage

    Gulrot - carrot

    Kålrot - swede ,rutabaga

    Fenikkel - fennel

    Potet - potato

    Reddik - radish

    Beter - beets

    Rosenkål - Brussels sprouts

    Erter -peas

    Kjøtt - meat

    Får, sau, lam - cheep , mutton

    Gris - pig

    Ku - cow

    Okse - ox

    Kalv - veal

    Kylling - chicken

    Høne - hen

    Hare - rabbit

    Geit - goat

    Kalkun - turkey

    Pølse - sausage,

    Wienerpølse / grillpølse - hot dogs

    Skinke - ham

    Fisk - fish

    Fiskeboller - fishballs , usually white fish mixed with flour,milk,salt,pepper into a smooth "dough" and made into small balls that are boiled in eater, and you buy them ready made in a tin or vacuumed-packed , you eat them sliced up on bread or heat them up for diner.

    Fiskekaker - fish cakes , usually with mix of different  minced fish, onion, chive, pepper,salt, potato starch sometimes with flour and milk , a coarser meatier cake , usually buy it ready made and eat for dinner,

    Kjøttkaker - mix of minced meat, onions, pepper, salt, spices , eggs or flour made into cakes and cooked on a skillet or cast iron pan, eaten for dinner. You can buy them ready or make your own.

    Kjøttboller - like Kjøttkaker or cooked in sauce like Italian meatballs.

    Saus - sauce

    Grønnsaker - vegetables

    Suppe - soup

    Gul ertesuppe - Swedish yellow pea soup

    Surkål - sort of like Sauerkraut

    Rødkål - red cabbage cooked in a saft from red berries, sugar, a bit of vinegar and water with spices.

    Fårikål - mutton in cabbage , layered cabbage and mutton, whole pepper and salt repeatedly until you fill the 15 liter pan, add ca 1 liter water and cook for 2,5-4 hrs adding water if needed , served with potatoes .

    Fårikål sesongen - The season starts when the sheep's are brought down from the mountains in the fall, usually in September, the  unofficial national "Fårikåldagen" ( the day of the Fårikål) is the last Thursday in September.

    Lofot skrei - Skrei = cod - This cod comes in to Lofoten in February  to April and comes from the Barents sea to spawn and is another national dish , especially along the coast. 

  7. The origin of the meaning, coming from a family  of shipbuilders and wood-choppers, is a chip of wood chopped from a block of wood , a piece big enough to be carried on your shoulder, the right kind of wood can be very heavy.

    In the earlier days, a chip, or chips that were chopped off timber and blocks of wood that were not useful in building, could be carried off home for firewood or other use.  So you carried a heavy load on your shoulder , as if you had a grudge against someone, an unsettled argument or dispute. So staring a new argument or coming in to a discussion without an open mind, but already with a grievance.

    In the USA it became a saying that if someone knocked your chip of your shoulder you had a reason to get into a fight. And it was recorded in writing from early 1800's.

    And today it still means that you have an unsettled argument or feeling wronged , so you are not coming with an open mind, but with a predisposition of need for being righted of the earlier wrongs don to you.

    This saying is used differently in UK, USA and Europe , it  holds the grievance meaning still in USA.

  8. I remember being very puzzled when my fathers friends from UK would say : Its not all beer and skittles.

    I had to ask my father and learned that it meant it's not all fun and pleasure , you also have to be serious.

    I remember the grown-ups talking about " decorating the mahogany" and the ladies not to pleased with that , I couldn't see why as  to decorate was something the ladies did all the time so why be upset if their husband did it. As I grew older I learned that it meant " to put money on the bar top to buy a round" and some men would spend all their money "decorating the mahogany".

    Shooting fish in a barrel , was  also one I learned early on.  When something is so easy you cannot fail. 

  9. Do you consider Elven found in THe Lord Of The Rings and the writings of JRR.Tolkien to be a language ?

    I speak a rare old dialect of Vest-Telemark, that no-one seems to know today except a few hundred in that area, its  more similar to Old Norse. And a bit of Old Norse, and a bit of Icelandic .

    These are similar, as well as the dialect they speak in Upper part of Setesdalen, just across the mountain from that part of Vest-Telemark. They all contain structure from Old Norse and when spoken people from these areas can understand each other.

    It is considered a language? Well, it might well be in linguistic circle's in the near future.

    I would like to know more languages, and I guess that several of them is rare, like Sami, and Inuit.

  10. Yes , but sometimes this is not right either, even though you can translate the words, the maening des not always correlate.

    Slow - can be translated sakte , sen / treg .

    He is always slow =  Han er alltid sen /treg. Someone is slow.

    He is always late ( as in arriving later that scheduled) = Han er alltid sen ( han er alltid sent ute).

    It goes really slow today= Det går veldig tregt idag/ Det går veldig sakte i dag. (the colloquial form is tregt) Something is slow

  11. I try not to have one,  but depending on mood and location I can sound like a typical Scandinavian descendant from North Dakota or Wisconsin, have a southern take from Texas or Oklahoma and sometimes like a New York-er.

    I tend to pick up accents easily and can also sport a heavy Swedish accent, a Russian accent and a Hungarian at times. As I have friends from these places and stick me with them for more than 4 hrs and I am slanting towards their speech pattern and accent.

    There are several accents in LA area, it was quite entertaining to move from location to location and hear the differences.

  12. It all depends on the type of writing I do.

    Sometimes you have very strict guidelines to follow, like for certain types of poems, then you have to be creative ,yet fluid in your style of writing, and use words that resonate with yourself.

    Writing stories ,tend to be very different, you have to suss out the intended audience and write in a way that they can connect, so that brings you to another style of writing.

    If I write recipe's there is very stringent rules to apply too, what type of measurements to use, how to explain use and tools etc.

    Its also makes a difference if your writing in a general English, that is are you using American or British spellings and words dominated within each country or slang. There are different ways of expressing things more likely found in one cultural setting than an other.

    My writings are generally with American English and mostly from the American continent set of styles, but also of a general European culture, and it does reflect my writing type and style.

  13. Besides my English, Norwegian , Swedish ( could need some  top up on the very specific science side) and Danish.

    I am currently learning German ( as I forgot most of it and want to be fluent not just bar talk),

    Icelandic - needs more work ,and makes it easier to read Old Norse

    French  - I am just a beginner

    The ones I only know a few words in and want to learn semi-fluent to fluent are :

    Hungarian

    Russian

    Arabic

    Cantonese

    and these too:

    Sami - both north and south Scandinavian type

    Aleut or Eskaelut ( Eskimo)

    Maori

    Mongolian

    Sioux

     

  14. You are discussion speech  not  language skill as  in comprehension of  the written word or spoken formal ,like the one you learn in books.

    Speech is often very lax among people in general , when not  in a public forum like TV hosts or at work or schools. I often find it strange, that  when you come to the advanced level in school or at  the place they teach you language, they don't let you hear radio, and watch TV shows to hear what it sounds like in normal speech.

    Usually many languages have different accents and  way of speaking ,compared to the formal way of speaking and writing.

    When I talk with my friend I might say : Lets Go! Comin' ar' ya?  But I would write; Let us go, are you coming?

    I would skip words when talking, that is there in writing, and if I were to give a formal speech.

    I guess we all do in our normal day to day talk with others. And speed up  is one thing that we all in our native languages.

  15. I am using , as  I am sure of you are too.

    But The translations to English in both French ,German and a couple of other  are not correct, or they do not recognize correct solutions.

    Sometimes we use things in English speak and learn things that is not entirely correct, and sometimes you cannot really translate the word, even though it sounds similar the meaning alter. And like some of the languages that English is based on( we all know it has heavily borrowed from other languages through time), its not correct to translate word by word, and sometimes meaning is implies in the arrangement of the words.

    You learn to know what Duolingo want from you, but its still not correct.

    Anyone else finds this frustrating with online teaching?

  16. I know the story well, as it has been translated into many languages and was  made into many booklets and even TV shows in several European languages.

    As an adult I find the story rather sad, like many other good stories, but I also think that it will be a good read in German, what do you think?

    There are several online resources, here is one http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7512 .

    Do you think it is a good read, or not at all?

  17. I totally agree. Immersion is the best way, and to start to use the language  from start.

    Basically we all know grammar, and get to caught up in it and the way we are used to saying sounds, that it takes us too long to start actually speaking.

    A few phrases and you are set to start to communicate with people, its really helpful on travels. I was very glad to have learned the words for bathroom, toilet and exchange in Russian, we we suddenly had to stay and move to a hotel after our flight got cancelled. 

    I have met many people who have learned a language in a matter of months , being immersed and using it every day, also they were not afraid to make mistakes, and used their mistakes to learn the language better.

    Even though I cannot speak Chinese, I have learned about 15 words in writing by paying attention when watching martial arts movie. I know a saying or a poem, but have no idea what it means, but I learned it while  waiting for my flight at Heathrow , when listening to a mother sing to her baby, and when I joined in she was happy to teach me the words.

    Usually we are to focused on the phonetics of our own language and accent that we cannot seam to get a grasp of the new one. And many of us are to used to go the "have to learn the rules" and spend days pouring over grammar and vocabulary and not even trying to speak even once.

    I like Benny, he has a great way of explaining things.

  18. I would like to know the German expressions, a lot of them I guess are very similar to Norwegian and Swedish in both words  and meaning.

    I know that Schnee von gestern , N: Snøen fra i fjor or Snøen om falt i fjor. Leave things in the past, don't drag it up again, as the snow from last year is not there anymore, and the snow from yesterday , is already here. As its history, let it be or commonly used , a thing of the past or water under the bridge.

    A pig in a poke ,N: Katten i sekken , to have something. Is it correct with "die Katze im Sack"?

    To be promised something to good and too much  N: "lover deg gull og grønne skoger= promise you gold and green forests. What is the German form?

    En bjørnetjeneste , Å gjøre noen en bjørnetjeneste, in Norwegian is to do someone  a favor that backfire's, help someone in a way that is not helpful at all. What do you say in German?

    When someone is very clumsy its said in Norwegian: Hun/han er som  en elefant i et glasshus. He/she is like an elephant in a house of glass.  How do you say this in German?

    When someone is very much in love , what do you say?

    N: Oppover ørene forelsket ; above the ears in love, an English saying is "Head over heels".

  19. [table]

    [tr][td]

    En dag, (den) dagen  = a day, the day[/td][/tr]

    [tr][td]

    en uke, (den) uka      = a week, the week]/td][/td][/tr]

    [tr][td]

    en måned, (den) måneden = a month, the month[/td][/tr]

    [tr][td]

    et år, (det) året          = a year, the year  [/td][/tr][/table]

    Ukedagene : the days of the week

    Mandag = monday

    Tirsdag  = tuesday

    Onsdag  = wednesday

    Torsdag = thursday

    Fredag  = friday

    Lørdag  = saturday

    Søndag = sunday

    Månedene : the months

    Januar        = january

    Februar      = february

    Mars            = march

    April            = april

    Mai              = may

    Juni            = june

    Juli              = july

    August        = agust

    September  = september

    Oktober      = october

    November  = november

    Desember  = december

    Vinter    = winter

    Vår        = spring

    Sommer  = summer

    Høst      = autumn / fall 

    Tall ord : Numerals

    Første  = firsthttp://linguaholic.com/Smileys/square2/punk.png

    Andre  = second

    Tredje = third

    Fjerde = fourth

    Femte = fifth

    Sjette  = sixth

    Sjuende = seventh

    Åttende = eight

    Niende = ninth

    Tiende= tenth

    Ellefte  = eleventh

    Tolvte  = twelfth

    Trettende = thirteenth

    Fjortende  =fourteenth

    Femtende = fifteenth

    Sekstende = sixteenth

    Syttende  = seventeenth

    Attende  = eighteenth  ( OBSERVE in here the Å is replaced with a A )

    Nittende = nineteenth

    Tjuende = twentieth

    Tjueførste like the first 10, just with "tjue" as a prefix, very similar with the numbers

    Usually in Norwegian this is used for the days of the month, 1. - 31. and for the weeks in the year and the months.

    so the date  ;4th of april 2015  you would say : fjerde april tjuefemten, some does say the year as totusenogfemten.

    There is not a consensus about whether to pronounce the year as tjue15 or totusen og 15. that is to sat twenty or two thousand , so both are used.

    The  two thousand form was mostly used up until 2011 , and then as translating from English twenty-eleven , it started to be used more and more.

    As in counting, Norwegian is counting to nineteen hundred and then starts to count in thousands:

    2 000 =  to-tusen

    2 500 = to-tusen-fem-hundre

  20. Idioms is a big part of language, both spoken and written, and we use them all the time.

    It is one of the hardest things to learn in a new language, because its not just a word or phrase, but also deals with cultural references that might be hard to grasp as a foreigner, its sometimes hard for a native too.

    One very common in English is: "Cat got your tongue?, Has the cat got your tongue? or did the cat get your tongue?"

    It means you are left speechless, that you cannot get a word out and someone is expecting you to say something. Another way to say this would be : "Have you nothing to say?"

    This is often prefixed by "what's the matter," to let you know that you should answer.

    A modern way to use this in texts and online is : Cat got your thumbs? , as you are not responding in a chat.  It might take hold and become more used, but you might not have seen it used yet in writing.

    What is this in your language, what idiom is used?

    The closest in Norwegian is : " Har du mistet både munn og mæle? " It literally translates: Have you lost both mouth and sound/speech?.

    Another one : English : "Count one's chickens before thy (the eggs) are hatched!"  - To count or assume a certain thing , before all the facts are in.  To make assumptions and more likely have made statements  before you have all the facts.

    Norwegian: "Å selge skinnet, før bjørnen er skutt!" - literal translation in English:

    to sell the skin/fur before the bear is shot.

  21. So, you must check the pronunciation of each word before you learn it? Well, this does make things a little more complicated. I was hoping it would be more of a standardised version which doesn't change, but oh, well, I guess I'll have to work on it if I decide to study Norwegian.

    One question - are the words pronounced differently then in different instances or will jul always be jul no matter what?

    The thing with Norwegian , where its similar to English, is that many sounds are not as written.

    The color hvit have the h in front, like white have a silent h.

    The written language is compiled of a good dose ogf Danish writing for bokmål, and a dash of Latin + a general consensus over the years how the word should be written, like in English.

    Nynorsk, is compiled of a set of dialects, spoken late 1800 , and how they where pronounced, + a way of writing widely accepted in late 1800 early 1900 for pronunciation. But have also contained certain elements from Old Norse(norrønt). 

    There are also the sounds :

    sj

    skj

    ski

    kj

    ai

    ou

  22. I relay heavily on the use of Norwegian school in my teachings, both native  for 1-10. grade and  Norwegian as a second language.

    Some of my favorites are :

    http://abc.cappelendamm.no/  on the right is  the alphabet. 3 levels , green, blue and yellow.

    This is used in grade 1 and 2.

    http://smartped.no/?page_id=180  this is also used from kindergarten.

    http://lokus123.lokus.no/?marketplaceId=123&languageId=1&siteNodeId=14193297

    This is a link to Fairytales , and children's stories for a bit more advanced students

    http://runeberg.org/folkeven/

    http://www.dalabrekka.gs.mr.no/jeg_meg_deg_seg.pdf  ( put in the words: I ,me, you, himself/yourself/herself.)

    http://www.dalabrekka.gs.mr.no/jeg_meg_deg_seg_II.pdf

    http://www.dalabrekka.gs.mr.no/norsk.htm

  23. What do you mean pronounced differently? Is there a rule or is it more arbitrary? How many combinations are there? Is it more like German - phonology equals pronunciation or? Are å and a pronounced differently (to a great deal) or is it only the length in question? Is one front and the other back vowel?

    You can not use the way the letters are pronounced by that chart to make words.

    H [Haaw] is one of the letters that are sometimes  not pronounced or mostly [hh]

    j [jee] is in a word like  "jul"(Christmas) [jjuul], its no e-sound.

    So while it is good to know, its not something to work to much on, its one of the things the 1.and 2. grade really work on.

  24. Maybe you could try writing the translation of the surface structure when you write in Norwegian. I did it with Latin sentences - I write the exact order of words in English, so for example:

    puella pulchra est

    the girl - beautiful - is

    This may enable people to try and work things out on their own and see the structure of Norwegian as a language -which words go where, which phrases occur together and such. I believe it could be very useful.

    Also, which type of pattern does it follow? Subject - Verb - Object or a different one? This can help a lot.

    Norwegian follow mostly the rest of the European languages in structure, very similar to English, with a few exceptions where it has contained some of the Old Norse structure, but that's a very few exceptions.

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