Swedish or Norweigen?? CAN'T DECIDE!!!

Skippy   Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:44 pm GMT
<<Bokmaal predominates in Bergen>>

Yeah, someone did.

So what variety of Norwegian should one learn?
guest   Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:30 pm GMT
I see a clear difference between the statement "Bokmål predominates in Bergen" on one side, and "The people in Bergen speak Bokmål" on the other side.
In Norway, a wide gap between the written and spoken language is not unusual, comparable to the situation in German speaking Switzerland.

So it is true that Bokmål predominates in Bergen.
Whether the people there SPEAK Bokmål, that's a different theme.
guest   Tue Jul 01, 2008 3:00 pm GMT
<< So what variety of Norwegian should one learn? >>

To answer your question:

Bokmål.

Reasons:
1. Bokmaal is used by nine tenths of the Norwegian population
2. Through Bokmaal it's much easier to understand Danish and Swedish
3. The resources for Nynorsk are rather scarce, especially for foreigners.
4. Nobody really speak Nynorsk, while there are Norwegians who speak quite closely to Bokmaal.
5. Most of the written Norwegian is in Bokmaal.
Guest   Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:17 pm GMT
4. Nobody really speak Nynorsk, while there are Norwegians who speak quite closely to Bokmaal.

This is not true. More people speak Hochdeutsch in Switzerland than Bokmaal in Norway.

Bokmaal = Bookish language. No one speaks like a book in Norway.
Guest   Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:21 pm GMT
Bokmål er jo en blanding norsk og dansk. Logisk at dansker synes det er lett. Nynorsk er basert på det Aasen kom fram til var felles for ale dialekter i Norge. Og er jo mange flere enn Vestlendingene som snakker nynorsk? Mange kommuner i Telemark og Oppland har vel nynorsk også? Men...Er vel ikke noe problem å forstå verken det ene eller det andre for oss nordmenn vel? Synst det er litt stas med 2 skriftspråk jeg. Vi er vel såpass avanserte at vi klarer to ganske like skrivemåter...?
guest   Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:31 am GMT
<< Nobody really speak Nynorsk, while there are Norwegians who speak quite closely to Bokmaal.

This is not true. More people speak Hochdeutsch in Switzerland than Bokmaal in Norway.

Bokmaal = Bookish language. No one speaks like a book in Norway. >>

"There are Norwegians ..." doesn't mean "All Norwegians ...". Not even "Most Norwegians ...".
Besides, it said "CLOSE to Bokmaal", not exactly like a book.
guest   Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:34 am GMT
<< Nynorsk er basert på det Aasen kom fram til var felles for ale dialekter i Norge. >>

Nynorsk is based on western dialects of Norway, not all.
guest2   Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:53 pm GMT
Does spoken Swedish (at least in certain locales) conform more to the written standard than spoken Norwegian does to Bokmål or Nynorsk?
guest   Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:51 am GMT
<< Does spoken Swedish (at least in certain locales) conform more to the written standard than spoken Norwegian does to Bokmål or Nynorsk? >>

Yes.

Compared to Swedish, the spoken Norwegian is generally farther away from the written variations.
The differences involves vocabulary, grammar, syntax, etc.
Listen   Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:52 am GMT
Most Norwegians do not understand the language situation in their own country. These are the simple facts, those who disagree do not know what they're talking about.

1. Bokmål is historically the Dano-Norwegian vernacular of the higher classes, today it is spoken by approximately 20% of Norwegians, most notably by the urban middle class in Eastern Norway.
2. The remaining 80% speak ordinary Norwegian dialects
3. When Norway got it's independence from Denmark in 1814, Danish was the only written language. Nynorsk was developed in the 1850s and 1860s as a Norwegian alternative, it got official status in 1885, and was gradually adopted by municipalities around the country over the following 60 years. Nynorsk is systematically based on all Norwegian dialects, but it is not identical to any one of them.
4. In 1907 Danish was officially reformed in order to reflect the Dano-Norwegian vernacular, now known as Bokmål.
5. Today, 15% of the population write Nynorsk, mostly in Western Norway, though not in major urban areas like Bergen. 85% write Bokmål, though the majority of these speak dialects which are more similar to Nynorsk in their basic structure.
6. Swedes may be more familiar with Bokmål, but tests show that they actually understand Nynorsk better. This is because Swedish is closer to Norwegian than to Danish.
Guest   Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:04 pm GMT
Thanks for clarification, Listen.
Orang   Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:55 pm GMT
<< 1. Bokmål is historically the Dano-Norwegian vernacular of the higher classes, today it is spoken by approximately 20% of Norwegians, most notably by the urban middle class in Eastern Norway.
2. The remaining 80% speak ordinary Norwegian dialects >>

It's true that many of the urban middle class in (South)Eastern Norway have a speech close to Bokmål, but 20% is too high. The percentage of those who actually speak Bokmål is much lower.
This is due partly to the phenomenon that in Norwegian cities, the speech of the lower classes, which is further away from Bokmål, has been gaining wider acceptance and increasingly adopted by the newer generations. This is a relatively unusual phenomenon not to be found in many countries in Europe.


<< Nynorsk is systematically based on all Norwegian dialects >>

Not true. Unfortunately Landsmaal-Nynorsk is based preponderantly on the dialects of Western Norway.
It's quite impossible to create a written language based on all Norwegian dialects. They are too varied for that.
Saoo   Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:09 am GMT
You should choose Swedish
because

more people speak Swedish

and less ppl speak Norwegian.

On the other hand, if you learn Norwegian, you need to decide you should learn bokmal or nynorsk,but if you choose Swedish, u don't need to suffer from this problem.
Saoo   Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:11 am GMT
Besides, it seems few Norwegian like to speak standard Norwegian because they like to speak their dialect. But in Sweden, most speak standard Swedish.
Shrey   Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:56 am GMT
Is it true that the Norwegians are way more outgoing and friendly than the Swedish? Personally, I did meet a few of them and they are very friendly as opposed to the few Swedish people I met, who seemed to be very reserved and formal.

I think this is an important factor because when I travel to Sweden in the future, I want to be able to communicate in Swedish without the Swedish person having to make a transition in English due to my accent. I heard in Norway, there are many who don't speak good english (but most of them do) and they love it when foreigners speak their language. I don't really know how this works in Sweden?

Also I was quite surprised to see a lot of anti-Sweden videos on Youtube regarding their multiracian integration policy (as they aren't really towards it and don't really respect the idea of foreigners integrating into their community). What's you take on that? After watching these videos, I've become so discouraged to learn the language anymore.