The extra letters æ, ø and å, and the vowels that mislead
Norwegian uses your alphabet and adds æ, ø and å at the end. Learn the nine letters an English reader guesses wrong, including the o that usually says “oo”.
Norwegian lessons
Learn to read Norwegian.
We’ll start with the sounds and the letters Norwegian leaves unsaid, then the words and how a sentence holds together.
Then you can try two short fables and see how much you follow.
13 core chapters · 3 optional references · Free, at your own pace
Starting from scratch
Start with the sounds, then work through the words and the sentences. The cards below let you try a greeting or look at the letters first.
Start with the sounds →Try saying helloA first hello
Three letters you
A first hello
in Norwegian.
Start with hei, then say who you are and say no. The pronunciation and English are there to help.
Try the lesson A reading-first approachThree letters you
don’t have yet.
Norwegian adds æ, ø and å to the alphabet you already read, and says a few familiar letters its own way.
See how the letters workChapter 1 of 16 · Explore the Norwegian path
Start here · Chapter 1 of 16
How this path works
See how the Norwegian, the pronunciation and the English fit together, and meet the four animals the stories follow. You also learn how a checkpoint works, so you attempt the Norwegian before revealing the help.
≈ 2 min of reading · Practise at your own pace
What’s in this chapter
- Thirteen steps in the main path, plus three reference sections you open only when something blocks you.
- You decode nine real Norwegian words in step three, before any grammar.
- At a checkpoint you attempt the Norwegian first: the pronunciation and the English stay hidden until you reveal them.
- It ends with a fable whose help begins concealed, and then a real book.
This is short preparation for reading a book, not a grammar course: how Norwegian spelling turns into sound, where the pieces of a sentence sit, and enough recurring words for a first page. Four characters run through it — Mina the mouse, Tobi the rabbit, Tika the bird, Dara the fox — the cast of the fables this path hands you at the end.
the fox
reven
RAY-ven
The large text is the spelling, “RAY-ven” the pronunciation guide, the English the meaning. At checkpoints the last two stay hidden until you reveal them.
The three kinds of word this path talks about
Grammar words are easy to forget, so this path uses plain names instead. Almost every word you meet is one of these three.
| We call it | It is | For example |
|---|---|---|
| a naming word | a thing, a place | hus |
| a doing word | what happens | er er — is, am, are · Estimated A1 |
| a describing word | what a thing is like | stor |
How to use a checkpoint
Try the Norwegian aloud, then reveal.
- hus
The u is “oo” with the lips pushed tight forward.
Show answer +Hide answer −
hushuus “house”
The chapters
What do you want to work on?
If you’re starting from scratch, follow the chapters in order. Otherwise, pick the bit you need. You can skip the reference pages and come back to them.
Say who someone is, and say no
Say hello, say who you are, and say no. Eight short words stand in for a name, and one gift comes with them: er covers am, is and are, for everybody.
The words a fable is made of
Sixteen naming words for the cast and the scenery, eight describing words, and five small words that place everything. Enough to furnish nearly every scene in your first book.
The doing words a story runs on, now and then
A Norwegian doing word never changes for who is doing it. Learn eleven that carry a whole fable, now and in the past, plus four helper words that put a second doing word behind them.
First reading with help: two animals meet
Read Mina og Dara one line at a time, with the pronunciation and the English staying visible underneath. Every word has appeared earlier, some wearing a “the” ending, and one is new.
Come back to these chapters whenever you need them.All Norwegian chapters ↗