Norwegian Language Classes
Pasadena Language Center offers Norwegian lessons for adults at all levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced and conversation. Learn Norwegian in a comfortable, casual environment and make it a fun, enriching experience! We serve the areas of Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Marino, Arcadia, Alhambra, San Gabriel, South Arroyo, Altadena, Monrovia, Sierra Madre, Glendale, Burbank, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, La Cañada, Montrose, La Crescenta & Sun Valley.
About the Norwegian Language
Norwegian (norsk) is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants. As established by law and governmental policy, there are two official forms of written Norwegian –Bokmål (literally "book language") and Nynorsk (literally "new Norwegian"). The Norwegian Language Council recommends the terms "Norwegian Bokmål" and "Norwegian Nynorsk" in English. There is no officially sanctioned standard of spoken Norwegian, and most Norwegians speak their own dialect in all circumstances. The sociolect of the urban upper and middle class in East Norway, upon which Bokmål is primarily based, can be regarded as a de facto spoken standard for Bokmål. This so-called standard østnorsk ("Standard Eastern Norwegian") is the form generally taught to foreign students.
Curriculum and Structure
The Norwegian weekly classes are structured into three levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced. Each level is divided into four sub-levels: A, B, C, and D.
For the Beginner levels we use "Colloquial Norwegian" by Routledge.
Beginner A (lessons 1-5)
Topics: greetings & introductions, at work, shopping, at home, the family
Grammar: personal pronouns, nationality, present tense of verbs, points of the compass, gender and number of nouns, articles, numbers and money, word order, simple negations, dates, days, months and festive seasons, yes/no questions, verb groups, past participle, transitive and intransitive verbs, present perfect tense, possessive adjectives and pronouns, adjectives, the genitive, etc.
Beginner B (lessons 6-10)
Topics: on holiday, a family visit, at the table, everyday life, Norwegian schooling
Grammar: auxiliaries and modal verbs, expressing ability or possibility, making suggestions, expressing necessity, asking and giving permission, expressing prohibition and refusing permission, expressing wishes, assurances and promises, giving orders or commands, polite requests, det as a formal subject, expressing moral duty, colors, the passive infinitive, the past tense, object forms as personal pronouns, adverbs, time expressions, the present participle, short answers, etc.
Beginner C (lessons 11-15)
Topics: the weather, traveling by train, in town, tourists, sickness and health
Grammar: direct and indirect speech, the position of object pronouns, set phrases, exclamations, telling the time, relative pronouns, comparison of adjectives, the present passive, compound nouns, demonstrative pronouns and adjectives, making, declining and accepting an offer, asking and expressing an opinion, showing preferences, adverbs derived from adjectives, the past perfect, giving advice, measures, question tags, expressing the future, expressing sympathy, etc.
Beginner D (lessons 16-20)
Topics: appearance and clothes, spare time, Norwegian history, Norwegian newspapers, life in Norway
Grammar: time expressions, special adverbs, sentence adverbs, the past passive, making opposites, the use of hyphens, non-passive verbs ending in -s, the reflexive pronoun, abbreviations, the "-ing" form, direct and indirect objects and their position, fractions, the position of negative phrases, etc.
For Intermediate and Advanced levels, please contact us.
For the Beginner levels we use "Colloquial Norwegian" by Routledge.
Beginner A (lessons 1-5)
Topics: greetings & introductions, at work, shopping, at home, the family
Grammar: personal pronouns, nationality, present tense of verbs, points of the compass, gender and number of nouns, articles, numbers and money, word order, simple negations, dates, days, months and festive seasons, yes/no questions, verb groups, past participle, transitive and intransitive verbs, present perfect tense, possessive adjectives and pronouns, adjectives, the genitive, etc.
Beginner B (lessons 6-10)
Topics: on holiday, a family visit, at the table, everyday life, Norwegian schooling
Grammar: auxiliaries and modal verbs, expressing ability or possibility, making suggestions, expressing necessity, asking and giving permission, expressing prohibition and refusing permission, expressing wishes, assurances and promises, giving orders or commands, polite requests, det as a formal subject, expressing moral duty, colors, the passive infinitive, the past tense, object forms as personal pronouns, adverbs, time expressions, the present participle, short answers, etc.
Beginner C (lessons 11-15)
Topics: the weather, traveling by train, in town, tourists, sickness and health
Grammar: direct and indirect speech, the position of object pronouns, set phrases, exclamations, telling the time, relative pronouns, comparison of adjectives, the present passive, compound nouns, demonstrative pronouns and adjectives, making, declining and accepting an offer, asking and expressing an opinion, showing preferences, adverbs derived from adjectives, the past perfect, giving advice, measures, question tags, expressing the future, expressing sympathy, etc.
Beginner D (lessons 16-20)
Topics: appearance and clothes, spare time, Norwegian history, Norwegian newspapers, life in Norway
Grammar: time expressions, special adverbs, sentence adverbs, the past passive, making opposites, the use of hyphens, non-passive verbs ending in -s, the reflexive pronoun, abbreviations, the "-ing" form, direct and indirect objects and their position, fractions, the position of negative phrases, etc.
For Intermediate and Advanced levels, please contact us.