I'm a western norwegian from Sunnmøre, I grew up learning nynorsk in school and all my friends did. I speak a regional dialect that is very similar to older written nynorsk (that is to say aasen-normalen nynorsk, before the bokmål/sammål project in a sense ruined both languages. Like most nynorsk users I have nothing against bokmål or bokmål users in general. I do, however, have much against people like you constantly talking shit about or heritage and the way we have grown up.

Personally, as someone who doesn't speak Norwegian, if I were to take a class I would prefer it be in Nynorsk. If I wanted to study Danish, I would just take a Danish class. I don't see a point in wanting to learn one language only to be taught another. As something between "native" vs. foreign, I find it ironic that the whole Bokmal vs. Nynorsk thing as caused so much controversy (even to go as far as book burning). But what would I know, I'm just a foreigner. I guess in a way it's somewhat similar to the Imperial system over here in the US. "We've been using it forever. Why change?" (Although I would wholeheartedly welcome our new decimic overlords).

I hope you read this and realize that even though you're a part of the 87% that doesn't mean you can talk down to the minority because the situation is not as simple as you perceive it to be. If you have something against being forced to learn nynorsk that is fine with me, I don't care about who learns my language because I have no say in it and it does not concern me. But remember that I was forced to learn yours as well, and you don't see me whining about it.

as a foreigner living in the east part of Norway, Im learning Nynorsk and i like it better :-)

WE DONT TALK BOKMÅL. WE TALK OSLO DIALECT

Thank you for replying :) Not many youtubers does that :) I'm sorry, but I do not believe that removing Nynorsk will make us do "more useful" stuff. Any student wants to remove a subject to make school much easier. The few hours dedicated to nynorsk are not to be removed. You don't have many lessons with it, you most likely get teachers that hate it, and therefor I can understand peoples negativity towards it. But please, this is my language, I love it with all my heart. Dont kill it :(

Here in Ireland they do something similar with trying to keep the Irish language alive. So it's obligatory in school here to learn both Spanish/German/French and Irish. I have a bit of a checkered past with learning language....

Coming from Britain, it is really useful to have one unifying language for all the nations, but it is really sad that the different countries native languages have been hugely suppressed. Don't choose one or other, choose both. The language of the people, is the language of the land. In Britain it is amazing how many accents we have in such a small landmass, the accents are believed to be from the amount of different cultures that have come to call Britain home.To loose a language, is to loose an identity. Honour and keep both languages as they give different people voice, for many people communication is a challenging thing, dont take their voice away.

I find the language situation in Norway fascinating, what little I know about it.I seem to remember reading that nynorsk was created by drawing on the conservative western dialects. Is this correct?If so, I think it makes sense for nynorsk to be the official language of those areas.

It has nothing to do with being patriotic, it has something to do with growing up under constant pressure from media, people like "ThatnorwegiantTv", and getting opinions like his thrown in your face every single day of your entire life. How about that? Nynorsk users are a language minority that generally speak a language/dialect more akin to Icelandic and live in a place in Norway (West coast, fjords) that gets little or no economic support even though we create all the wealth.

As a French, I certainly do no think as you. In France, we had like 1000 languages at the turn of the 19th century and now barely nobody (who's gonna be alive in ten years) can speak fluently these languages except for regions like Britanny, Corcica, Alsace or the Basque Country where you can learn it in some specialized schools (and still for instance in Brittany they built up a regional language from the variety of local dialects so that they can ease the learning, and as a consequence the old people can't understand the young people who have learned that fake language at school). To me, it's a waste for the richness of our culture. But obviously the problem was totally different by the past when the State tried to build one country from that diversity. So I understand your questions.

Hey! Ein snakkar ikkje nynorsk, ein snakkar dialekt! Ein SKRIV nynorsk! You don't speak nynorsk, you speak dialect. You WRITE nynorsk.

So which language should a foreigner learn? Would learning Bokmal make you understand both danish and swedish?

Which of the both languages is better to be learned by a foreigner? I would love to learn one of the scandinavian languages

I really like your videos, and you're extremely good at speaking english. Looking forward to more videos from you. Well done! :)

No one speaks bokmål. And I would argue it’s a 50/50 between “spoken nynorsk” and “spoken bokmål”. “Spoken nynorsk” being all of western Norway, trøndelag, northern Norway and a few inland regions. Even though I hope for a nynorsk takeover, I know that won’t ever happen. It makes me kinda depressed. When hearing teenagers talk so much shit about it. I think all nynorsk needs nowadays is a better education system.

I don't speak norwegian, but personally I think that it is important to learn both: with båkmal you can speak with more people of different parts of Scandinavia, but it's also important to learn something of your own colture like nynorsk; actually it would be much better to learn very good the dialect of were you live too, or they will tend to disappear in a few years because nobody needs to learn them anymore and it's so sad; In italy we have the exact same problem. And believe me, the more languages you can speak, the more you can learn, even if they are only dialects, for example my father learned romanian only because he can speak in sicilian dialect. Sorry for my shitty English. Great video. 👍🏿

With my standard German native tongue I can sometimes understand more by reading nynorsk and much more of the weird konservative old fashioned sounding høgnorsk wich remained the old word forms that make it sound closer to north german dialects.

This would be great, because I would be able to compare the Bokmaal and the Nynorsk versions of the same text. Do you have dictionaries Bokmaal-Nynorsk? Do the two writing styles have different grammar rules etc?

I have a question, which language is closest to the vikings language?

Well, there are situations not unlike the norwegian one in other countries as well. In the german speaking part of switzerland, people speak dialects that are so different from the standard language that germans usually don't understand anything. There is no official written form but especially young people write in swiss german in informal contexts, with friends, family, txt messages, etc.(everyone writes the way they think is most appropriate) and there are also authors who write in their dialects. Maybe if nynorsk hadn't been created, those who speak dialects that are further away from bokmål would do something similar to what is done in switzerland and they might even write something that resembles nynorsk. So maybe the only big difference with an official written language is that you have to learn it in norway, in switzerland nobody learns any standardised form of their dialects, the written form is simply invented as we go.

Hvilken skole går du på?

Thanks for this video. I come from Reunion Island (French oversea island) located between Mauritius and Madagascar. In France, there are many languages: of course French but also many regional languages: Briton, Flemish, Catalan, Occitan, Alsacian, Corse. In overseas it's polynesian and creole but it's different according to the island. I have two mothertongues: French and Reunionese creole. But these languages are declining because young people are less attracted by traditions.

my uncle (who is Norwegian) said something along the lines of this that Swedish people can't really understand Norwegian that well but Norwegian's can understand swedish well so Norwegian's have to slightly alter what they say when speak to Swedes. Is that true or at least roughly? and since Danish is practicly the same as Norwegian can you guys talk to each without any problems?

If you don't mind, can you post for us the Norwegian national anthem in both Bokmaal and Nynorsk? I would like to know how Norwegians speak in Svalbard.

Nynorsk is the majority form of the four counties Rogaland, Hordaland, Sogn og Fjordane and Møre og Romsdal, which together comprise the region of Western Norway.

Long live old norse! Let the true voice of norway be herd and blessed by odins define grace!

While I'm neither Norwegian nor Danish I will say three things. Firstly, there seems to be a misconception that Bokmål and Nynorsk are two different languages, when actually they are two different standard writing systems created to represent the same language. Secondly, I think the Norwegian people themselves should have a more active role when it comes language and literacy reform.Thirdly, this is strictly my own opinion but if your country is serious about establishing a single writing standard then it should take into account the pros and cons of the two current systems. This new standard should take the merits of both and combine them together. Ivar Aasen and Knud Knudsen both believed that Bokmål and Nynorsk would gradually merge into Samnorsk. Fourthly, each dialect should have it's own writing standard as they are mutually intelligible to each other. The dialects should have regional status, while the new writing standard should be used to represent the country as a hole. However, if I had to choose one of the current standards it would have to be Nynorsk/Landsmål.

I started learning Swedish about 2 years ago, and found it very enjoyable and that I'm actually good at it! I am interested in Scandinavian culture, and this includes the languages and dialects. However, I also feel like I want to learn Norwegian too, because it's very close to Swedish so it won't distract me from continuing to learn Swedish. Based on this, which form would be best for me to learn? Bokmål or Nynorsk?

Still making videos or teaching?

Awesome show! En stor LAIK fra Trondhjæm!

I think the Norweigian language is very interesting even though it's very close to Swedish which I don't like at all. :D btw when you say Scandinavia do you think that Finland is a part of it aswell?

i moved to norway and i use bokmål at home and nynorsk at work but i started learning nynorsk later and it was wayyyyy easyer that bokmål

Thanks for the lesson. Very interesting! Wow, two written languages and many dialects? That's kind of overwhelming. As a Canadian, my opinion really shouldn't count but if you're asking, I guess I'd say: Languages are a living thing so it is hard to stop trends once they begin. Ideally, it would be nice for Norwegian to have its own written identity, especially if it's easier to write. Go Norway! Practically speaking, imaybe hard to change.

Are there any stereotypes associated with people who speak nynorsk?

Hvilket program bruker du til å redigere videoer? :)

In Greece we speak and learn greek of course but the school force us to learn ancient greek as well and its very stupid cause no one actually speak ancient greek.

1. Do you know how it feels to live in a country where what you've been taught your entire childhood is constantly ripped on by 87% of the country? No, because you're an entitled little southeastern citydweller. 2. Do you know what it feels like for your language to never be used in media and be banned from all major newspapers in your country? No, because you're talking down about things you don't understand on the internet.

Finally, someone else who believes in a united Scandinavia! I am wondering as a Norwegian who has spent most of my life in the U.S. (I do speak Bokmål Norwegian though), is Bokmål or Nynorsk easier for Swedes to understand? I visited Sweden last summer and found that I could just speak Bokmål most of the time and have no problems with communication for the most part.

Bokmål er kun et skriftspråk, ikke et talespråk. Den varianten av norsk som man snakker på østlandet kalles for Standard Østnorsk. Det er en videreutvikling av "Den dannede dagligtale" som var språket som ble talt av den velstående/dannede befolkningen på vestkanten i Oslo. Det er altså ingen som snakker bokmål, men det er folk som snakker standard østnorsk som i utgangspunktet er muntlig bokmål.

In the Philippines, we have TONS of dialects as well. But I was raised in the National Capital regions so we spoke the "official langauge" which is Filipino (aka Tagalog). We are forced to study it in school for 6 units every school year but everything else is in English. Thanks for the informative video and for letting me share information about my country ;-)

I don't speak Norwegian but I would prefer Nynorsk because to me it's a proper Norwegian and it's easier to learn and it should be used all around Norway. I love Nynorsk!

I thought people gets to choose between Nynorsk and Bokmal?

I know :P we were talking about this topic like 2 weeks ago on facebook and you said you had a video made :P

Should I learn both of that language, people say I have to learn it " Jeg vet Ikke "

Well, I'm from Venezuela, South America; and I have a friend in Kristiansand who always says that people in Norway generally speak in their own dialect, depending if they live in Kristiansand, Trondheim, Stavanger or Bødø. I don't consider it could be an intrepid thing of the Danish language into Norway due to there are words that people in Danish and Norwegian spell differently. So, even thought Bokmål could be similar to Danish, I think it is not at all. Just because of the ortography in both

Subscribed!

I dont think nynorsk sound so good imagine if they would say like Æ Då hvaa ha du dett ? I wouldnt even understand a word

Hvor i Norge bor du Sigurd? :P

I think learning both is a good excercise. However you should,at a certain point, be able to drop it as a subject. Even if Bokmål is like your hovedmål you still understand Nynorsk. Furthermore I like the idea of how Nynorsk was created. ( We could really use an Ivar Aasen here in Switzerland) So do not just let it vanish. That would be a pitty :( What really confused me was the " Bokmål is more comlicated than Nynorsk" thing. Based on my personal experiences I have to disagree with that statement. I consider Bokmål easier to learn than Nynorsk.

Since Norway has a lot of dialects, a single standard written language for the entire country is really difficult to compromise. West and East Norwegian dialects had different developments pertaining to history and geography, so why not make the center a combination of both written standards, with Bokmål on one end and Nynorsk on the other? This way, they could both mutually influence each other without one form becoming overshadowed. The way I see it, if young people can't see and appreciate the benefit of Nynorsk, then it will be left within the annals of history becoming slowly forgotten over time.

yeah, the reason its forced is that we also need a 4 language of choice, and if we could pick mandarin, spanish, german, french. no one would pick Nynorsk. to clearify, we need Bokmål first, then English and Nynorsk, after that we need to pick one of the above.

I live in a place were we speak Norden but we call it Nårdine

The border between east and west Scandinavia runs through Norway and my understanding is that those in the west don't want to feel forced to use an east Scandinavian language, I.e Bokmål. However,the vast majority of Norwegians are happy with Bokmål as their written standard and resent being forced to learn Nynorsk. I like the idea of Nynorsk but there's no other examples, to my knowledge anyway, of other countries creating a written standard based on dialects. Languages in written form were standardised hundreds of years ago and dialects are really a separate area of language. The two rarely match up 100%, apart from Icelandic for example.

Although I believe forcing people to do something is even more harmful. Acts and bills should be set to let us choose, whilst the government's duty is to encourage individuals to embrace their cultural heritage, preventing a future with lack of self identities - a total important matter to our own living.

Har nynorsk på skolen, men skriver bokmål for det om. Så ser ikke vitsen i at vi skal lære nynorsk..?

What´s your real name?

i from Denmark and i am used to talk (Bokmål) fluid and danish

Hei jeg er ny abonnenter i want to say subscriber! I think you're cool :-)

lenge leve begge deler, jeg er oppvokst med bokmål og det er det jeg har lært men jeg liker best nynorsk.

Nynorsk for Norwegian, it's just more vernacular & pleasing visually. Although I must agree all Scandinavians should unite in brotherhood, but each country fears that one will dominate the others such as in the Yugoslav case. Fun fact the author of the Norwegian national anthem was a Pan-Germanic

Hvorfor kan vi ikke bare få valgfritt sidemål? Slik at vi som ikke ønsker sidemål i skolen kan slippe det.. For det skaper bare stress i norskfaget (hvertfall for meg i VG3)

SO TRUE

I am planning to learn Skandinavian languages. I want to begin with Swedish and next will be Norwegian. I want to learn Bokmaol because then I am later one able to read Danish as well. I think that Danish have the even more dialects than Norway. Maybe, Norway has more than Danish, but Denmark is a tiny country compared to Norway. I read that Denmark has 100+ dialects.

er du marulk?

Well, English is a very easy and common language to the globalized world nowadays, but I dont think it should be health if any kind of communication got to be set as 'default', because language is, first of all, a major part of a people's culture. Here in Brazil, despite its very large territory, we all just speak Portuguese(Br) and most of native people's language were extinguished, sadly. Consequently, their cultures also have gone away, and it's really kinda sad.

Nynorsk should stay

as an outstander... don't you want a language that is the most norwegian-like in norwegian itself?:p

AGREED.

@ThatNorwegianTv Come baaaack! ;D

er du fra norge eller prater du norsk?

well, "proto-germanic" is merely theoretical, I have reasons to believe there was actually non proto-language at all, we were just taking some of this and some of that while moving from place to place... Anyway, about Old Norse, since the 8th century it was the first language of Europe (something like English now), it was commonly spoken from Volga to Vinland (North America we discovered after the Chinese). So damn well we did.

I am German and I learn Norwegian at a language school. In Germany it's not possible to learn Nynorsk (so I learn Bokmål) and I find it a pity because I'm interested in going to University in a part of Norway where people speak with a Nynorsk dialect. At the same time, for me as a learner I must say, Bokmål is easier to understand. To answer the specific asked question though: Things would be much easier if there was only one version but nevertheless I think Norway should keep both variants :)

LOL. Kan eg ikkje? Eg er i frå Ålesund

I'm downvoting this because all I learned about nynorsk was that you had something against it.

Here is a thing... I am from Poland and I have to learn Bokmål, because this is the only opportunity here. And what If I do not want to live in Oslo and I would have to learn Nynorsk? Starting with the basics etc... and I think there should be one Norwegian language, just to make life more easier.

Dansk og Norsk er jo nærmest det samme sprog, bare to forskellige accenter/dialekter, Svensk skiller sig lidt mere ud 😊 I wish we could all just learn Old Norse in school, it's such a shame that it has died out completely!

Bokmal more complicated grammatically than Nynorsk? Hmmm, I got the opposite impression to be honest. Even noun pluralization is more complicated in Nynorsk!

i like the sound of scandinavia all being one country, but im not scandinavian so i guess thats up to you guys to decide hehe ... as the language, u should just hire like a billion linguists to construct like .. scandinavian, which wouldbe like a mixture of danish norwegian and swedish, and like you guys would all speak it. .... i guess

Nynorsk should be the only language, but if Scandinavia unites (which I hope) Bokmål should be the official language.

Come back to us :i

Det du sier om at nynorsk er det mest "uvanlige" skriftspråket avslører mangel på kunnskap om emnet. Nynorsk er utbredt over hele landet, fra sør til nord. Der man forventer at folk skriver bokmål, har de ofte dialekter som er mye mer lik nynorsk. Da er det jo veldig ulogisk at alle skriver bokmål, ikke sant.

haha yep you guessed right. I'm from Finland. :D

oye!

Hei ! Jeg er fransk og leser bokmål... I know my opinion is not very important in this debate but as a foreigner I'm fascinated by the history and diversity of the norwegian language. I think that nynorsk may simply disapear id it is not teached systematically to students... That would be sad don't you think?

Loads of people are going to hate me for this but. I honestly think that there should be something of a transition to Nynorsk. We're not part of Denmark any longer so I see no point in writing Danish.

liker å hoppe

Islandsk er vel egentlig det orginale "norske" språket? :P Men unødvendig å lære nynorsk er min mening.

3. Do you know what it feels like to be a linguistic minority in your own country and statistically be pressured to abandon your cultural heritage if you want to get a job? No, because you're an entitled eastern kid. 4. Do you know how it feels for your region of the country to receive little or no economical support compared to the rest of the country when it comes to infrastructure, culture, etc. when your region is creation 60% of the Norwegian economy. No?

Er det ikke det samme med sønderjysk egentlig? Eller er det mere "a" istedet for? *clueless*

hvis du skal snakke om norsk hvorfor snakker du engelsk da?

The idea of a united Scandinavia is an interesting one. I have dreamed of it before and I still believe it is a cool idea. But I do not believe we could have one united language. Language is something to preserve. Not mingle and shape three languages into one failed miscarriage. A united Scandinavia could work, but a united language? Never

hvorfor sletter noen komentaren min hele tiden, du sa jo vi skulle si meninga vår i komentarfeltet -_-

Nynorsk SUGER ikkje! Hahaha :p Som skrift språk så gjør det det, men som dialekt så må eg få sei, at da e awesome!

Oh, and I can only hand Bokmal.

Hi again! I just wanted to enter another little note :) Did you mean that Scandinavia would be better off as ONE country, or in a union? :) AND, the difference between the Union with Denmark and the one with Sweden, was that with Sweden we had gotten our Constitution, and we were suppose to be an equal country with Sweden. Not like Denmark-Norway, where we were mere resources for the danish crown :) When Aasen collected Nynorsk, he wanted it to be free from our past as a "slave". :)

Æ vill ikkje at vi må lære nynorsk på skoln, men æ syntes at folkan som snakka nynorsk(sia de bor/kommer fra plassa set snakkes nynorsk) burde fortsette med det om vi slutte å lære det på skoln:)

Jeg syns vi burde gå tilbake til "gammel-norsk" som de snakker på Island' :P

i think scandanivian should be one cointry and have one national language but still people can speak their own native dialect in their provinces you just to learn one major language for communicating just like china and philippines.,,,, anyways it all have similarities swedish, danish, norwegian

så kjekk fyf