NORWAY - TRONDHEIM

Going to Norway means going to a country with a foreign language where English is not the national language. Nevertheless, I knew that Scandinavians are extremely fluent in English. The language was one of my primary goals and at the same time the biggest personal challenge, to get out of my comfort zone and find my way in a foreign country. The key is the language!

I started the trip with the attitude that I will mainly improve my English, as all the courses I attend at NTNU are taught in English. Of course, in order to understand the culture and mentality of the country, as well as to pay proper respect to the people, one cannot avoid more or less diving into the local language. Since I was unfortunately unable to attend the NOrwegian language course, I was thrown in at the deep end, so to speak, and had to prove myself directly in real life. With your own experiences and the exchange of other international students, you quickly realise that you have a distinct advantage as a German speaker: Since the Norwegian language has Germanic roots, many words are very similar to German and the context can therefore be understood more or less easily. However, while a conversation is almost incomprehensible to an untrained person, the written word is usually very intuitively understandable. This is very helpful, for example, in the supermarket, guidelines or menues.

In order to show the necessary respect for the culture and to integrate into the new environment, one has to adapt to the foreign language. So what do you do if you don't know it? Fortunately, all Norwegians I have met so far are very polite and helpful. When they realise that Norwegian is not your mother tongue, they don't hesitate to switch to frighteningly good English. They are not at all offended in their national pride and are very open to speak English. Normally, one senses that people do not like to change their language when they realise that you are a foreigner. The reason seems to be that they simply have an excellent knowledge of English and can use it confidently. So why do Norwegians speak such good English? I had a memorable experience at the beginning of my stay when I went to pay a bill in person at the bank. The counters were all busy and there seemed to be an endless waiting line. When I sat down next to an elderly lady in the waiting area - it later turned out that she was 83 years old - she suddenly addressed me in Norwegian. I apologised in English that I unfortunately didn't understand Norwegian and was at the same time afraid that she wouldn't understand me. She replied in perfect English that she had been waiting for an hour and still hadn't been able to get through. As the conversation progressed, it even turned out that she spoke German and I had an interesting conversation with a wise person with experience of life. At my last visit to the hairdresser, however, my question should now be answered. The 60-year-old hairdresser explained to me, also in very good English, that Norway already has compulsory English lessons from primary school onwards in the education system since the 1960s. Therefore, not only my generation, but also my parents' and even grandparents' generation is able to speak English. I would not have thought this!

With time, you not only feel more confident in English (you even start to think in English to some extent), you also lose your shyness. This becomes noticeable when you go to the checkout at the supermarket, in cafés or restaurants and you know the sequence of conversations, so you already have the answers ready. But also in everyday conversation I observe how I try to pick up the mother tongue of my counterpart (doesn't have to be Norwegian) and at least start the greeting or similar with the respective correct phrases. I think the most important thing is to show initiative, but not to be too intrusive and to meet the other person in an understanding and charming way. In this way, a basis of trust is quickly created, from which a good conversation can develop. Should something be incomprehensible, it is always easy to save oneself with a paraphrase. There is no limit to creativity and I think the funnier the better! At the end of the day, it's all about communication and the other person is at the centre of it. I think the best speakers are often also attentive and sensitive listeners, because that's the only way they can reach the other person.