In addition to the cultural post I made about business in Norway I wanted to go further in learning about and describing the customs, attitudes, culture and language that are involved with working in Norway. Here is some of the information I found in regard to this topic: 

Norway is an egalitarian society with flat hierarchies and power structures that do not keep management and employees estranged. Norwegians often work across hierarchies rather than through the line. The leadership style is informal, and is based on employee freedom with responsibility.

The World Bank ranks Norway in 8th place (out of 183 countries) for Ease of Doing Business, testament to its advanced economy and transparent business practices. Important industries in Norway are: Oil and gas, fish farming, industrial fishing, mineral processing, hydroelectric power, shipping and ship building.

A key to successfully doing business in Norway is understanding the concept of egalitarianism, a belief in the inherent equality of people. In this Scandinavian nation, everybody feels like they can interact directly with everybody, and in line with this principle, Norwegians tend to establish direct contact with the person who can get things moving, rather than doing everything through the line.

Egalitarianism also means that an excessive display of wealth is likely to be considered inappropriate and in bad taste.The hierarchy is often quite flat, and decision making models are based on consensus and compromise. Decisions may take a long time due to this, as many opinions need to be taken into account. Even after a formal decision has been made, there may be some lobbying by certain individuals who’d like to make a final effort to change the decision.  Expats are expected to participate in the discussions, and need to bear in mind that decision making may be a slow process in Norway

Norwegians are generally unafraid of disagreeing with their superior – again, a likely consequence of the egalitarian society, in combination with strong job protection and an extensive social welfare system.

Most Norwegians use first names in a business setting, after the first introduction. Males and females shake hands as equals, and in no particular order, but on a daily basis they just say “Hi” or “Good morning”, without shaking hands.Business conduct in Norway tends to be relaxed and informal, and sometimes a bit unstructured. Meetings may lack a formal agenda, and smaller decisions may even be made by the coffee machine. Coffee breaks are regular, and socialising and having fun at work is encouraged, as it is believed that cheerful employees will be more productive. That said, Norwegians draw a line between business and private life, and will seldom ask private questions.

Norwegian management style is based on freedom with responsibility; meaning, a leader is more likely to delegate tasks to be solved than to give detailed orders. The leader will not follow up closely, and will usually give the subordinate freedom to figure out how and when to solve the task, as long as it is completed within the deadline. Norwegian employees are accustomed to this freedom, and understand that it also demands an inherent sense of responsibility.

Meetings in Norway will start on time, and will usually address points of business quickly, with only a few minutes of the cursory small talk beforehand, which is typically done before everybody is in place. Meetings are usually conducted in an informal way, and often without any note taking or minute keeping. Norwegians tend to be a bit undisciplined when it comes to writing specifications and documentation.

Dress code varies greatly, and is determined largely by industry. The banking, finance and sales sectors’ attire will be more formal (suit or jacket and trousers), and technical staff will have a more casual dress code (jeans). Personal hygiene (clean body and clothes) is more important than wearing formal clothes.

Norwegians have a strong work – leisure time balance, and most people leave the office at 4 pm.

Finally, it should be noted that Norway is one of the least corrupt countries in the world. Most companies have a policy restricting their employees from receiving gifts. If you want to give a business connection a gift, it is better to invite them out for dinner.

Here is some general ettiquette to follow when meeting and or greeting a Norwegian in Business (and in general):

. Greetings are casual, with a firm handshake, direct eye contact, and a smile. 
. Norwegians are egalitarian and casual; they often introduce themselves with their first name only. 
. In some circumstances people may use the honorific title "Herr" (Mr.) or "Fru" (Mrs.) and their surname. 
. You can wait to be invited before moving to first names although most people will start with this.
. Shake hands and say good-bye individually when arriving or departing. 
. Shake hands with people on a first come first served basis.

Important Vocabulary: 

Business = forretninger

Client = klient 

Manager = leder 

Employer = arbeidsgiver

Employee = ansatt

Work = arbeide

Transaction = transaksjon

Exchange = utveksling

To Hire = å leie

To Fire = å brann

To Produce = å produsere

To Sell = å selge

Service = tjeneste

Goods = varer

Economy = økonomi

Vedlagt er min kultur prosjektet (Attached is my culture project)

Music%20in%20Norway.pptx

Summary:

The lack of written history, particularly in reference to music, leaves us with no real guide to what Norwegian music was like prior to the 18th century, though much of the folk music has survived through oral tradition. Folk music in Norway falls into two main categories based in the ethnic populations from which they derive: North Germanic and Sami. Traditional Sami music is centered around a particular voice style called joik, comparable to the traditional chanting of some American Indian cultures. Traditional North Germanic Norwegian vocal music includes kvad (ballads) and steve, (short often improvised songs). Work songs hymns, trailing vocals and old printed ballad stories, skillingsviser. Nordic folk dance music is shared with Sweden and Denmark where the hardingfele sound is most prominent.

Danish rule over Norway for the 450 years between the 14th and 18th centuries left the nation with no monarchy or cultured upper class, thus excluding Norway as a notable cultural influence in Europe. With the union of Sweden and Norway in 1814, Norway, in particular the city of Oslo, began to influence the classical music scene dominating the music scene in 19^thcentury Europe. Post-WWII Norwegian music deviated away from the Germanic and Scandinavian trends in music, focusing more on the pop and rock movements in the U.K., France, and especially America. As a result, similar music styles to those present in America have thrived (i.e. Pop, Hip-Hop, Electronic, Rock etc). Perhaps dissimilarly, Black Metal and Heavy Metal Rock have also had enormous success in Norway. In general American music has become exceedingly popular amongst Norwegians, particularly young people. This is largely in part to America as a major pop-culture exporter since the mid 20^thcentury. Again perhaps as a consequence to heavy American influence, especially in the music industry, many Norwegian singers write and sing songs in English. This might be to appeal to a more international audience, but is also a reflection of English as an important part of daily life in Norway (on TV, on the internet, etc). Though some Norwegian artists have found success, at least within Scandinavia, singing in Norwegian, a notable majority use English as their language of choice to sing in.

Two major pop acts from Norway have claimed international success: A-ha with their 1980’s synth-pop hit “Take On Me” and the group Aqua (the lead singer being Norwegian) with the song “Barbie Girl” in 1997. Again both of these songs, indeed most of the work from these acts, were in English.

As we look to the future of Norwegian music we see a familiar transformation of traditional and modern music. Current music being produced in Norway is adapting to international influences (as is the case in creating songs in English) in order to compete on a more global market. Meanwhile, traditional Norwegian folk music is being readily preserved while in some ways adapting in order to appeal to a younger audience and to continue to survive and prosper. 

Sources: 

Learning%20Plan.docx

In lieu of doing another video, I took a chance to practice my writing (with a dictionary but without a translator!) 

Artifact 3.docx

Learning Activity Evaluation: 

For the "learning activity" I have created a worksheet on how to tell time in Norwegian (attached below). Time%20Activity%20.docx

I had one of my friends try to complete the questions. She answered correctly for the most part, however, the differences in how to tell time were not clearly displayed through the information provided. She at least got the correct numbers to correspond with the times, as well as correctly expressing "Klokken er ______" (it's ______ o'clock). I certainly wouldn't say it was the most effective activity, but it at least provided some rudimentary knowledge on how to express numbers and time. 

Reflection: 

So far I feel like I've made a lot of progress. I can feel a solid foundation forming for my Norwegian language skills. I'm certainly not confident in any of my abilities except for greetings and introductions. I've tried listening to more videos of people speaking Norwegian as I was taught that exposure aids greatly in developing fluency. Much to my frustration, however, I simply feel overwhelmed listening to native speakers rattle off in long complex sentences that I have almost no understanding of. I can pick out words here and there, but I get no general idea of what the person is speaking about. I need to find more elementary oral exercises to practice my listening and verbal skills. Anna makes a noticeable effort to significantly slow down her speech when she speaks to me in Norwegian and I need more exposure like this before I can advance to quicker rates. I've also largely ignored my written skills and need to put more attention on those, at least to express myself in a basic fashion. I hope to practice more diligently in the coming weeks to improve across all areas. 

Artifact 2

Evaluation of Artifact 1: 

I think I did a pretty good job! I created a video of myself talking, greeting an invisible person, introducing myself, asking who they were, then telling them about who I am. There were certainly a couple words I stumbled over, but I showed Anna the video and she said she could understand everything I was attempting to say! For me, to have a native speaker be able to understand what I'm trying to say is the greatest accomplishment when it comes to learning a foreign language. It gives me confidence going forward as I try to learn new aspects of Norwegian. Certainly what I said was not flawless, but for a novice with no experience with germanic languages (outside of English), I feel pretty good at where I am at. 

Assessment of Goals + Reflection: 

I feel that I accomplished all of my goals. I'm certainly able to express greetings, farewells, and introductions both orally and written. If a random Norwegian came up to me right now and introduced themselves I think I would be prepared to reply to them. Again, my pronunciation is still not perfect, nor do I think it ever will be. I find myself adding a French accent to certain words or letters. My brain has certainly created a binary of expressing and understanding English and expressing and understanding French. When I try to do a foreign accent my mind just reverts to the latter section. Adding a new section for Norwegian with a significantly different accent is still quite difficult for me. Anna says my accent is cute, but I'm annoyed when I can't say the word entirely correct.  But I feel, at least for the basics, I've done as well as I can for now.  

Artifact 1

As week 3 comes to a close, I feel I'm really plunging myself into the Norwegian language. I practiced greetings, farewells, and Introductions with Anna. The words are easy enough to memorize, but saying them out loud is where I am finding the most problems. A lot of the words look like their equivalent in English, but the pronunciation is completely different! It's very frustrating at times. But Anna is patient with me and repeats the words for me multiple times. I try to practice by myself using google translator and other websites that say the words in the proper accent, repeating the words over and over until I sound like the person announcing.  I'm glad I've made at least some progress in Norwegian! I need to build on this momentum as I enter the coming weeks. 

Goals for Weeks 4 & 5: 

-Practice written and oral skills of introductions, greetings, and farewells.

-Be able to introduce myself properly, describing who I am  (name, age, etc), where I'm from, and what languages I speak. Also work on introducing other people ("This is..."). 

-Master the pronunciation of greetings and farewells (with Anna, and using google translator). Be able to write these as well. 

-Create first artifact: A monologue of me fulfilling the tasks above. 

-Critique artifact--Did I sound Norwegian? Was my speech fluid? Was what I said grammatically correct? 

My current skill level in Norwegian can be described as "Novice: Beginning 0" across all areas of fluency: Interpretative, Interpersonal, and Presentational. 

I have had no prior exposure to the language and am starting at square one with writing, reading, speaking, and comprehending the language. I understand and am able to write the alphabet, which is the same as the English alphabet save for three additional letters: æ ø å. Other than that I have virtually no knowledge of the Norwegian language.

My hope would be to progress across all areas to at least the "Beginning 1" level. I'm trying to be realistic in my expectations for what I can accomplish this semester, but I really think I can gain a solid base of skill in Norwegian by the end. 

As I begin to map out my goals for the semester and meet with my language partner I'm a little apprehensive about all that there is to learn. My confidence in French derives from 9 years of schooling and a study abroad experience. Furthermore, the ease I discovered in trying to pick up Spanish derives from it's linguistic proximity to French. With no prior experience with the Norwegian language, I am headed into learning with no major linguistic references in my venture. My one salvation is that Norwegian is a member of the germanic language family, of which English also a member. I'm hoping the similarities are noticeable and enable me to at least guess at meanings when I am not familiar with a word. 

My interaction with my language partner, Anna, gives me hope. She speaks fluent English and tells me that there are many points of commonality between the two languages. We spent most of our preliminary conversation discussing my plan of action and the goals that I hope to achieve this semester. She seemed confident that I could learn a lot of the basics of the language with little difficulty.