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.
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