Teaching materials

What is my level?

On this page, you will find an overview of teaching materials that I use. The levels are defined according to The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

During the first lesson, I will always evaluate your level. However, there are ways to find out yourself. If you are a total beginner, your level is A0. You can also test your level by having a look at the teaching materials that are available for free. If you know that your level is below A2, you need to work with teaching materials leading up to level A2. Are you in doubt whether you have reached level A2 or not? Have a look at teaching materials leading up to level B1 to see whether the first chapter is too difficult for you or not. You can compare that to the last chapters of teaching materials leading up to level A2.

The first lesson is also the moment to decide which materials to use. It is not decided before the lesson. However, this overview can help you get an idea of the options.

A1-A2 – Beginner and elementary level

På vei

I use På vei (edition 2018) with most of my students. They are often used for beginners and people with just a basic knowledge. They cover the levels A1 and A2. Level A2 is sufficient for everyday, simple conversation.

When working with På vei, we work on the basic abilities: listening, talking, reading and writing. The aim is to be able to communicate in everyday situations.

Tekstbok has texts that form the basis for the course. It also has explanations of grammar and pronunciation. You can see parts of the book for free here.

You can buy it in printed or in electronic version. You can order the printed version from the publisher, or elsewhere. To buy the e-book, you need an account at Cappelen Damm Undervisning. I will explain that further down.

Arbeidsbok has exercises for vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and listening exercises. It is only available in printed version. However, you can see parts of the book for free here.

The online exercises are an essential part of På Vei. They cover all aspects that are taught in the course, and the price is modest. You will also find all the sound files there, not only for the texts, but also for the listening exercises in Arbeidsbok. You get access to the online exercises via the online platform of the publisher.

The books and the online exercises of På Vei are written in Norwegian only. However, it is built up in such a way that it is easy to follow with some guidance from the teacher. You can buy a glossary for the book in English (and some other languages), but you will probably not need it.

As a customer of norwegian.online, you will be provided access to extra resources, including translations and explanations, via the norwegian.online customer pages.

For the online exercises, and also to buy books (including e-books) via the publisher. You need to create and account at Cappelen Damm. That is explained here.

Norwegian on the Web – Now

The university course Now is available for free via a website, and it has explanations in English. There are texts, sound files and exercises, all available for free via the website. The course was designed for foreign university students at the University in Trondheim, NTNU. It has its own online exercises as well as listening exercises. Textbook and exercise book are also available in printed version.

Now has a faster progress than På vei and is not suitable for everyone. However, it could be useful if you are ready to work in a more autonomous way than the average student. It could also be useful if you are approaching level A2, but still feel that you need some repetition.

Norsk på 1-2-3

Norsk på 1-2-3 is called a fast track Norwegian level A1-A2 course. It can be useful for people who are more than average experienced in studying languages. It could also be useful if you want to freshen up what you learned a while ago. The grammar is explained in both Norwegian and English, and there is also an English translation of the glossary. Here, you can see the first three chapters for free.

Norsk på 1-2-3 is available both in printed version and as an e-book. You only need one book, and it includes written exercises. The e-book also includes audio files. In order to have access to the e-book, you need to create an account at Cappelen Damm.

Level A1-A2, what should you choose?

In most cases, I work with På vei with beginners. According to my experience, it also works well if you have learned a bit already via another book or app, like Duolingo. If you already have a basic knowledge, you can do the first chapters faster, and slow down the speed after a while. According to my experience, this works very fine.

Norsk på 1-2-3 or Now are meant for learning at a higher speed. That is useful you already know the basics, but still need some help to understand the structure of the language. it is also also useful if you are an experienced language learner.

The choice of teaching materials is made during the trial lesson!

A2-B1 – Intermediate level

Did you already reach level A2? Or do you think that you are approaching it?

If you think that you are approaching level A2, revising the knowledge you already have could be a good idea. That could be done by working with the last part of teaching materials that lead up to level A2. You could look at the last chapter of Now to see if you have reached A2 level. If you think you have, you can also look at the first chapter of Stein på stein or Now 2.

Stein på stein

If you feel that you have already (more or less) reached level A2, we should aim for higher. Stein på stein leads up to level B1.

Tekstbok has texts relating to all kinds of subjects that are relevant in present day society. You learn everyday language, but also words and expressions that are important to understand present day Norwegian society. You can get hold of the book in printed version or as an e-book. You also get access parts of the book for free here. If needed, you can buy an extra English glossary book. A glossary is available for some other languages as well.

Arbeidsbok has exercises related to the texts and grammar. There are also many images that we can talk about during the lessons. The basic Norwegian grammar has already been explained in På vei. In Stein på stein, the exercises go more into depth. You see parts of Arbeidsbok for free here.

Stein på stein also has extensive online exercises. Via these resources, you also find all the sound files to all the texts in the textbook, and also to the listening exercises.

To get access to the online exercises and to buy the e-book, you ned to create an account at publisher Cappelen Damm. Be aware that the publisher has two different sites, and you need the site containing the word “utdanning”. You can also write cdu.no in your browser (not in Google!), and you will be redirected.

Other resources leading up to level B1

There are also quite a few other resources that can help you reach level B1. In some cases, the university course Now 2 could be an option, often in combination with other online resources. For extra grammar exercises, I would recommend Norsk Grammatikk from Cappelen Damm. It consists of Teoribok, Arbeidsbok and online exercises.

Higher levels (above B1)

Are you at a more advanced level? If you already reached level B1, Her på berget, leading up to level B2, could be a suitable option. It consists of Tekstbok, Arbeidsbok and online exercises. Some chapters of both books are available for free online (bla i boka). The new edition of Her på Berget is available in printed version and as an e-book via the publisher Cappelen Damm. The links refer to the newest edition, which is the one I prefer.

Did you already reach level B2? Or did you already reach level B1, but prefer working with other kinds of resources? At higher levels, I often work with articles from Norwegian news sites and similar sites, like nrk.no, nettavisen.no, dagsavisen.no or forskning.no. You can study the text and write something about it. If you need to correct your writing skills, you could write a text where you express your opinion about the topic for next time. It could be like a text that I correct for the next time. We will talk about the errors and the corrections during the following lesson.

Do you already understand a lot, but want to improve your oral skills? If you need to improve your conversation skills, we can still work with texts, but I would ask you to write key words so that you have a basis for conversation.

If you primarily need to improve your pronunciation, reading texts loadly ca also be a very good help. However, we also need to talk freely, and I will correct pronunciation errors that you make.

Podcasts, TV programs and news articles

If you have already learned the basics, it could be useful to read extra texts. Klar Tale is an online newspaper with simplified language, written for learners of Norwegian. This can be a useful supplement to the teaching materials mentioned above.

Podcasts are useful to be learn to understand spoken Norwegian. The textbooks På vei, Stein på stein and Her på berget all have a podcast for every chapter, including exercises. However, there are also other (external source) podcasts in simplified language that can be useful for you. Nylig norsk made by Studentradioen i Bergen is one example, Norsk for beginners by Marius Stangeland is another. In Stangeland’s series Lær norsk nå, you will also find a number of podcasts at a higher level.

TV programs do not form part of my courses, but there are a lot of them, and can also be helpful when it comes to learning the language. You will find an overview of TV programs from nrk here. Many of them (but not all) can also be seen outside Norway. Subtitles are available for most programs.

Dictionaries

Nowadays, many people use Google, Deepl or other online sites for translation. However, for your learning process, a dictionary is still very useful and can help you work in a more systematic way. It also makes you more aware of the possibility of mistranslations, since one word can have different meanings.

Din ordbok is a free online dictionary between Norwegian and many other languages. It can be useful for beginners, but some people would find it confusing, and useful explanations are often missing.

The best dictionary between Norwegian and English (both ways) is to be found via the site ordnett.no. Via the same site, you also find other dictionaries between Norwegian and a few other languages. You get access via paid subscription. The same publisher also provides printed dictionaries.

Ordbøkene is the official dictionary from the Norwegian language council. It is available for free, and gives you the necessary information about spelling and inflected forms. You will also find good examples of how the words are used.

Language learning apps

Duolingo and other language learning apps are becoming increasingly popular. These apps can be very useful to learn vocabulary and to learn how to create sentences. However, you do not really learn how to use the language actively, and the apps do not explain the grammar. In general, I would advise you to use these apps only as a supplement to our teaching materials. For the purpose of learning, we mainly need to focus on the teaching materials that we use for our courses.