NorwegianClass101’s podcast lessons
We’ll start by taking a look at NorwegianClass101’s main feature: it’s podcast styled lessons. Each lesson is around 10 to 15 minutes long, and contains a single conversation between two native Norwegian speakers. The podcast hosts play the part of your Norwegian teachers. They preface each lesson with a summary of the dialogue. Then after you’ve listened to the dialogue, they teach you the grammar and vocabulary that was used.
The podcast episode come in one of five levels of difficulty: absolute beginner, beginner, intermediate, upper intermediate, and advanced.
With each lesson you’re given a host of review resources. If you want to work on your pronunciation there is a playback feature that allows you to isolate phrases from the lesson dialogue and listen to them at a slower speed. There’s also a record section so that you can easily record yourself mimicking the native speakers and compare it to the original audio.
Each episode also includes lesson notes. These usually focus on grammar and provide further explanations and examples of any rules covered in the lesson. In addition to lesson notes you’ll also find downloadable transcripts for each episode in both Norwegian and in English.
Additional resources on NorwegianClass101
NorwegianClass101 also has a large selection of bonus resources for learning Norwegian (in addition to the podcast). There are large collections of video lessons, which teach anything from grammar, vocabulary, to cultural tips. There’s also listening comprehension exercises (very useful for beginners!). There’s even an English to Norwegian dictionary and interactive phrase lists.
These are just a few examples of the bonus material on NorwegianClass101. You can check out their full list of resources on their site.
Conclusion: Who is NorwegianClass101 best for?
There are at least a few hundred Norwegian lessons available on NorwegianClass101. So the odds are that you will find something useful no matter your level in the language. NorwegianClass101 is one of the most comprehensive courses available on the Norwegian language.
The only real drawback is that your learning is guided on the site. There’s no one way to work through the course material, so you tend to bounce around from one lesson to another. It would be nice if they offered a defined and structured learning path.
