Learning Norwegian language/ Lærer du Norsk?

There are many language training schools in Norway and as with everything else in Norway, these courses are significantly expensive. If it is possible to learn Norwegian in your home country online/via Group lessons, please do so.

In Norway, the usual rate would be about 100-150 NOK/hour (20 EUR/25 USD) of group teaching. This implies that usual package of 300 hours of Norsk for preparation towards Bergentesten (which means, the test-taker has fluency equivalent to that of a native Norwegian) will set you poorer by 30000-45000 NOK!

Tip: 300 hours of Norsk seems like easy job, but it is not. The grammar and esp. pronounciation is quite complicated. On top of that, there is no precise standard for spoken Norwegian and there are multiple dialects. To complicate the matter further, sometimes the dialects/grammar may change signicantly in spoken Norsk. For example Norwegian spoken in Bergen vis a vis one spoken in Stavanger, Oslo or Tromsø could sound like 4 different languages to a foreigner! Read more about troubles with spoken Norwegian on NTNU website here.

If that wasn't difficult enough, there is some more nitty-gritty to worry about. There are two main languages and one minor language in use in Norway:

1. Bokmål (Understood by almost all Norwegians). If you are foriegner and wish to learn Norwegian, learn this one.
2. Nynorsk - Quite different from Bokmål. Though tought in schools, in theory it is not widely spoken and used. Only 10-15% of the population actively uses Nynorsk. And in any case, the person knowing Nynorsk will almost certainly also know Bokmål. So you are in safe zone, if you know Bokmål
3. Sami - An altogether different language used by minority population, mainly in Northern Norway. Unless, you have some special reasons, which you are aware of, that why you should learn Sami, this language may be conviniently skipped as a practical language to be used in Norway.

Here I am listing some of the free resources on learning Norwegian. These will provide a very good initial start but by no means complete. This means you must augment your learning with other medium or courses.

1. Lexin - A comprehensive multilingual Norwegian dictionary with pronounciation. Supported by Norwegian Government , Department of Education
2. NTNU web resources - This is perhaps the most authentic  free option of learning Norsk, by NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
3. 123Norsk - A government website providing preparatory material for Nørskprove 2 & Nørskprove 3 tests.
4. Norwegian Grammar - Pdf resource.
5. Skapago - Some videos on pronounciation
6. Norwegian Class 101

Lykke til.

Finding jobs at Norway

I get a lot of request from readers, how can they get a job here at Norway. What are the skills required and so..on and so I decided to post this article.

 

While almost everybody understands and speaks English here, Norsk is the de-facto spoken and written language in Norway.

I wouldn't want to sound harsh,  but reality is that please make sure that you understand it correctly: "A fluent knowledge of Norwegian (Norsk) is required, if you are searching job on your own in Norway". Unless you are an expatriate, transferred to Norwegian office of an international employer, it will be expected by almost all companies that you have a very good understanding of Norsk or at least one of the other Scandinavian languages (Swedish/Danish).  Tip: Read here for some free resources on learning Norwegian.

Most jobs in Norway are posted on finn.no (the biggest classified portal in Norway for housing, jobs, dating, travel, etc, etc.). You may also want to then register with NAV or Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration for exploring other opportunities. Another interesting website for jobs search is indeed.com (Thanks to our reader: Gaëlle for the tip).

P.S. If you are nurse, there is great demand for nurses here. Please read this excellent article on understanding what are the requirements to become a nurse in Norway. 

Points to ponder: There has been a huge requirements for health workers in Norway, since quite some time. Yet the requirements remains unmet despite excellent renumeration here and abundant supply of health workers elsewhere... The key is not difficult to find, there are strict regulations here and on top of that achiving fluency in Norsk is very difficult.

Lykke til.

Inexpensive (Perhaps Reasonable?) Shopping …

If you are not from Scandinavia, the first thing that you get upon arriving at Norway is the price shock! If you happen to take a taxi from OSLO Gardermoen airport to city centre (approx.. 45 Km), at a weekend night, you will realize the taxi fare (approx.. 900NOK ~ 100 GBP ~ 150 USD) is perhaps a quarter of the airfare that you might have paid from your home country to reach Norway.

Now that once you are in Norway, you will perhaps do some shopping. Here I will list some ways how you could make the most use of your Norwegian Kroner. Also read my article Cost of Living in Norway, to figure out cheap shopping for food/daily needs/grocery items

1. At least twice each year most shopping malls go for a clearance sale (called Markedsdag Salg). The sale is usually in month of April and September but could vary depending on each store. This is the time when you get massive discounts, often up to 80% off on selected items :D
2. Few of the most popular big shopping malls are Oslo City, Byporten, Storo Størsenter, Bogstadaveien (This is a popular street with high end boutiques), Karl Johan Gate (The main shopping street in Oslo), House of Oslo and Aker Brygge (very expensive).
3. H&M, Cubus, Dressman, Pm and Kaap Ahl are some of the clothing chains that often sell reasonably priced clothes and often have some clothing on sale, all the year around
4. Din Sko is another shoe chain that often has good quality shoes on discount, while XXL usually offers discounted sportswear, shoes, jacket, etc.
5. There are some stores that offer discounts all the year around and clothes and accessories are significantly cheaper than the usual market price. However, please note that this is usually the stock from last year, season, i.e., the clothing here is new but not contemporary fashion. One such store is named Outlet, (Take T-Bane 3 to Mortensrud, the shop is located on 3^rd floor at the shopping senter on top of the metro station)
6. If you so prefer, second hand clothing, can be bought at Fretex and UFF
7. Try subscribing to newsletter from super market chains such as Coop, Kiwi, Smart Club, Rema 1000, Rimi, ICA, Meny etc.  They all have different items on sale each week and could offer significant savings
8. For all your furniture/home decor needs, IKEA is perhaps the best destination (It’s a huge place and they sell quite a variety of stuff). Tip: IKEA offers a free bus shuttle every hour, from Oslo Sentralstasjon
9. You could also buy very cheap second hand furniture, utensils from Fretex store located at Alnabru (Take bus 66 from Helsfyr T-Bane), The same bus also goes to IKEA.
10. For electronics and virtually any possible daily house hold needs, try visiting Clas Ohlson. They have like an enormous range of different products and a very friendly staff.
11. If you are looking for further bargains, there is a flea market at Grønland (Take exit Busterminal Grønland outside Grønland T-Bane) every Saturday (10:00-17:00) that sells a variety of stuff: Furniture, Utensils, Interior Décor, Electronics, Shoes, Laptop, Mobiles, Gadget, etc. Most products are second-hand, some are new, while some could be stolen. You have been cautioned, choose wisely and bargain hard.
12. Last but not the least, there’s always finn.no for all your needs. Tip: On Finn homepage,
• Torget -> Til Salgs : This is the section, where you find what people are selling
• Torget -> Gis Bort : This is the section, where people are giving away the products for free (Yes Free!). The reason this is so that it is difficult to discard old products, when people buy new ones, since you can’t dump your large waste/defected products with regular garbage and therefore people prefer if somebody needy could pick these products from their place.

 Lykk til :)

Northern Lights aka Aurora Borealis.. All you wanted to know

All you wanted to know about Northern Lights aka Aurora

One of the most important question that most of us visiting to Norway is that how can we see Northern lights? When can we see them and how to plan for them? Forunately, the author of this blog has been lucky enough to witness this heavenly phenomenon :) If you are in hurry, jump straight to My Two Cents.

This page should therefore address most of your queries pertaining to this majestic event. Stay glued.

1. When can you see Aurora?
2. Best Time to see Aurora
3. The best place to view Auroras
4. Can you plan for Aurora?
5. My Two cents
6. Web References

 

When can you see Aurora?

The most suitable time to witness the event is between November till March every year. As you know that Auroras can be only seen in night,  beyond these months,  the sky becomes too bright to see the event. Within these months, the coldest months of Jan and early Feb maximizes your chances of viewing the event.

Best Time to see Aurora

Most Auroras are said to appear between 6pm and 2am. However, based on our local tour guide, the peak displays should be visible between 9pm-11pm, from the Northern direction.

The best place to view Auroras

The best place to see Auroras in Norway is: Tromsø. It is roughly 1700 Kms north of Oslo and situated right in the centre of Auroral belt. There are several regular flights operated by Norwegian Air shuttle and SAS between Oslo and Tromsø and connectivity is generally not a problem.

On rare occasions, when the solar activity is extremely high, it might be possible to view Auroras from as south as Oslo, but chances of this happening are slim. You can check the Auroral forecast within next 24 hours at Alaska University website and NOAA website (beta). More Kp level means, more will be the intensity of the Aurora and brighter will be the displays! Kp levels of 4 or more should give you stunning displays.

However, within Tromsø city, it is difficult to view Aurora due to intensity of the city lights, unless Aurora is of very high intensity. Within Tromsø, the best places to see Aurora and accessible by public transport are:

1. Fjellheisen: Take a cable car to Storsteinen (Big Rock) on mount Fløya, 421 meters above sea level. This place gives a stunning panoramic view of city of Tromsø
2. Northern forests of Tromsø (Take bus 20 and get down the last stop towards the North)
3. Kvaløya (literally translated as Whale Island due to its shape)
4. A beach close to Tromsø museum

Farther outside the city you move, darker it becomes and better it is to view Aurora. During the time of our trip, due to bad weather, we had to visit uptil Finnish border to witness the event!! In general, there is a local saying that if you stay at least 5 days in Tromsø, you should be able to see Aurora at least once :D

Can you plan for Aurora?

Yes and No!

Auroras are dependent on solar flares,and it is possible that there are none or negligible, when you visit Tromsø. A sureshot but fairly expensive way to guarantee witnessing the Aurora would be to check the Aurora forecast in next 24 hours here and then check the weather forecast here. If there are no clouds, then you have the maximum probability of seeing the beauty.

Having said that, Tromsø has one of the most dynamic weather that I have seen in my life. It starts snowing within 5 minutes and then again bright sun in another 5 mins and then clouds. When people in Tromsø say that they can't predict the weather, they mean it!! So, in the end, it all depends on your luck.

My Two cents

1. If you land up at Tromsø and Auroral alert is at low level, weather is cloudy and you are unsure whether you can see the event or not, then book a light chase tour. They are fairly expensive (upto 900 NOK/night) but maximize your chances of viewing the event. I recommend Arctic Guide Services (Facebook Page & Website). The guides are extremely professional and helpful and will take that extra mile to help you see the event. Special thanks to our beautiful guide Anja & helpful Massimo, without whom it wouldn't have been possible for us to view the event.
2. Do NOT forget to bring your tripod and Professional Camera. Point and shoot camera are perhaps useless
3. Do NOT forget good winter clothing and snow shoes
4. Everything is extremely expensive here. Prices are almost 25% - 40% more than those at Oslo. To put thing quantitatively, get a reality check about prices of daily need items at Oslo in 2011, here.
5. If possible, try to get in touching with someone local. If you are lucky enough to find lovely hosts as ours (Sandra & Børge), nothing like that. Not only they can guide you about Tromsø and Sami people, but also can tell you about knitty-gritties of quite a lot of things such as attracting a Norwegian girls by techniques such as Ploughing to light painting;)
6. Whether you are able to see Northern lights or not, Tromsø is an amazing and beautiful city with equally friendly people, you won't regret a trip here.

Web References

1. All you wanted to know about Aurora @ Alaska University Website - http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Europe
2. Official Tromso tourism page -  http://www.visittromso.no/en/
3. Wikipedia Infobank - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)
4. Tromsø -  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tromsø
5. Tromsø Weather forecast - http://www.yr.no/place/Norway/Troms/Tromsø/Tromsø/

(Image courtesy: Our friendly British co-tourist Helen :)

Do not shy to post queries here, should you have one. I will be glad to answer.
Good Luck. Let there be lights!

Useful Websites - Online Toolkit

Here’s a compilation of most useful websites that could be of immense help while here at Norway:

1. www.norway.no  – One stop Government portal for everything that you would like to know about Norway
2. http://ruter.no/en/ - Public transport Planner. Lets you plan your travel from any place in Norway to any other place in Norway, using public transport. It also contains real time transport information.
3. www.finn.no - (Norwegian only) From Jobs to Housing, this is the single largest website for posting classifieds in Norway
4. http://www.skatteetaten.no/en/International-pages/ - Tax Information
5. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/translate-this/ A Firefox addon that will make your life much easier by auto translation of website. Almost, all of the websites, with a very few exceptions, will be in Norwegian
6. http://www.yr.no/place/Norway/Oslo/Oslo/Oslo_S/ - Weather forecast website
7. http://www.udi.no/Norwegian-Directorate-of-Immigration/ - Norwegian Directorate of Immigration
8. www.Frukt.no (Norwegian only)  – Government  website to promote Fruits and Vegetables in Norway. You can use this website to identify the Norwegian names of most vegetables and fruits
9. http://use-it.no/ - Loads of information about everything for budget travellers in Oslo
10. http://www.visitnorway.com/en/What-to-do/  Norway Tourist Information 
11. http://www.visitoslo.com/en/activities-and-attractions/ Norway Tourist Information.
12. http://norwayguide.blogspot.com – Last but not the least, your first hand practical information about Norway 
    

Other most important information/ Personal Tips

Here’s some miscellaneous but very nice to know information, which you normally won’t find elsewhere:

• Public Toilets: Remember to relieve yourself while leaving home. One thing that is particularly hard to find, and is expensive, is public toilets. I don’t know why, but there aren’t many of them in Oslo. Only public toilets, which I have been able to find in the downtown is at Oslo Central station (10NOK/usage) and at Grønland T-Bane station (10NOK/usage and closes at 7pm). If you really have the urge, your best bet would be head for nearest bar and request the bartender to allow you to use the facilities!!

• There is no ticket checking, either at entry or exit, for any of the public transport means within inner Zone, including all Metros, Trams, Boats and buses (Red city bus). However, do not be tempted to travel without ticket, assuming that there is no check. I have seen surprise checks called as “Ticket Control” at most unsuspecting places and most unsuspecting times, including late midnight. If caught without proper ticket, in addition to humiliation, the penalty is 750 NOK on spot and 900 NOK, if paid later.

• Office Timings: Most of the Government offices are open from 09:00-03:30 pm and the Private ones from 08:00-4:00 pm, Monday to Fridays. Banks have different working hours for Mon-Wed, Thursday, Friday and Saturday!!  Almost everything is closed on Sundays. 

• Tap water is very safe and can be drunk, without any additional treatment. However, remember to take your water bottle with you, whenever you are out of home because generally, there no public taps or water sources. You may have to buy a bottle from nearest kiosk in the market and it is about 25 NOK for half liter bottle!!

• During the winters, Sun rises at around 9 am and sets around 3 pm, so it becomes dark pretty early. Be prepared for very less daylight during winters, which can be very depressing for some people and lead them into SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).

• Also, based on my limited exposure, unless it is important and you know the other person very well, it may not be considered polite to call anybody after business hours or during weekends.

• When you buy most plastic/tin/glass bottles, you pay a surcharge (called Pant) ranging from NOK 1 to 2.5. This surcharge can be recovered by returning the bottle back to designated machines in any of the supermarket/kiosks. You can return the bottle to any machine that you wish to and not necessarily, from where you purchased.

Mobile Services and Internet

A prepaid mobile SIM can be purchased at most kiosks such as 7-Eleven, Narvesan, Deli De Luca, Mix and even at Gardermoen airport for ~ 50 NOK (including ~ 25 NOK as talktime). You will require an identity card such as Passport to activate the card. There are quite some mobile operators, however Lebara turns out to be cheaper than the other ones.

Mobile Phones can be purchased either with subscription or in unlocked stage. In general phones (except iPhone) are expensive and should be brought from India.

Call tariffs could be pretty high (~ 10x) at Norway, as compared to India. Furthermore, for each call, you need to pay an initial connection charge of ~ 1NOK. It is therefore advisable to either buy a calling card or use a VOIP (soft phone) from PC. Calling Cards can be obtained from Pakistani/Turkish stores, in addition to small mobile shops and internet cafes and sometimes from Supermarkets. Most of these shops are located around Brugata and Grønland area.

Internet is generally provided free of cost in your Hotel or your apartment, and at some restaurants. If you need to take an internet connection on your own, expect around 300 NOK/month for 2Mbps unlimited plan.