Customer Reviews

Mastering Norwegian (Hippocrene Mastering Series)

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The preface to this volume states that it "is intended for self-study as well as classroom use by beginners young and old. It is a carefully planned introduction to the Norwegian language as well as a solid foundation for future advanced study." (p.9).

I must admit right off the bat that my impression is quite different from that of the author. I find the organization confusing, to say the least, and the presentation of material chaotic and unnatural. The explanations might be helpful to someone who speaks Norwegian, or has wide linguistic knowledge, but in general they are obscure and sometimes even wrong. The book's terminology (especially of grammatical concepts) is also confusing and sometimes quite far from being sensible. Further confusing the potential learner are abundant misspellings and typos.

The lessons generally have a 'dialog,' which usually consists of completely unnatural (and unnaturally long) utterances. The use of "De" as the formal 'you' has all but died out in Norway, but maintains a strong presence in this book. Very conservative word forms (for example 'hvorledes' instead of 'hvordan') abound here as well.

Most usable textbooks these days include an index of grammatical concepts and explanations, and a glossary of words. This book has neither. The idea of proficiency-orientation (learning how to USE a language) is completely overshadowed by inconsistent grammatical detail, half-page long dialog replies, and absurd questions about the dialogs.

Other more organized and student-friendly teach yourself Norwegian books include: Colloquial Norwegian, Teach Yourself Norwegian, and Hugo's Norwegian in Three Months. I recommend you try one of these first.

Erik Friis' book, "Mastering Norwegian" is better for use as a review or second-year course than for first-time experience with the Norwegian language.