I Learned Norwegian in 2 Weeks Then Went on Live TV in Norway

[@xiaomanyc]

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[@bolivarramirez911]

Wow!

[@pineapple3555]

Hello :)

[@khalilahd.]

You’re incredible 👏🏽

[@teekotrain6845]

Can't believe no one is talking about your humongous balls of steel like..... WOW. I think anyone who's learned a second language can know the fear, embarrassment, and humility involved and you just gloss over any of that and dive in head first

[@karerabbe7829]

Sad to see that you went to the biggest, dirtiest andugliest city in Norway when you were here:( You should have gone to Bergen or Ålesund, especially Ålesund, top 5 most beautiful cities in the world.. And also i would have invited you inn for a Coffe..;)👍

[@kien9]

I couldnt believe my eyes when i saw Xiaoma sitting in a little restaurant in the middle of Oslo, had a little chat with him and asked him jokingly is he gonna learn norwegian, to which he responded in norwegian , absolute mad lad 💯

[@Dah42]

One time I met an american who spoke perfect mandarin! I have so much respect for americans.. They're very smart people.

[@uhavemooface]

That is awesome.

[@ArturHedlund]

@@Dah42 ofcourse🇺🇲🇺🇸

[@carsond7214]

@@Dah42 that’s so kind of you to say! Usually we hear the opposite nowadays 😅

[@d-24]

@@Dah42 Very smart people but then ask them to point out a country on the map, lol :p

[@gullinkambe6726]

For those of you wondering, he has a thick english accent but everything is fully understandable. Truly impressive for such a short time practicing.

[@DarkAngel2512]

Would you say aside from the accent is the pronunciation of words there?

[@gullinkambe6726]

@@DarkAngel2512 well it's pretty poor in terms of pronunciation but as long as you listen it's fully understandable. He didn't say a single word that wasn't so while it's not perfect i'm really impressed by how well he did.

[@DarkAngel2512]

@@gullinkambe6726 yep. He picks up accents much better/quicker than I could.

[@rainzwastakenn]

His accent is american not english

[@gullinkambe6726]

@@rainzwastakenn what language do you think they speak in america bruh

[@prospect8245]

As a norwegian I have to say I was really impressed, learning norwegian at a level this decent in 2 *weeks* is actually insane

[@Bleideris0]

How correct and understandable he was?

[@prospect8245]

@@Bleideris0 I'd say he spoke about at the level of an average person who's studied Norwegian for maybe 4-6 months. I could understand him well, he responded cohesively to questions I didn't expect him to even understand. The interviewer didn't take it easy on him either, he spoke at a fast pace, yet he showed that he understood him.

[@Blazey0908]

same, his pronunciation is very good

[@Bleideris0]

@@Blazey0908 That intrigues me the most. By learning to speak face to face he got even pronunciation correct

[@gjjakobsen]

Kjempe bra hjort!

[@stevensavoie856]

His Norwegian is very fascinating. It's generally terrible as far as grammar, word usage and pronunciation goes... but for 2 weeks it's *astoundingly(!)* good. Yet he makes mistakes that I wouldn't expect from someone who used more time than him but can survive a basic conversation/interview... At the same time, he sometimes uses words that fit a lot better than the textbook stuff that you'd have to cobble together to get your point out; he didn't rely on textbooks after all. I've never heard anything like it.

[@plain-simple]

As norwegian, i agree!

[@Overlycomplicatedswede]

As a Swede I picked up on these things but I let it slide given he was only given 2ish weeks

[@MotionEvolutionLouise]

I think what you are saying is interesting. So his teachers gave him some colloquialisms or he understood a bit of the cultural phraseology?

[@user-it8kw3wy2y]

What else is it supposed to be after two weeks haha

[@alvidoranwashere]

Bro i’m Swedish and even I can confirm this is good. An American guy learns Norwegian in 2 weeks, and a Swede can understand. Mad respect.

[@beerbuntenbach6201]

thats not that interesting, norwegian can be understood for 80+% by swedish ppl

[@wohlhabendermanager]

@@beerbuntenbach6201 Nynorsk can't be spoken by anyone though. It's a written form of the Norwegian language. As is bokmål.

[@CaptainGoldcoin]

As a dane i understood him clearly aswell. Xiaoma is very skilled.

[@alvidoranwashere]

@@beerbuntenbach6201 what was interesting was that an American guy learnt the language in 2 weeks and someone from another country could understand what he was saying

[@beerbuntenbach6201]

@@alvidoranwashere anyone can reproduce sentences xd I followed a major in scandinavian language and culture in Amsterdam and understood the prof after 2 weeks just fine as well. It really isnt that impressive. Both germanic languages

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

His ability to learn languages so quickly is truly amazing

[@7percc]

yuh

[@khalilahd.]

Right? I aspire to be like him

[@connersaunders2594]

Everywhere.

[@moistveggies7528]

He is very disciplined and I think he has a technique down after so many languages. You can tell he’s not always fluent, but a lot of people including myself have a fear of practicing in public until we feel perfect. Just goes to show that being bad at something is apart of the process and we’ll reach our goal if we practice.

[@blueboozle774]

The ability to so quickly comment on videos is quite sad. Do you live in your mom’s basement

[@blacksmirf1454]

It’s absolutely insane how quick he picks up languages, I’m fluent in Norwegian and I understood every sentence and point he was trying to get across. Not sure what’s more impressive him remembering the words on the spot or understanding the questions from the interviewer🤯

[@parky7417]

Yeah it’s cool too because I only know English but I somehow also knew what every sentence meant in that conversation.

[@linux_b1969]

@@parky7417 You referring to the subtitles?

[@micahh8840]

@@parky7417 bruh

[@lerkzor]

I have been trying to learn Spanish for a long time, and I would say that being able to understand a spoken language is harder for me than remembering words.

[@sh0werp0wer]

Interviewer didn't do him any favours either by speaking more slowly, but at least they didn't use an interviewer with a dialect because that would've been downright cruel, lol.

[@amoolyanarayan2148]

What i love most about your videos is how you show the struggle of trying to be understood. You may fumble, or have an accent or be slower but you persevere. And that makes you learn. It's fantastic how you're learning in front of us all!

[@xerxes-music]

Norwegian here - you did absolutely incredible. You made perfect sense and some of the words I think we should change to the way you said it. For instance brus (soda) sounded way cooler when you say it 😂

[@trikop7575]

Yeah he's pretty awesome

[@user82938]

Hah, yeah, that is how I pronounced brus. Must be the American accent of Norsk.

[@trikop7575]

@@user82938 actually it's kinda funny because people (from all over the world) learning to speak Norwegian usually end up talking in an accent similar to this 🤔

[@ArythemB]

@@trikop7575 because the tone in the language has no vocal in it

[@trikop7575]

@@ArythemB I'm not quite sure what that means 🤔

[@NorwegianNationalist1]

Norwegian speaker here, man you did really well. I’m surprised about how little grammatical mistakes you made, and you responded correctly to every question.

[@kungpochopedtuna]

I'll have to take your word for it haha

[@thorodinson6649]

Making a grammatical mistake would be very hard, seeing how similar it is to english.

[@kirank287]

Jepp

[@taylorliu9093]

And I already spot a grammatical mistake in this comment

[@sundhaug92]

@@taylorliu9093 ironic, isn't it?

[@MaxFosh]

This is insanely impressive!

[@cilli_n]

indeed it is

[@adoptedegg_3392]

Oh high, mate!

[@pavilion-]

Niko omilana

[@nvr5073]

Not as impressive as welcome to luton

[@richardcourchene7477]

anyone else notice how much weight that boy has put on?

[@Carrot421911]

I am so impressed! I'm Norwegian and you did great! Learning to hold a conversation in another language in just a couple of weeks is incredible. And no, I dont think any Norwegians would consider it cultural apropriation to wave our flag. XD

[@maizymusix]

Yes…not norwegian but if you do it with respect I think it’s fine, I mean it’s like you waving the American flag..like it’ll be different if you did it without respect (like letting it touch the ground)

[@jmo8934]

Cultural appropriation. I’m triggered now.

[@nevillec5252]

I decided to learn Norwegian as a linguistic exercise recently (background of the English language), and I think the pronunciation and intonation of many Norwegian words is seriously adorable. I thought Norwegian would sound similar to German (which I also speak), but the pronunciation is very different.

[@nybakg]

Berre veive flagget våres så mykje som du vil! Norsk kultur er inklusiv, og SJWs kan dra til hel****

[@hotrodjones74]

Ja, jeg synes at det var spennende også. Han snakket godt norsk for bare lære det i to uka. Jeg synes at lære norsk er ikke så vanskelig også, men det trenger litt tid. Jeg ble overrasket over hvor tatt er norsk og engelsk. (Jeg lærer norsk for en år).

[@JoelCreates]

Norwegian is a great language for English speakers to learn, most of the difficulty lies in pronunciation and cadence. I enjoyed the video!

[@recitationtohear]

Finally its here *yes* *kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJ-biJesoNKHfdU*

[@catlikemeew]

Så du sier at folk klarer å si dette…men de klarer det ikke allikevel? Love your videos.

[@PampersNorway]

"most of the difficulty lies in pronunciation and cadence".....and actually beeing able to understand the hundreds of different dialects.

[@RoxanneLavender]

I've been learning Swedish for a while, would you say that Norwegian is easier or more difficult than Swedish, in terms of like, long words, pronunciation, etc? because the Jeg vs Jag is interesting, Jag means 'i' right, but Jeg hasn't directly been translated to 'i' in this video, does it mean 'i' too?

[@dr.topgun]

Also as a german you understand a lot of words as they are basically the same, in addition to a lot of english like words. Reading on the other hand is a nightmare ;) Same goes for swedish which sounds to me more english based and danish is a complete mess! At least "Tak" is the same in all 3 languages afaik.

[@santumos]

I’ve been learning Norwegian in Norway for almost two years. The level and progress shown here was very comparable to that of someone who’s been learning the language for at least 6 months (with dedication). Impressed. I would shit my pants if I had to go on live TV

[@derppogopvp7430]

Where in Norway are you? I'm halef-heartedly learning it from the UK and I'm aware of the dialect system, what dialect are you having to adapt to?

[@ihaka70377]

Would you shit your pants deliberately or by accident?

[@justaname1837]

No, it's not. Someone who has learned a language for 6 months will not forget half of their progress after a few months. That's the difference.

[@JoshuaaMS]

@@justaname1837 do you know how his brain works? Or how about how often he practices different languages in an attempt to retain some knowledge? Im not sure how he does either and to what extent, but considering he can speak many languages and switch between them and be understood, he likely is doing better than any of is would lol

[@JoshuaaMS]

@@justaname1837 plus you are completely wrong lmao, i took french in school for an entire year and ive forgotten almost all of it because i didnt continue to practice and i never had the passion for the language. Xiaoma seems to be very passionate about learning languages in general, i wouldnt put it against him to remember a lot of what he learns for a considerable time esp since he speaks with native speakers to learn. Even if he only spent two weeks learning he still spent entire days speaking with locals and impressing them

[@MilkJugA_]

The great thing about learning Norwegian is that 80% of it translates into Swedish and Danish, so it's very efficient. It's also not too far off English

[@rorschacht8478]

I guess that's why a lot of Scandinavians speak English very well.

[@MilkJugA_]

@@rorschacht8478 its mostly because we learn it early at school, and only kids tv shows are dubbed over.

[@markovia110]

Language families truly are fascinating.

[@TheBramEigenfeld]

@@rorschacht8478 probably because their own language isn’t spoken elsewhere. Like me, Dutch, doesn’t get you very far.

[@clearestseb]

To me (a Swede) Norwegian and danish just sound like funny Swedish, and I’m sure it’s like that for Norwegians and Danes too lol

[@mr.dynamite3625]

Some of those "polyglots" speak only a fraction of this in 20 languages and they claim to be realy polyglots but this man is one of the few that are not a fraud. The amount of things you said for just two weeks of learning is incredibly impressive.

[@Slammaa]

i just wish he learned how to pronounce Ø

[@lugo_9969]

He is defo not a fraud. His irish was amazing for the tiny amount of time he spent learning it.

[@emilflarsen2]

@@Slammaa Lol he did pronounce Ø. 12:23 "øve".. and the pronounciation is great.

[@Slammaa]

@@emilflarsen2 no? he goes "oovay" that was like the worst example and probably the part that made me write the comment

[@Slammaa]

@@emilflarsen2 oh you're danish, that explains it 🥔

[@lostnorwegianx]

Never in a million years would I expect Xiaoma to speak my own language. This was a pleasure to watch!

[@MrRoyalGard]

Hehe, må si på 2 uker så ble jeg meget imponert :) !

[@elteescat]

@@MrRoyalGard Next question is: Will he still remember it in two MORE weeks? 🤪🙃

[@wandren912]

ja fy faen! æ hadd alltid lyst te at han skulla lær sæ Norsk og så glad for at han tok Norsk og ikke svensk eller dansk

[@fjalls]

Jag är lite avundsjuk faktiskt

[@bella7789]

hahaha he will never do albanian😂

[@mazi1597]

Im Norwegian and a huge fan of Xiaoma, so this is such a surreal experience seeing you practicing and talking in Norwegian, let alone on tv?! How did i not know this?! Well done!!

[@friendlybear1118]

Ja, samme her!

[@simonji2940]

kinda same even tho im swedish

[@HuSanNiang]

how was his tones? My friend lived in Kristiansand and she always got a comment that she spoke with too low tones and that sounds impolite. Our Viennese dialect are spoken with a lower tone. Also I learned that Oslo is pronounces Ushlu -- correct? at least I can survive on OST and øl ...

[@blahkjboubblah9856]

Do you think he did an ok job? I only speak English, so I just have to trust the subtitles. LOL

[@tomfrogspoon]

Great Job!!!! just in two weeks??? wow!

[@AndreHansen96]

I’m Norwegian and this is very impressive. It’s one thing to know how to pronounce words and learn vocabulary, but to have the understanding you have when spoken to, that’s next level. Especially considering the timeframe… well done!

[@vekteren3549]

Jeg skal ikke lyge uttalen og grammatikken er helt for jævelig, men samtidig med tidsperioden i betrakning er det forståelig.

[@AndreHansen96]

@@vekteren3549 det viktigste er at han gjør seg forstått og forstår motparten. Grammatikk tar alltid lenger tid å lære. Det han har fått til på bare 2 uker er rett og slett imponerende

[@vekteren3549]

@@AndreHansen96 Helt enig!

[@Rhaspun]

Plus the mental pressure was on him. But he has his methods for learning languages, and it works for him.

[@Leth-kost]

As a norwegian I am amazed on how quick you got this. That's insanely impressive! All honor to you. My girlfriend is from Poland, and you speak norwegian on the same level as her parents who have lived and tried to learn for 15 years. The only part that bites me is calling VGTV "national TV". It's more like a newspaper with it's own streaming platform through web and apps.

[@przemo5711]

and how is your Polish? ;)

[@TottoHolm]

@@przemo5711 Technically, if they all live in Norway, it shouldn't matter. I live in Brazil with my wife and I don't expect her or her parents to know Norwegian... Makes no sense.

[@ThunderPants13]

That was absolutely unbelievable.....you are my hero! I'm American but have Norwegian ancestry and have tried for months to learn Norwegian on Duolingo, with minimal progress. The fact that you agreed to do this and then spoke so well on national tv is amazing. You have got nerves of steel, my friend!

[@argonwheatbelly637]

Same here, but the Duo stuff was easy. Norsk er et morsomt og lett språk å lære. Men det er meg. 😊 Did you read the grammar on the website, or just use the lessons on the mobile app?

[@ThunderPants13]

I used the website. Jeg er ikke flink til å lære språk. Men jeg har heller ikke anstrengt meg nok, det skal jeg innrømme.

[@_pinkangels]

@@ThunderPants13 watch Norwegian shows if u havent !!! very fun to try replicate how they speak. id recommend Ragnarok and skam. there's love & anarchy but idk if id say its a great show 🤣 edit: my bad, love & anarchy is in Swedish

[@burn8325]

First tip: You are American, not Norwegian. Remember that. Americans always come to Europe and say ‘oh I’m actually Irish/Italian/Greek/Norwegian’ etc etc, no, you’re not. You’re just American. Sure, you may have Gaelic, romance, Hellenic, Nordic ancestry, but you’re not Irish Italian greek or Norwegian. It is especially insulting to Irish etc who are not genetically Gaelic etc, you realise not everyone in Europe is genetically from the country they live in? Same as you. Sweden for example, is only 2% less diverse than the US.. it’s not 100% blonde people. Sweden has a huge Asian population, why it’s nicknamed Swedenistan. London, is 45% white British, making them a minority in their own capital. But British people of African or Asian descent are still British. So don’t tell Europeans that you’re actually from their country, it’s super irritating, I know you may think I’m being rude, but to have Americans constantly come here, being totally ignorant of our countries and history, then tell us ‘I’m actually from here’ with a thick US accent.. nobody appreciates it. Now, I know you’re not saying it to mean you come from here, and that you just mean genetically you have ties to here, but still, nobody likes to hear that. Especially because everyone in Europe has ties to each other. The Scandinavians invaded Ireland, UK, France etc, the Greeks and romans invaded everyone, the french invaded UK and Ireland, the Spanish invaded Ireland, the Germans invaded everyone, the Russians invaded half of everyone etc etc, we all have genetics leading back to wherever.

[@_pinkangels]

@@burn8325 bro they literally said "im American" and "but have Norwegian ancestry" first tip i.e. keyword: ANCESTRY. they literally didn't claim to be Norwegian. i am irish (legit wow i even speak irish) and it is irritating when Americans say they are also irish bc their great great gran aunts daughter was half irish blah blah. but in this case the op didn't say they are Norwegian only that they have Norwegian ancestry.

[@ethantoal42]

You should learn Irish Gaelic and go to a Gaeltacht region of Ireland, maybe Connemara! The locals would be really impressed that someone had gone out of their way to learn a ‘dead’ language.

[@stephenpfeiffer1708]

Yes please!! My grandmother is from a small town outside of Nenagh. I’ve always been interested in the Gaeltacht region. Getting some more exposure to the language would be great!

[@bridgieoh9326]

I took Irish lessons years ago at a local community college. I wish I kept up with it. I didn't really have anyone to speak it with.

[@apexvwarrior8082]

This would be HARD

[@NeoDestati]

Was about to post that he should try Irish. I am a newly practicing Irish Pagan and would love to be able to speak it for spiritual purposes to An Mórrígan and An Brígid.

[@eatmildew2062]

absolutely do irish im all for this

[@FlyingFoxyPolarbear]

As a Norwegian you get an A+ The learning and the interview in only 2 weeks is VERY impressive. For some learning norwegian takes years!

[@カスカディア国人]

So from what I’ve heard it takes a Native English speaker about 500 hours to learn Norwegian, now let’s assume he did only 8 hours a day for two weeks, that’s about 112 hours, now let’s assume that because he’s spent so many years learning many different languages, that process is just faster for him because he knows how to make his learning the most efficient, in that context, it’s not too insane that he did this, plus he probably spent more than 8 hours on it some of those days.

[@カスカディア国人]

Huh so he says only 2 hours a day, I’m skeptical lol haven’t seen the whole video yet

[@zaydxn2735]

@@カスカディア国人 studied with tutors 2 hours a day, and then went out to practice speak in real life. I think

[@ItsameAlex]

But I was heartbroken when he said most of the people in Norway were not Norwegian.

[@Neophema]

@@ItsameAlex Oslo has a bigger immigrant population than elsewhere in the country, but these people are usually fluent in Norwegian, having grown up here. Besides that, a lot of people come here to work temporarily, or maybe they've just recently moved here. There are TONS of Swedes working in stores and restaurants in Oslo too.

[@sands-tp1ul]

I have studied about 4 languages (other than English) and just started Italian. Been toying with the idea of taking a new approach that focuses on speaking in real world conversations, and not memorizing from textbooks. After this video, I am sold. Great job!

[@camelusdromedarius3789]

I can corroborate this. I gained a greater mastery over Korean being in Seoul for three weeks and engaging in conversation at every possible opportunity than I did studying it in class for a year and a half (though some fundamentals aren't at all bad to learn through study).

[@Soloee_]

This was such a surprise as a Norwegian! I never imagined I would ever see you try my language. You did REALLY well! It totally gave me a new perspective at just how fast and good you are at learning languages. I could never 😂

[@iseeu-fp9po]

As a norwegian I am so impressed that you managed to learn the language in such a short time. You must have a special talent for languages. Veldig bra jobba og takk for besøket!

[@vekteren3549]

La oss være ærlig språket hans var langt bedre enn vi alle kunne forventet, men problemer ligger på hvordan han uttaler ord. Norsk er et lett språk å lære, hvis du har f.eks Engelsk som morsmål.

[@simonjrgensen6761]

@@vekteren3549 Det må være ekstremt svært at lære et skandinavisk sprog på så kort tid. Han vil snart kunne klare sig i Sverige og Danmark også uden problemer.

[@stianaandal1488]

@@simonjrgensen6761 Det er forskjell på å lære språket og pugge setninger

[@spiko-ou3bp]

🇮🇸🇳🇴🇫🇮🇸🇪

[@nnobud7703]

luk røven

[@Kemit]

Fantastisk jobba :D I’m really impressed how much Norwegian you actually learned. Good sentences and pronunciations. Deffinetly a challenge to accomplish in such short amount of time

[@stadtjer689]

Deffinetly

[@-RXB-]

@@stadtjer689 Most deff

[@Mystra]

*Definitely

[@craigevans8912]

As someone who’s previously worked in Norway for 10 months and has now lived here for one year and has just started Norskkurs I find it not only unbelievable what you achieved in two weeks but also inspiring for me to get my arse into gear and push harder to learn this Bonkers language 👌👌

[@kdmil2002]

To me, the most amazing thing is not that you learned a lot in two or three weeks, but that you learned to understand what the other person is saying. That is usually the hardest thing, but you were able to pick up on everything that this guy was asking you. You definitely have a gift. I think this must get easier the more languages you learn and understand the similarities of language structure and even some words of different languages.

[@KatieLHall-fy1hw]

Agree! I just found this guy. I’ve been taking French for years and am passively trying Norwegian and Japanese. I am awful at Japanese though

[@magneticman245]

This is definitely the most impressive part in my opinion. I've been self-teaching Norwegian for about a year, and I tried listening to the interview without watching the screen. I could mostly understand what Xiaoma was saying (a few words here and there that I didn't catch, but I got the gist). However I couldn't follow the interviewer's words at all, he was far too fast for me to process.

[@strobi0001]

I agree, i had the same experience in Dutch. There were so many situations that I could answer but i just did not get what they say/ask. Even though, i knew the words they used.

[@nothingpersonal7091]

The biggest challenge with understanding comes when you go outside the Eastern parts of Norway. We have a wide arrange of accents. I'm very used to seeing my accent subbed on TV where everyone speaks Norwegian. I speak Gaugamål which is generally a Western dialect if you divide similar ones in four groups. One big difference I can point out between mine and the Eastern style is that we use a guttural French-like R sound instead of the rolling sound. I can barely roll my tongue :D

[@skogsmulle7477]

He had learned Swedish before this video and its very similar to Norwegian ..

[@andrewo8356]

He speaks better Norwegian that he learnt in 2 weeks than I speak German which I learnt for 4 years in high school. Very talented.

[@massivewilly1002]

The way languages are taught in England at gcse and below is widely useless

[@ThundrGurl]

But German is also significantly more difficult than Norwegian. I struggled with German too. You get so caught up in the complicated grammar that you're afraid to speak it. Norwegian grammar is easy and uncomplicated, pronunciation can be a challenge, but the grammar is even easier than English.

[@bigrig8539]

@@ThundrGurl also most people dont want to learn the languages required in school which is usually French, Spanish, Or german only. Also most the teachers arent actually native speakers so their knowledge is limited also.

[@eewweeppkk]

@@bigrig8539 I gotta say I was quite lucky. I had took 4 years of Spanish in high school and had an incredible teacher for most of it. We took a fluency exam at the end of senior year and almost everyone was only one or two brackets below fluent (on a score of like 8 or 10, it's been a long time so I can't remember the grading system). My skills have definitely rusted since then, you kinda do use it or lose it, but honestly I think if you dumped me in the middle of a Spanish speaking country I could get back home without too much trouble.

[@Viillustrations]

Agreed. Even I struggle with german sometimes and I AM German ._.

[@dynamixenhanced1599]

Dude u totally crushed that interview. For 2 weeks of learning u absolutely killed it

[@learnnow7489]

This is impressive he learned som Words that I didnt think he would now, like Innså (realized). His accents is actually not bad, he is just struggling with the norwegian specific letters like æøå. And its quite funny that he switches over to an american answer when saying words that are the same in Norwegian and english. Great job!

[@rubenadorno5353]

This video had everything. Classic xiaomanyc learning phase, trying out the language, food reviews, and the challenge. Excellent stuff!

[@praxseb4317]

Holyyy fuckkk, as a Norwegian subscriber hearing you understand Norwegian so well after only 2 weeks was shocking, the only thing you need to work on i pronounciation but that comes naturally the more you use the language, well done!

[@daniel-eg2oq]

Seems like a beautiful country and language

[@user82938]

He did something I did when learning/speaking Norwegian, which is sometimes you accidentally slide back into English because some of the words are so close. Like he starts saying "or" a couple times and then corrects to "eller." I don't mean eller and or are close. I just mean I would find myself slipping because a word earlier in the sentence was close to English.

[@ominousplatypus380]

@@user82938 yeah, another one I noticed is "også" and "also"

[@user82938]

@@ominousplatypus380 yes! I mess that one up all the time.

[@khalilahd.]

It’s truly incredible to see what you’re able to do in such a little bit of time. You’ve motivated me to learn Japanese and I hope to one day know as many languages as you 🙏🏽💛 you’re so inspiring

[@kbob9625]

I want to learn Japanese so I can watch anime without subs lol.

[@nogga7716]

WTF I just saw you comment on NDMD 😂😂

[@paulpanzer4585]

just to be clear. nope, you wont.

[@Deltaray]

I wanna learn Japanese and or Norwegian how do I go about it?

[@ven1845]

Im also learning Japanese. How's your progress coming along, Khalilah?

[@brianm.890]

When I was in High School I shared a locker with an exchange student from Norway. His name was Paal. We became great friends and he taught me Norwegian. I'm about to turn 50, but I still remember how to count to ten, and say please/thank you. Other small phrases and such. Now I live in Chicago, and I cross paths with Norwegian's now and then. I love to impress them with my little knowledge. This video has inspired me to learn more. I'm so impressed that you picked this up so fast! Tusen Takk. 🇧🇻

[@Skrubbsaar]

Pål is such a norwegian name, haha. Love it

[@selladore4911]

seems like you two were good Paals

[@grahamheckert8738]

The one thing I am blown away by is not how quickly he’s able to start speaking the language, but rather how he’s able to hear the interviewer speak at such a rapid and native pace and still be able to pick out the right words to understand what’s being asked. I’ve been learning a new language for over a year now, and I’m still quite slow at hearing and understanding what natives are saying. It’s super impressive.

[@Jombozeus]

If you watched the end of the video he did say he couldn't understand some questions and had to switch over to English. It was probably just edited out. Not a slight at all just pointing it out.

[@Tomazack]

Really good job, this from a born and raised Norwegian. And to the question about cultural appropriation, this seems like an exclusively American phenomenon as far as I can tell, here it's just a form of cultural appreciation, and it is indeed appreciated amongst the Norwegian people. It's always entertaining to hear foreigners learn our language, the Æ, Ø and Å always gets you in trouble, hehe!

[@bradIeyyy]

It was sarcasm making fun of liberals who cry “cultural appropriation “ lol

[@ClockworkGrouse]

Quick question for you as you are obviously familiar with English: I am British (Scotland specific) and would very much like to travel Scandanavia at some point during my lifetime, but am nervous of doing so. If I were to go to (e.g.) a cafe in Norway and order in broken Norweigan would that be seen as positive for making an effort, or would I be seen as stupid as the waiter could probably speak better English than I can Norweigan?

[@Kiowan918]

It was mild sarcasm, as most rational people don't see it the way the extreme liberals do. Everyone wants to see people who are not of their country engaging and supporting their culture, but western extreme liberals only criticise their own people for participating or getting involved in other cultures.

[@elevat1on]

@@ClockworkGrouse Norwegian here. We always appreciate it when someone tries to make an effort. More so because tourists know most of Norwegians speak fluent English, so they just go with that from the start. Even if you just start of with a few words in Norwegian and then switch over to English, it would be appreciated. Not needed in any shape or form, but appreciated nontheless.

[@ewisur]

@@ClockworkGrouse As Norway is quite diverse, at least in the cities, so to have an accent isn't frowned upon at all :) But if you ever were to switch over to english for your own sake, you'd find most Norwegians in almost any age can speak English fairly decently :)

[@MogHus]

I can’t BELIEVE you did this in roughly two weeks, Xiao Ma! Your ability tio learn languages is just off the charts. English is close to Norwegian due to the history of Nordic occupation of what is today Great Britain, but the challenge lies in the irregularities. You have my utmost respect! Cheers, Norwegian language enthusiast

[@kirilluncasu9380]

I learned quite a bit of Danish and it's amazing how similar the languages are. I could understand almost everything without looking at the subtitles

[@champenhimself]

Held og lykke med at lærer dansk ☺️🙏💪

[@kirilluncasu9380]

@@champenhimself Tusind tak 🙏

[@celeroon89]

Konstigt, många svenskar förstår norska bättre och tycker det är enklare än danska. Men norrmän och danskar kanske förstår varandra lättare?

[@kimmithebeat]

I was in Iceland one time. Met a Norwegian guy at a bar and we small talked for a while in each our languages, me being danish. There was an American next to us who was confused what language we were speaking. He was blown away when he found out we were speaking the same one. It was a funny experience.

[@caroline9112]

@@celeroon89 ​inte konstigt, det är jo typ samma språk man skriver i Norge och Danmark - mycket mer likt än norska och svenska. Så självklart fattar dom varandra lite bättre än dansken o svenskan fattar varandra.

[@AndreasLaaust]

I am Danish, and understand Norwegian. You did incredibly well; I looked away from the subtitles (my eyes gets drawn otherwise), and still understood everything you said. That’s impressive!

[@ivartheboneless5969]

Damn, I get that too. If there is subtitles and I start reading them I'm not even able to watch the show, so I can't use subtitles.

[@Jujudo]

Is it true that Norwegians and Swedish can't understand Danish though?

[@BlackbirdBandit]

HAr du vært i Trøndelag?

[@gris186]

@@Jujudo No it isn't. I'm Danish and have lived in Sweden and Norway for shorter periods of time and there has been very few problems with language. Most problems were me asking for specific items that had a different name in Danish but simple conversation was just fine between the languages

[@zi0]

@@Jujudo I'm Danish, so I'm not sure my answer will be 100% on point. From what I've heard from my Norwegian and Swedish friends, they understand each other more, than they understand us Danes. They can read Danish far better than they can understand it to my knowledge. Maybe a Swede or Norwegian can chip in here to confirm? :)

[@RasziusTV]

I'm currently learning Norwegian right now, good to see you learning it 👌

[@Iris-gr1rn]

May I ask how you're learning? I'm trying to learn myself

[@durozi1046]

same

[@jakemorrison8507]

Was this demoralising or inspiring?

[@SupeHero00]

May I ask why?

[@outlaw553]

be me be born in norway

[@DonArques]

Well done, as a Swede I could understand everything you said in the interview. Since you got this far in two weeks, keep practicing Norwegian a few more weeks and you'll be able to learn Danish and Swedish in no time :)

[@nicholas99norge]

True

[@EnFyr]

I thought he had a mix of Swedish and Danish in there, so definetly.

[@morgenthaler]

I was about to post the same, but for Danish 😂 I even think he had a bit of a Finnish accent to his Norwegian, but as a Dane I could understand everything he said. Well done, @Xiaomanyc !

[@Frexuz]

Good luck with Danish pronunciation 😂

[@EnFyr]

@@Frexuz For helvede man! ;)

[@timothyallan111]

I loved this! I have been learning Norwegian VERY casually for about 10 months, and I could see the rolodex dictionary in your mind spinning for vocab at certain points; I almost cheered when you found the word 'lett'! Congratulations, and what a fun challenge! I would probably go completely to pieces under the same circumstances and barely be able to speak English, let alone Norwegian!

[@bastus9351]

As a Norwegian, I really enjoyed your journey! Norwegian is similar to English, but the natives speak at such a speed with 100's of different dialects so it's easy to learn, but hard to master. Even I can't understand some of the more heaver dialects haha. Pronounciation is probably the hardest challenge for non-native speakers, but you did great! Looking forward to your next videos !!!

[@TorrentUK]

I could also hear germanic influence in the words. Interesting language with an awesome accent.

[@bastus9351]

@@TorrentUK Yes! Norwegian is very similar to all the other Nordics but also other germanic languages. Really interesting stuff!

[@Habadat2]

Totally common road to stumble on when dialects are involved 😂 Even the people where I'm from struggle with the dialect I have!

[@recitationtohear]

Finally its here *yes* *kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJ-biJesoNKHfdU*

[@catlikemeew]

Damn good point…

[@s043849]

FINALLY you attempted a language in the Nordic countries!!! As a native Swede, Norwegian and Swedish are pretty similar. I understood you fully, and amazed that you once again knocked it out of the park. Well done! 🙏🏽

[@TritonTv69420]

Hey hey!

[@MyAmazingUsername]

Yeah I understood him perfectly and I am Swedish too. The only neighbors we can't understand are the Danish because they are permanently drunk and chewing on potatoes while speaking.

[@OGPengron]

@@MyAmazingUsername this explains why my Danish grandpa said to stick to English, it sounds nicer, when I was young

[@Lord7979]

If I wanted to learn a language that would be the most intelligible to Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians which one of the three would it be?

[@JohanLahtinen]

@@MyAmazingUsername *Finland clears throat*

[@TheWebberLegacy]

As a danish person, I understood everything you said. You’ve got the base down for learning all three Scandinavian languages

[@your_royal_highness]

Swedish, Danish and Norwegian. That’s three. What about Finnish? Not considered Scandinavian?

[@ph_swe]

@@your_royal_highness completely different language. If I'm not wrong Finnish actually doesn't have any "language siblings"

[@TheLappin]

@@ph_swe There are a few languages related to Finnish, for example Estonian. But it's true that it isn't at all related to Swedish, Danish or Norwegian.

[@TheWebberLegacy]

@@your_royal_highness I see this mistake a lot, Finland and Iceland are part of the Nordic countries with Scandinavia, but Scandinavia is only Denmark, Norway and Sweden Icelandic is similar to old norse, but finnish is an entirely different linguistic tree

[@jamesdewitt84]

Sorry Denmark the truth is the Swedes and Norwegians can't understand you

[@pomona9928]

As a Swede, it was the first time I realized how incredibly good you are at languages. It was easy to understand what you said. :) (The Nordic languages Swedish, Norwegian and Danish are very similar so we can talk and understand each other.)

[@madamada623]

Ja d var ganske imponerende ass

[@ben4194]

I speak a bit of Dutch and I understood most of the Norwegian used here so thats also closely related

[@richardli4038]

and all the nordic countries are very fond of each other too no?

[@madamada623]

@@ben4194 that can not be true i understand 0 dutch and im norwegian

[@madamada623]

@@richardli4038 yes but we joke with eachother a lot

[@will.barnish]

Xiaoma is a huge part of the language community, always inspiring and pushing the limits in his videos! Absolute legend 🙌 , Thank you. Edit: don’t forget drop a like on the video so other people be inspired to learn a language!

[@Manji8D]

As a Norwegain, I`m impressed how quick you picked up the language and you did great at the interview. I have been studying German, Chinese and Japanese myself and totally agree when you say that practicing speaking a language is the fastest way of learning. This was truly inspiring and I will continue studying to further improve.

[@TheStruggler0]

How much does knowing japanese make chinese easier bro

[@Craftlngo]

@@TheStruggler0 Japanese uses many of the classical Chinese characters (known in Japanese as Kanji) that have mostly a Chinese based reading and a Japanese based. Which one to use is derived through the context. So learning the Japanese Kanji helps learning chinese Characters. But simplified chinese is totally different to Kanji, so that you have to learn this from ground up

[@TheStruggler0]

@@Craftlngo ohhh i totally forgot about the simplified chinese thing. its probably going to be a problem.

[@Jango1989]

@@TheStruggler0 in addition to the writing and reading, some of the words are basically the same like "library" or "love". Speaking as someone who learned Japanese before Mandarin Chinese.

[@MrRoztoc]

@@Craftlngo Thank you for the explanations :) I didn't know that. I thought a Japanese doesn't understand any Chinese and vice versa.

[@benjaminfriis8251]

I'm Danish and still madly impressed by your performance. Was deffo a 10/10 considering you only spent 2 weeks learning Norwegian. Knocked it out of the ballpark cudos to you man!

[@Yogiandmeditation]

as a norwegian i am insanely impressed about not only your pronunciation, but your ability to not forget every word when being on tv like thats extremely impressive!! I have studied French for some time and this was a whole lot better than me within two to three weeks, amazing

[@mrebholz]

He does the toddler approach like jumping right into the language, like into the cold water. Very efficient. But he's certainly talented.

[@Kyrelel]

Immersion Learning

[@alphadexxa]

You did amazingly, as a Danish person i could even understand you without needing subtitles

[@explanationforeverything]

Danish dialect of Norwegian confirmed?!?!?!

[@samuelenblom]

Same here, I understood as a Swedish person! Great video!

[@fishmaster665]

There is only one great Norwegian language the other Scandinavian languages are meer dialects

[@catlikemeew]

@@fishmaster665 laughs patriotically in brunost.

[@Larax000]

@@samuelenblom han borde testa svenska, kanske till och med är enklare

[@Snalle]

The cool thing about this is that now you basically know Swedish as well since the languages are very similiar. The only difference is really just the intonation and some of the words, so as a native Swedish speaker I was able to understand you perfectly fine and especially since you didn't really master the Norweigan intonation it made it a little easier to understand from a swedish perspective as well so good job!

[@lxcid3944]

idk jeg snakker litt norsk and i can't understand one bit of swedish

[@OddZodd]

@@lxcid3944 It only works one way sadly 😂

[@lxcid3944]

@@OddZodd yup lmao

[@MarkRose1337]

I studied a bit of Swedish and understood him well. Swedish and Norwegian are more like a dialect continuum than separate languages in my admittedly limited experience. I've heard greater differences between varieties of English.

[@p90bridge]

@@lxcid3944 Jeg = Jag Snakker = Snackar Litt = Lite Norsk = Norska

[@adrianholberg5616]

I am Norwegian and I must say I am very impressed by the amount of Norwegian that he managed to learn in two weeks time, a lot of the people that try to learn Norwegian have problems with getting to this level in a year, I am really impressed by this👍🏽

[@gaarderaune]

Amazing what you learned in just two weeks. I'm a native speaker and had no problems understanding you! Good job :) The difficult part of norwegian is all the different dialects, even native speakers do not understand eachother sometimes :)

[@Berachiel]

So for those strange Norwegian letters, how I usually explain it to my English speaking friends is with English words and sounds like this; Æ = say Bad and hold the "A" sound. Ø = say Burn but hold the "U" sound. Å = say Shore and hold the "O" sound. Don't know if this is helpful, but others seem to get it quite accurately :) Edit; typos

[@cato.hermansen]

Jeg synes det var en bra forklaring 😊

[@andurk]

Enig! I endorse this👍🏼

[@tammy5938]

I wish you could teach me, thanks for the tip, it was awesome

[@norXmal]

Veldig godt forklart, jeg må bruke denne forklaringen neste gang noen spør meg om hvordan disse bokstavene uttales.

[@dogdog5]

Checks out for äöå in Swedish too 👌

[@Thatguy-yc9vs]

As a Norwegian who has been subscribed and amazed by your videos, it hit home to see you speak my native language! I am really impressed and, you probably get it a lot, but you are amazing and so talented!

[@DreamWaterGod]

Jeg er fra Norge også

[@jois9794]

@@DreamWaterGod Jeg er fra Danmark

[@gcolwill]

I'm pretty amazed at how well he speaks my native language too (American English). 🙂

[@robins4209]

The fact that you studied norwegian for only 2 weeks is incredible. As a Swede, i understood pretty much everything of what you said in that interview (i could at least understand what the conversation was about). And understnding norwegian as a Swede can be quite tricky sometimes, especially if you are dealing with someone with a heavy norwegian dialect.

[@shawnward7659]

You really are inspiring. At 46, I have decided to learn a second language, thanks to you. I've been watching your vids for months now, and this one just lit a fire under me. I love studying different cultures, however, I carried the arrogance of expecting the information in English. Perhaps now I can delve deeper into understanding others. We have recently received refugees from Pakistan in my hometown. My goal is to learn conversational Urdu, by New Years. Your example is the path I will follow. Thank you for sharing your journey and goodwill. Blessings upon you and your beautiful family. ✌️

[@petepuller]

Urdu is such a beautiful language! I have always loved this song: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3i2aJelnKt9b80 (I am pretty sure this is in Urdu - not 100% sure!) Here are some more Urdu songs by the same singer though. I don't understand a word, but I love the music haha kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4vEp5xqi7F-gLc

[@billiewoowoo]

best of luck to you!

[@milleranna9813]

Best of luck that sounds lovely! 🤗 you have a good heart

[@AWSMcube]

awesome, good luck!! i would also learn the devanagari script in addition to the perso-arabic script so you can understand both written urdu and hindi

[@Taimur.Shairyar]

as a Pakistani, Urdu is a tough language (at least in written form). Good luck!

[@Deceiver85]

As a native swede, I was wondering when you was going to attack one of the nordic languages. Swedish and norwegian is quite similar, and you did really good in two weeks 👍🏻 Bra jobbat!

[@chadbailey7038]

I’ve considered learning one of those two! I’m still torn haha 😅

[@g8le]

@@chadbailey7038 Just pick one and you'll be able to understand the other one rudimentary

[@K0MBIAN]

Skärpning nu, annars så får vi nä jävla problem här! Hälsning, en Norrbagge.

[@Deceiver85]

@@chadbailey7038 either one will give you grief 😅

[@Jedda666]

@@chadbailey7038 As long as you don't pick Danish we're good!

[@tuka99norway]

i'm Norwegian, that was great to hear you try a Scandinavian language! feel that you did a good job with only 2 -3 weeks and 2 hours a day to work with

[@Eken04]

For having studied for only two weeks, it’s extremely good. Even as a swede I understood everything you said in Norwegian 🙏🏻

[@uglax2]

I am from norway, and i have to say that your norwegian is extremely good, just after 2 weeks you learned all that? thats crazy man! Alot of props to you.

[@OleBentel]

I've been following you for a couple of years, and I have always wondered how you actually where doing when studying foreign languages. Being a Norwegian myself, I have to say that I'm really impressed with your progress! I moved to a country called Estonia some years ago, and I know how difficult it is to learn a totally foreign language. I just wish I could learn as quick as you do... If you want a challenge, you should try and learn Estonian or Finnish, because it is quite difficult. 🙂 Keep up the good work!

[@mattiaikas1634]

Finn here, just commented on an another one but yea, Finnish and Estonian are from a different branch than Swedish and Norwegian, my best friend is originally from Estonia but now living in Finland although almost 400km from me so she not only speaks Finnish with an Estonian accent but also does it with a different dialect than I so our conversations are usually a hodgepodge of Finnish and English with me trying my very unsure Estonian from time to time :D

[@pownder]

I've always been amazed how Finland is so close to Norway and Sweden but sounds utterly different. Languages are weird but fun

[@Nai_101]

​@@pownder Finnish sounds more like Sámi than anything else

[@ItsameAlex]

cute:3 But I was heartbroken when he said most of the people in Norway were not Norwegian.

[@HippoOnABicycle]

Once you speak one of the Scandinavian languages, you practically get the other 2 for free. Almost all the words are the same in Swedish, Danish and Norwegian, just slightly different spelling and pronunciations. Each language does have it's own unique words (not to mention local slang). but you can usually figure out their meaning from context.

[@blabladuweier8654]

I found Norwegian to sound really similar to German and Flat German at times! That was pretty astounding

[@AthenaLundCO]

Sort of. Except Danish is really difficult to understand, even for a Norwegian and Swedes. I also know a Finnish person who understand Swedish, but not Danish, and barely Norwegian. It takes some training.

[@Kiiiiiisen]

@@blabladuweier8654 Easy answer to this.. Swedish/Norweigan/Danish is a germanic language in the bottom

[@Reavix1]

If you learn Danish, the two others come somewhat free i agree, but not the other way around, Swedes and Norweigans have a harder time understanding us, than we do them in my experience, i can speak all 3 languages fairly well, the trick to being able to communicate with everyone properly is to use old Danish/Swedish/Norweigan, there's alot more similairities in old speech than in new speech, so i'd recommend that to everyone.

[@siesaw1]

i'd be bold to say that this could also be applied for many slavic or balkan languages, they're sort of similar!

[@AriinPHD]

i am shocked how fast you learned so much norwegian. not just words but understanding what is being said too. you are truly amazing!

[@mariusbrunvoll3003]

It was an honor to have you here! Hope you had a great time. Norwegian has an insane amount of dialects (you can drive for 5minutes and they use other words), and usually numerous variants for the same word, so props to you for grasping it that quickly. Tips on better Norwegian food for next time: Fårikål (National dish) or Pinnekjøtt.

[@TS-jd9qs]

I never knew Norway had lots of different dialects! Similar to different regions of England?

[@Williamjohn-pg1ik]

@@TS-jd9qs England has only one dialect

[@felixklusener5530]

@@TS-jd9qs There are not just various dialects in Norway but even two different types of the language with completely different words and grammar. The variants are called Bokmål and Nynorsk. To mention just one example here, the name of the country Norway in Bokmål is Norge but in Nynorsk it's Noreg. Each municipality in Norway can choose to only use one of these two variants or both for official documents.

[@Andraoz85]

Fårikål 🤮 I lived in Norway for 10 years and tried so many times to appreciate this dish. But the smell always made me want to womit 😂

[@babyballerina2000]

@@Williamjohn-pg1ik - there are dozens of dialects in English. Google Geordie, Scouse etc. Lots of regional dialects actually contain words that are shared or very similar to Norwegian. Eg child in Norwegian is "barn", and in the North east of England it's "bairn". These words came over with the vikings and are still in use (foss/force for waterfall is another).

[@XOctagon_NationX]

This reminds me of the time when I learned Norwegian because of you Xiaoma, I had a friend that was from Norway and I have been watching your videos a lot during the time. I saw you learn different languages for 2 weeks or even a month, and it inspired me to learn Norwegian for 2 weeks so I can speak with my friend in Norwegian. I thought it would be easy to learn since it does contain similar vocabulary words like English. During the end of those 2 weeks I was able to have a little bit of a conversation in Norwegian but only because I didn't studied too hard. I was mostly studying 30 minutes at best each day only on Duolingo since I didn't have money for any online tutoring. I've enjoyed learning the language and I didn't want to stop learning it, during my time learning the language, not only I've studied how to speak, read, and listen, but also study it's wonderful land and culture. It's been 352 days since I've started to learned Norwegian and I can tell you it is easy to learn but hard to speak with others because there's lots of dialects in Norway. Even tho I've been studying Norwegian for 352 days, I still had some bit of trouble understanding what the interviewer said in Norwegian, but I'm very impressed that you were still able speak and understand some Norwegian with others for only 2 weeks. This video really made my day, I thought I was dreaming or something was going on with my brain when I saw this video, because Norwegian isn't a big language like French, Spanish, or even Russian. Norwegian isn't a famous language, only 5 million people speak it and most people in Norway can speak English quite well, and because of this many people that want to travel or live in Norway won't really learn Norwegian. I really enjoyed this video from you, and it brings me motivation and happiness that the language I chose to learn because of your videos ended up being the the same challenge and language that I chose as well. Tusen takk for denne videoen

[@kpe6600]

Yeah the dialects are very hard because nearly every ten minutes you drive it sounds like they are speaking a different language

[@erikhellman3974]

As a Swede who also speaks Norwegian, this was an incredible feat Xiaoma!! You pretty much speak swedish now as well :D I'm super impressed with how you manage to stay in the language even in the moments where you struggle. You are an inspiration for sure

[@andersvassli2349]

Feel like it is just easier for Norwegians, Danes and Swedes to understand each other. Because we meet each other alot more and it is just something we know, as a person who does not even know Norwegian that great, wont be able to understand some of the more difficult Swedish words.

[@senchaholic]

@@andersvassli2349 Danes? Speak for yourself 😄🤪😉

[@makedonas6]

As a non-native Norwegian speaker who aus lived in Norway for the last 3 years. I'm super impressed by how much he learned in just 2 weeks. It took me 3 or 4 months to reach his level of Norwegian. Absolutely amazing dude.

[@555pghbob]

I'm an American who lives in Sweden for 12 years now, so I speak Swedish. Norwegian and Swedish are mutually intelligible to native speakers and I would say fluent speakers as well. I understood everything you said and was very impressed with our ability to hold a conversation in Norwegian. Great job...you are no joke, dude! BTW, I'm a 5 language polyglot, but only fluent in about 3 of them. It was a fun video!

[@hdkfshkskfe5186]

Do you understand norweigan as a non native swedish speaker? Most of my immigrant friends struggle a lot with that

[@Lumliet]

As a non native swedish speaker, I understand norwegian if it is bokmål and danish to a small extent. I can read and understand all three languages in written form (then again norwegian more than danish). If you know some key words that are different between the languages it becomes easier!

[@styx85]

As a Norwegian, I have to say I'm super impressed. It usually takes people months to get to this level 😄Bra jobba, Ari!

[@krisjoy5069]

oh god i felt so anxious FOR xiaoma but he really handled himself well!! i know it's hard to remember things under a lot of pressure, especially when his normal language practicing is casual convos on the street about food, and he can choose when he feels comfortable to go out and speak it versus having a set date like this. But he really was able to speak well and remember vocab so much better than the average person would in that situation, GREAT JOBBBBB

[@bosse-1760]

Your norwegian is so good I as a swede can understand what you are saying. Its super fun to hear and listen to you speaking the language in just 2 weeks

[@NorwegianCollector_]

Thank you!! I'm so happy 😊 cheers from a Norwegian. I got to say you did really good just afther 2-3 weeks

[@DavidEEriksen]

This is so weird for me as a Norwegian who has watched you for ages being interested in how you go about languages, after initially just being interested in public reactions to your mandarin. It never crossed my mind that you would ever even attempt Norwegian, at least not on live television... IN NORWAY!

[@LionheartSJZ]

I've been learning Norwegian for almost 3 years now. As a German who also speaks very good English it's probably one of the easiest languages to learn because it's like a mixture of German and English. It's very fun to learn except for the propositions, they are a nightmare. Beautiful language and country :)

[@HenrikR]

jeg har ikke noe problem med norske preposisjoner

[@rukus9585]

​@@HenrikR you struggled more than most elementary students learning Norwegian as a second language. Stop chasing approval.

[@unholylemonpledge9730]

Dont brag

[@theoteddy9665]

interesting you say that, I know no norwegian at all, yet I can almost understand.. seem so familiar , I get word here and there.. btw iam czech, speak fluent english, partial german, polish

[@unholylemonpledge9730]

@@theoteddy9665 *know

[@Banjo163]

Even as a Swede I could understand him without subtitles, very cool!

[@t0rkel]

Same

[@999NRG]

I love how Xiao is always smiling and laughing, I think that has to do something with learning things quickly.

[@darthatrox]

I’m Swedish and I just have to say that you killed this! Like, learning this in 2-3 weeks? I could understand most of it (so basically it was only your accent that was a bit off but that’s expected, + I don’t understand ALL the Norwegian words) but this is MAD impressive! ❤️ Edit: I fixed the grammar

[@onlyduck]

Legend. Love how you are always trying languages can’t wait what country you do next!

[@ChristerBergJohannesen]

Impressive! This is SO cool! Keep up the good work, Xiaoma! 😃

[@Nhicki]

Litterally commented if you were ever gonna learn a Scandinavian language on your video 2 weeks ago lol love to see it! Edit so I just finished the video and funnily enough, I understood you better than the host, being from Denmark I can understand Norwegian for the most part but I think your slower tempo was key.

[@beorlingo]

I'm positive you understood him better than you would an average Dane also!

[@Nhicki]

@@beorlingo lol

[@Aokijji]

@@beorlingo lmao 😂

[@Neophema]

@@beorlingo Nice one. :D

[@xPrimusGamer]

As a native Danish speaker, who has had a limited experience with Norwegian, let me just say you did exceptionally well - I understood 90-95% of what you were saying in Norwegian, which is kind of the same as I would from a native Norwegian speaker :D

[@vajpero]

I agree, but I'm Swedish

[@Ikgeloofhetniet]

Jeg er amerikaner og taler lidt dansk. Jeg kan godt lide det danske sprog! unpopular opinion: Danish is the most lovely of the Scandinavian languages! Hilsen fra Boston!

[@PrincessofthePrincesses]

I wish I knew Norwegian or Danish, I speak Spanish and I understand most of what the Italians,french,and the Portuguese say.

[@ore_red1684]

@@PrincessofthePrincesses Hey we feel tha same about your language

[@ladyfarrier5949]

@@PrincessofthePrincesses Duolingo is a good free option to start learning Norwegian.

[@Abigail-po1wd]

Norwegian was the easiest and fastest language for me to learn as a native English speaker. I find that it's very similar to English and doesn't have any hard pronunciations. BUT after maybe 5 months I was pretty fluent in norwegian but ended up dropping it because no one around me spoke norsk, and it was harder to practice that way. So seeing this video makes me regret dropping it...but I think I could easily pick it up if I really wanted too.

[@SuperThisen]

It's because both are germanic languages. Many english words actually originates from old norse such as, egg, husband, anger, flat, give, ill, knife, knot, lad and so on.

[@blizzero96]

you can for example change your phone language to Norwegian to keep it at "bay" :)

[@vincenzofranchelli2201]

If you have a use for it learn it if you don't you probably better off spending time learning a language you do have a use for. If you don't know anyone to speak it to you probably don't have much use for it

[@Abigail-po1wd]

@@vincenzofranchelli2201 exactly that's why I stopped and started learning other languages because I couldn't use it a lot

[@nic4633]

You should

[@strengthforlife9256]

Hi Ari, I got married to a Norwegian women and moved to Norway from England. I am learning the language here and your videos give me a tremendous amount of motivation! Thanks for your great videos I love watching them and will hopefully learn many more languages after Norwegian.

[@RyanBentz]

Xiaoma: _goes to Norway_ Also Xiaoma: *Everybody speaks Norwegian. I don't know it's making me a little nervous. And they all speak better Norwegian than I do.* Me: Yes.

[@AdaKitten]

I saw this! You did great, don't worry, and they were also very open about how crazy this was for you. Showed you the respect you deserve!

[@joob40]

Oh that is good to know! I've studied Norsk for over a year and couldn't understand the questions!

[@coltoncowan682]

I love Norwegian! What a beautiful language and its so easy to learn for english speakers!

[@g8le]

Ö Ä Å is evidently not easy as proved in this video

[@naruii5160]

@@g8le He only learned for 2 weeks what do you expect

[@coltoncowan682]

@@g8le its easy relative to other languages. Its takes 42-126 weeks to learn a language to an advanced level.

[@wandren912]

@@g8le yeah. I dont understand why americans think it is pronounced "ash".

[@norgnt]

@@g8le Æ, Ø, Å*

[@nordicgaming2572]

Norwegian is pretty hard to learn unless you already speak a language closely connected to it. The fact that you only spent two weeks here and were able to do an interview is pretty impressive. I understood pretty much everything you said. Keep doing what you're doing dude!

[@AnyVideo999]

@@holtergeist English speakers have a significantly harder time understanding old English than a Norwegian I'd wager.

[@nordicgaming2572]

@@AnyVideo999 If you mean pre Shakespeare then yeah, language was primitive back in those days and it's not comparable to any modern day languages.

[@TheCarlScharnberg]

I thought this was very impressive. Language is not about having the perfect grammar or accent (most people will not be able to do that when they learn a new language as an adult - especially not in only two weeks!), it's about being able to communicate clearly, and you did that very well. I understood everything you said, and didn't need to read the subtitles. Really well done!

[@adamkohout4530]

Just wanted to say you inspired me to download Duolingo last month. I have always had an above average ability to grasp foreign language and wanted to see how far I could push myself. I learned some Japanese and Spanish is school, but wanted to supplement those with something completely different and chose Finnish (I'm a big hockey fan). It was cool to see the similar exposure of an American learning a Nordic language. Thanks for the inspiration, Xiaoma!

[@trevwright93]

It sounds he like he was stumbling a bit, but he did amazing regardless. 2 week? I could NEVER do that. 20+ languages and be challenged himself to learn Norwegian in 2 weeks. Good for you man. It’s always a pleasure to watch you’re videos.

[@Alajmi57272]

*your

[@EspenX]

Often when he is stumbling in the interview, it is because it seems he knows a word for it, but wants a more precise word. Like 10:38 "All languages are hard.... are not easy to learn quickly" and ask about impressions on Norwegians, he says "Norwegians have.... are nice" He seems to start a sentence and realize quickly there is an easier and more direct way of conveying the same message. But the way he started saying it was not wrong.

[@DarkAngel2512]

He always uses repetition when getting his sentence out. I'm sure he does it while he is thinking of the next word.

[@contentinGA]

You are incredible! Thanks for putting yourself out there for others to benefit from your interactions!

[@V0r4xiz]

That was bloody fkin impressive man. The balls of steel to sit in a TV studio to do this type of interview... Incredible. Kudos!

[@robotinmyspace7656]

As a Norwegian who has been watching you for a while, this was weird, seeing you speak Norwegian all of a sudden, I was however able to fully understand you, despite the pronunciation of alot of the words being a little odd, which is a given. Great job!

[@cryingforfelix]

Right! It's weird that he's speaking my language now😆

[@PongGod]

Wow, that really takes some courage to accept a challenge like this, but you handled it quite admirably!