I have been wondering how widespread the use of English is in Norway. I really want to learn the native language of wherever I end up living so I will have to start learning Norwegian, but it would be a nice transition if bi - trilingualism included l'anglais
so, basically, do lot's of people understand english, or is it like Malta where mostly the younger generation speaks it, or are you just an odd one? :D
(I really don't want to be the dumb american who can't be bothered to learn the language.. god help me if i'm ever looked upon like i look upon the illegal mexican's in our country...although I am kind of ok with the illegal immigrants who bother to learn english)

I think all scandinavian countries are the same regarding english. It's mandatory in school.

Therefore "everybody" is capable of speaking english. (I use capable because there will be all between the people sounding exactly like americans or englishmen and then there will be the cases of Swedish chef)

The problem being on the other hand that it tends to be very hard for a foreigner to learn the native language without going to a class for it, because everyone tend to speak english with foreigners!

I had a French friend that learned to write and speak Korean within 6 months of living there.
He then lived 6 years in Sweden and NEVER learned Swedish more then the casual and odd sentences. We all spoke English to him and it drove him nuts! :-P

Hihi :p No, I think most adults and most of the youth know Norwegian, and many old people too. If you're an adult and don't know English, you would probably have difficulties finding a job, because so much is in English. Also, many of the study programes are in English, for example computer studies and many economic studies. So at least most of the youth and adults know a lot of English - but the women are usually better at the pronounciation part :p Here's an example: YouTube - Thorbjørn Jagland (Nobel Committee ) speech for Barack Obama

By the way, the word "ja" is pronounced with a soft "j", so it sounds more like "ya" :)

It's not hard to get into Norway, it's really simple actually, harder to get into the states! Though a job offer speeds it up alot. If you live in a European contry, example Germany (Eller Nederland, mange Nederlendere som flytter til Norge) they bearly have to fill in papers:rolleyes:

Superbump aside, it's good to see some fellow Norwegians here. :D
(Østlending her.)

Do you play Norwegian Black Metal? o.o

No, I don't :p

Vel, da jeg skulle søke etter informasjon, kom jeg over en blogg om en dame som var forlovet med en amerikaner, hvor forloveden ville bosette seg i Norge. Hun skrev om alle problemene de støtte på, og om prosessen generelt. De endte opp med å ansette en advokat, fordi det var såpass lett å fylle ut feil, overse noe, osv. Jeg vet ikke om det er noen forskjell på Europa og Amerika, jeg har bare erfaring med ikke-Europeiske land, type Asia og N-Afrika. :) Enkelte har ventet i flere år, men det er jo selvsagt annerledes enn for amerikanere. Beklager at det ble på norsk, jeg forsøkte å skrive det på engelsk først, men er ikke like lett å formulere seg da. ^^

I lige måde :D Jeg er en Oslo-ing :p