…just some of my favorite words!

I love languages.  I can’t speak anything but English fluently, but I’ve learned enough snippets of other languages that I manage to meld in a French word if I’m trying to remember a Portuguese phrase. Of if I try to remember a word in Arabic, I can only think of the Hawaiian term.  Languages are interesting and I love trying to see where the word I’ve learned fits in with the English language.

Of course Norwegian is my specialty.

I would sit underneath the dining room table and quietly listen as Mom spoke on the phone back to Norway to her parents, my grandparents, known in Norwegian as Bestemor and Bestefar. It was always easy for my friends to know which set of grandparents I was talking about. I had Grandma and Grandpa and I had Bestemor and Bestefar.

I was only three on our first visit over to Norway and the story I’ve heard is that I could understand everything said in Norwegian but refused to speak.  My friend/babysitter while I was there, Kjersti, was walking down the street to come get me to play but it was dinner time.  My back was to the window.  Bestemor was trying to make sure I wasn’t distracted and would eat so she told my mom in Norwegian that she was going to go to the door and tell Kjersti to come back later.  I quickly replied that I wanted to play now!  It was then that they knew they couldn’t get Norwegian past me.  My understanding now isn’t quite as good, but I can, for the most part, pick up the gist of a conversation in Norwegian.

I had hoped my three years living in Norway would allow me to improve my fluency in Norwegian but my friend pool was very diverse – Norwegian, Brazilian, Icelandic, Danish, Italian, Swedish, and Canadian to name a few – English was our common ground.  I did learn more being around family members there who spoke Norwegian, but then I went back to my home in Stavanger and back to the internationally used and recognized English.

My current deployment has been fun for learning new words and languages.  My friend Jussi from Finland taught me that I need to scowl my eyebrows when I say Finnish words because I’m just too darn happy to say them right!  The Georgian Soldiers that provide our security and scan ID cards taught me hello, thank you, how are you, I’m fine, and and how are you in Georgian.  I looked up how to respond to how are you with I’m tired which always made for a good laugh.

The interpreters and Afghan liaison officers I worked with taught me how to say thank you and the basic greetings in Dari.  Those were harder for me because I couldn’t get the words to make sense to me like Germanic languages do, but I’m happy to have learned them.

So back to the words I shared at the beginning. Those are just a few of my favorite words in Norwegian.  Kveldshimmelen means evening sky and I feel it has such a pretty ring to it.  Fantastisk is just what is sounds like, fantastic – but what a great version of it!  Flinke. This is a word you hear many adults praise children with, which I think makes it even more special.  It means clever!  And lastly, koselig. It doesn’t technically translate to English, but it’s a general feeling of coziness, love, and being comfortable.

What are some of your favorite words?  Please feel free to share!