Ye Olde Pub (The English Pub)

[AlanPartridge]

I'm going to see Spurs v West Brom at the world famous White Hart Lane. My fifth match there this season!

[Bear^]

I've been in Scotland only once and that gave me the taste for more, wish I could go back there soon but work and money prevents me. A shame really, want to go back to that guesthouse in Larges, very nice place.

 

Many places I want to visit when I think about it, been hopelessly stuck in Norway for quite some time now, perhaps the time to travel around some has come

Endret 30. april 2009 av Bear^

[Lidskjalv]

London's Tube system is fascinating. The city had been impossible to travel across without. That said, The Londoners are not quite that fascinating. They can sometimes be quite impatient to foreigners. And of course, you understand every word of what they say, even if it sounds like a scene form Train Spotting..

[Allighiero]

And don't forget to say please to a Londoner!

[kris98]

I guess that must have been the reason for all the grumpy looks I received.

[Moraelyn]

I did not expect to see an English Pub here. I guess this is a good place to say hello.

 

My name is Moraelyn (the only one in Norge). I met a crazy woman, five years ago, ended up getting married, and then two years ago I woke up in Norway. I didn't see that coming, I can assure you. I'm 34 years old.

 

Norway has been a wonderful place to live. The only complaint I have is that PC hardware is so hard to get here. I end up importing a lot. The people are nice, the nature is nice, the cold winters are nice. I can read and write norsk pretty well, but I have real difficulty when speaking it. My brain and my mouth don't often agree with each other. When I speak norsk the words get mixed up. I went to Esso once around midnight and tried to buy house insurance.

 

Anyway, hello to you all, and happy 17.mai.

[kris98]

Glad to hear

The speaking-part will come in time. I've studied German for about four years now and I'm still just as terrible as I was the first year. Well, in any case, happy 17th of May!

[Lidskjalv]

I did not expect to see an English Pub here. I guess this is a good place to say hello.

 

My name is Moraelyn (the only one in Norge). I met a crazy woman, five years ago, ended up getting married, and then two years ago I woke up in Norway. I didn't see that coming, I can assure you. I'm 34 years old.

 

Norway has been a wonderful place to live. The only complaint I have is that PC hardware is so hard to get here. I end up importing a lot. The people are nice, the nature is nice, the cold winters are nice. I can read and write norsk pretty well, but I have real difficulty when speaking it. My brain and my mouth don't often agree with each other. When I speak norsk the words get mixed up. I went to Esso once around midnight and tried to buy house insurance.

 

Anyway, hello to you all, and happy 17.mai.

 

Hahaha. Good story. Well, it's maybe a common obstacle in order to learn to speak Norwegian, that Norwegians most speak and understand English fairly good. So much of the essential dialogue and communication is based on the obvious common factor - English. Good luck with mastering Norwegian. If you need to debate any issues, regardless of what, you are always welcome to come to The Pub and have a chat here with the rest of the lads.

 

Regards

[Bear^]

I did not expect to see an English Pub here. I guess this is a good place to say hello.

 

My name is Moraelyn (the only one in Norge). I met a crazy woman, five years ago, ended up getting married, and then two years ago I woke up in Norway. I didn't see that coming, I can assure you. I'm 34 years old.

 

Norway has been a wonderful place to live. The only complaint I have is that PC hardware is so hard to get here. I end up importing a lot. The people are nice, the nature is nice, the cold winters are nice. I can read and write norsk pretty well, but I have real difficulty when speaking it. My brain and my mouth don't often agree with each other. When I speak norsk the words get mixed up. I went to Esso once around midnight and tried to buy house insurance.

 

Anyway, hello to you all, and happy 17.mai.

 

I have woken up some unexpected places the day after but I have to admit you take the first price of strange places to wake up at.

 

The cold winters are nice? Tell me, where do you live in Norway? I don't find the cold winters nice at all, I hate waking up in the morning and have to shovel 3 meters of snow just to find my car, then have to get ice away from every screen on my car just to be able to drive. In wintertime I always have to prepare the whole ordeal with at least 20 mins before I normaly start driving to work. I have nothing against the snow when I have the day of from work, but I truly hate it when I have workdays

 

Insurance at a gas station, well that I have to admit is a case of "Lost in translation". I work at a hotel and have heard a few strange things here so don't worry, you're not alone.

[Moraelyn]

Thank you for the greetings.

 

About the cold winters... I should clarify that I am american, not british. (My apologies.) I spent six years prior to coming to Norway, in Phoenix, Arizona. For a cold winter, with snow, I had to drive two hours north into the mountains of Flagstaff. The temperatures in Phoenix rarely ever fall below freezing. I now live between Sandefjord and Larvik.

 

I would much rather have it nice and cold than endure the burning desert another year. Though I admit, I think that northern Norway would be a little too cold for my tastes.

 

In regards to languages, I feel you guys (norwegians) are really lucky to have more options in youth school. They don't teach norsk in the US; you have your choice of French, German, Spanish, and sometimes, Latin or Italian. They are all primarily voluntary. Any other language has to be learned at a college or university, at your own expense.

[Bear^]

Ah, that explains some, here where I live we can have around -15 degrees in the wintertime but since I live in Lofoten and it's an island we can have varioations from -15 to -2 in less than 20 mins driving. So it's a bit crazy here in wintertimes but you get used to it, just learn to love the unexpected.

 

About the options in education, well, we don't have it. English is mandatory from the day you start school. I don't know exactly how it is this days, but at least when you hit the "videregående" which would I think translate to "College (it's from around 16 to 18-19, correct me if I'm wrong) you have to choose between French or German, no option given. If you flunk at that you don't get your degree, if you don't get your degree you can't go into the higher educational systems. I flunked several times in french before I made it and now I'm to tired of the school to even consider going into higher education. That's the big flaw with our educational system, it drives people mental and bored of the school and when they're done with the mandatory schools they just leave it to that and go out working or traveling. There are no joy in learning in the norwegian educatinoal system, it's forced on you from you're 6 years old until you hit 18-19. In my opinion the norwegian school system is hopelessly old aged and needs some upgrades here and there.

[Allighiero]

but at least when you hit the "videregående" which would I think translate to "College (it's from around 16 to 18-19, correct me if I'm wrong) you have to choose between French or German, no option given.

 

In the US it would translate to high school, whereas in the UK it can be called sixth form or college. And now you can choose Spanish as well if you want to.

 

That's the big flaw with our educational system, it drives people mental and bored of the school and when they're done with the mandatory schools they just leave it to that and go out working or traveling. There are no joy in learning in the norwegian educatinoal system, it's forced on you from you're 6 years old until you hit 18-19. In my opinion the norwegian school system is hopelessly old aged and needs some upgrades here and there.

 

Compared to England, where I live now, I think the norwegian school system is quite good. According to my friends here there's a lot of people who take gap years for travelling and working because they're tired of school, and their version of "videregående" is only 2 years, and they have less hours than in Norway as well. To be honest I don't really think it is possible to make the vast majority enjoy school that much, and I can perfectly understand people who want to go travelling a bit.

[Bear^]

Ah ok, thanks Allighiero for the information, I've always mixed the grades up when I try to compare schoolsystems accross the borders

 

Perhaps I should mention I left the school at 2004 and went through youth school from 1990 to 1999 back when the obligation was 9 years and not 10 years and you started at the age of 7 not the age of 6. So it might have changed. But I think they can make the education more interesting by a healthy mix of theory classes and practical classes. I can understand that school is boring when all you do is sitt there and listen to an old hag (sorry, my french teacher was one and I tend to compare every teachers with her) droning along about things you honestly don't care a squib about. So a few changes could be done to improve that. My sister is into the class of childcare, higher education, and she's at the moment working at a school and she has the same view as I have but her base is of what she sees at the school where she is working. The school system should be changed so it feels more fun to learn.

[henbruas]

It might actually have been a lot better when you were still in school, because the amount of theory have only been increasing.

[Moraelyn]

This is an interesting conversation. My wife and I have a four month old daughter. As a new father, my perspective on schooling is changing. I won't have to worry about it for five more years, but it is certainly nice to get a better understanding of Norway's system well ahead of time. Thanks for the comments.

 

I wasn't aware that english was a mandatory course. Are other languages optional?

[henbruas]

In eight grade, you will have to choose either Spanish, French, German or to have extra classes in either Norwegian or English. In High School (videregående) you will have to choose either Spanish, French or German, but only as long as you choose the theoretical direction called Studiespesialisering.

[Molotovcocktail]

Hello fellow Englishmen, I've got an English exam tomorrow and I'm so bloody nervous. The last time I had an English exam, I really cocked it up. Hope that's not gonna happen this time, but I'm still feeling really anxious about the exam. Any of you fine chaps got an advice for a nervous bloke like me?

[CypheroN]

Don't worry, the exam is no problem for you, mate

 

Why are you nervous by the way? I would be a bit nervous if it was an Oral exam, but I guess that's not what you have tomorrow, am I right?

 

Just write an essay, man

[Euklid]

Any of you fine chaps got an advice for a nervous bloke like me?

Read, read, read.

[Bear^]

This is an interesting conversation. My wife and I have a four month old daughter. As a new father, my perspective on schooling is changing. I won't have to worry about it for five more years, but it is certainly nice to get a better understanding of Norway's system well ahead of time. Thanks for the comments.

 

I wasn't aware that english was a mandatory course. Are other languages optional?

 

They are optional to a degree, you can't pass highschool level unless you chose one of the languages and they last for 3 years now if I've gotten it right. I flunked on French like said before. You have however to chose one of the languages wether you like it or not. So it's an optional mandatory if that combination can be used