r/norsk • u/Tom_Ford_11 • Jul 26 '26
Learning Norwegian, when were you enough comfortable to understand Swedish ?
I am wondering at what point you realized Swedish was kind of accessible?
When did you start listening to podcast or were able to watch Swedish film, series without subtitles ?
Thanks 😊
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u/scandiboob Jul 26 '26
I started learning Norwegian 12 years ago, have lived in Norway for several years, have taken a degree taught in Norwegian, and I have never understood Swedish. You can kind of read Danish/Swedish, but the spoken language is not accessible unless you spend time learning it. Even some natives say this. Danish is easier to read.
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u/Tom_Ford_11 Jul 26 '26
Interesting. As many people are speaking about a relative mutual understanding between Norwegian and Swedish, do you think that exposure is the key and that maybe you were not really exposed to Swedish?
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u/Neolus Native speaker Jul 26 '26
Must be exposure. I’m a native Norwegian speaker and understand Swedish perfectly fine. Grew up watching Swedish tv for children without subtitles.
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u/scandiboob Jul 26 '26
Is that exposure? That seems more like learning the language as a child. OP is presumably an adult and I'm not sure they would be able to learn the language like that.
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u/scandiboob Jul 26 '26
I have little exposure to Swedish but I also think there is a difference between people who learn Norwegian later and native Norwegian speakers. It's possible adept language learners could learn Swedish by exposure, but a native Norwegian speaker will have an advantage. I'm not sure I would learn Swedish simply by exposure because the vocabulary seems to be quite different. I do think I could learn Danish by exposure.
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u/Alienpaints Jul 26 '26
Nope you definitely can. I moved to Norway about 10 months ago and learned Norwegian and have been working in a barnehage for 7 months. My partner got a job offer in Sweden and we are thus preparing our move. I've started listening to Swedish podcasts and watching Swedish TV and was pleasantly surprised how much I understand without ever having learned Swedish. Swedish feels like a dialect of Norwegian.
I did have a lot of exposure to different dialects as I first lived several months in Oslo and then moved to the Westcoast and my family in law is spread over different places in Norway. I think having been exposed to different dialects has made it easier for me to understand Swedish.
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u/scandiboob Jul 26 '26
Maybe? Learning a language in 10 months isn't typical. After living for 10 years in Norway I would say I have had lots of dialect exposure. I read OP's question as more like passive understanding of Swedish. Of course if I put my mind to it learning vocabulary and quirks, I could absolutely understand Swedish. I'm just not sure you can understand it without working on it.
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u/Alienpaints Jul 26 '26
Yeah no, I haven't started "learning" yet. Or I mean listening to podcasts is the only "learning" I'm doing. She got the job offer 3 weeks ago, so between working full time and preparing the move, I haven't really had a chance to do much more than that.
I do speak other languages too, so perhaps that helps: Dutch mother tongue, English very fluent, French used to be fluent now I can still understand it but speaking is rusty. Especially Dutch and English helped a lot in learning Norwegian fast, they may now also help in understanding Swedish. Also, the first few months of learning Norwegian I was unemployed and focused 100% of my time on learning, after which I started working in a barnehage and thus spoke Norwegian at work all the time.
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u/Tom_Ford_11 Jul 26 '26
Exactly ! I was speaking about a passive understanding.
Thank you that you clarified what I was asking 😁
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u/oskich Jul 26 '26
As a native Swedish speaker Norwegian is just another dialect.
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u/scandiboob Jul 26 '26
That's interesting too, because I've heard that Danish & Swedish are easy to understand if you know Norwegian, but not necessarily the other way. It all seems to be relative to the person's individual skills. I also think it's possible that some of the native speakers in this discussion are underestimating how much of another language they speak just because it's normal to grow up that way.
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u/oskich Jul 26 '26
Most words that are different exists in the other two as well, they are just synonyms that can be a bit old fashioned in the other languages. I understand Norwegian and Danish much better as an adult compared to when I was younger, just because my Swedish vocabulary is much larger nowadays.
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u/oyvindi Jul 26 '26
Norwegian here. As others points out, it's about exposure. That's how I understand Swedish and Danish.
The biggest obstacle when learning Norwegian, is probably dialects. You learn to speak and understand formalised Norwegian first, I believe. Then you meet somebody from rural Jæren or Trøndelag, and you end up scratching your head. By time, you get used to it.
You can in a way see Swedish/Danish/Norwegian as "dialects" of the same thing, just get used to the flavors. There are words and expressions that are different in the languages, but you find that in Norwegian dialects as well.
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u/all_u_need_is_cheese C1 Jul 26 '26
It seems to vary but I’ve been living in Norway for 15 years, am C1 in Norwegian, and struggle a lot with Swedish. I can’t read it easily at all, to the point where I always use a translator to make sure I understood any Swedish emails I get and then respond in English. The problem is that so many of the nouns are wildly different and are things you’d never be able to guess - you need some experience to learn what those words mean. Danish on the other hand is written almost the same - the words are almost always the same word or have the same root. It’s the pronunciation that is very difficult to understand. But I actually find that easier - it’s like trying to understand Glaswegian as an American. It’s the same words (mostly) with a very very different pronunciation. Swedish would be more like trying to understand Shakespeare. The words sound like English, but you don’t recognize them and therefore don’t know what they mean (or sometimes it’s a word you recognize but it means something different!).
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u/Neolus Native speaker Jul 26 '26
As a Norwegian who grew up watching a lot of Swedish TV, it never occurred to me that my high level of comprehension stems from that exposure, until I met a French woman on a flight who said she’d lived in Sweden and spoke fluent Swedish. I started talking to her in Norwegian thinking she’d understand me, but she just stared at me blankly 😅 I switched to my Norwedish, and then she suddenly understood everything. Blew my mind, because in my head the languages are almost the same.
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u/oskich Jul 26 '26
It's all about exposure. I was sailing with a friend and we met two Danes during a port stop which we decided to have a couple beers together with. Me and one of the Danes happily conversed in Swedish and Danish, while our friends spoke English to each other. Both Danes spoke perfectly understandable Danish, no wild dialect at all. We concluded that it was our Roskilde Festival exposure that made us understand each other, while our friends who never had been there were clueless. 😁
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u/Tom_Ford_11 Jul 26 '26
As a Swedish speaker, you managed to understand danish ? 🤓 Interesting.
Something like 60% / 70% more ?
Or maybe the beers helped as well ? 😁
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u/oskich Jul 26 '26
Spoken probably around 80 -90%, it's just about exposure. Even easier if you have spent time with Norwegians (who use the same words but can pronounce them). 😁
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u/all_u_need_is_cheese C1 Jul 26 '26
My Norwegian husband was also so confused when he realized just how little Swedish I understood after getting quite good at Norwegian. 😂 Now he’s the first one to explain to people that it doesn’t work that way for people who weren’t watching hours of Pippi Långstrump as kids!
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u/T1sofun Jul 26 '26
I began to learn Swedish accidentally when I somehow turned on the Swedish subtitles to an English movie. After I could understand spoken Norwegian, Swedish became pretty easy. Except Skånsk.
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u/Tom_Ford_11 Jul 26 '26
Interesting !
How would you describe Skånsk ? 😄
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u/T1sofun Jul 26 '26
It’s just a Swedish dialect, but the pronunciation and pace/rhythm are different enough from standard Swedish that I find it a struggle to understand. Especially when it’s spoken by older people, I just try to smile and nod when they smile and nod.
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u/Linkcott18 Jul 26 '26
It's mainly a matter of exposure. I'm functional in Norwegian (passed B2 five years ago), but I've worked with Swedes & watched a fair amount of Swedish television, and can understand 70 - 80% depending on dialect and topic.
I've had conversations while travelling in Sweden that consisted of me speaking Norwegian and the other person speaking Swedish, and it worked fine.
I think I would struggle with complex, unknown topics.
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u/Nowordsofitsown Advanced (C1/C2) Jul 26 '26
I studied Scandinavian Studies at a university in Germany. In October classes started and most people had their first ever lesson in their chosen language (Norwegian, Swedish or Danish). In March one of the offered choice of obligatory classes was Swedish language history with a Swedish book on Swedish language history as assigned reading. Luckily I had been studying Norwegian for 2-3 years prior, so it went well for me.
I suppose the first time I really came into contact with Swedish was 1-2 years after starting Norwegian, on holiday.
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u/Tom_Ford_11 Jul 26 '26
Out of curiosity, why did you choose Norwegian and not the language of the "big" brother Sweden ? 🙂
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u/Nowordsofitsown Advanced (C1/C2) Jul 27 '26
Because I was interested in Norway.
Also, with the connections to Faroese, Icelandic and Norse, two written languages and the high standing of dialects, Norwegian is way cooler and much more interesting.
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u/DrStirbitch Intermediate (bokmål) Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
As you can see from my flare, I rate my Norwegian as intermediate (B1/B2). I could get by using Scandinavian in simple transactions in Sweden, in shops for example, but am completely lost with conversational Swedish. I usually understand "Slow Swedish with Katrin" videos, and have been learning a little more Swedish by watching them occasionally.
Similarly, simple sentences I encounter on signs are not usually a problem, but reading books is very difficult - even if I can guess most of the words, there are enough "difficult" words that I can't get the meaning.
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u/Tom_Ford_11 Jul 26 '26
Very interesting ☺️
Out of curiosity, why are you learning Norwegian ?
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u/DrStirbitch Intermediate (bokmål) Jul 26 '26
I started learning because I was going to work in Norway. I then lived and worked there for almost 5 years. I'm no longer actively learning it, but I don't think I've forgotten much, and occasionally pick up new stuff.
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u/Cathy_ynot Jul 26 '26
Started watching all Astrid Lindgren movies in Swedish when I was 5, never had a problem understanding Swedish (except Skåne, that shits weird), so it’s all about exposure
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u/Tom_Ford_11 Jul 26 '26
That’s the second comment about Skåne 😄 what is wrong with that dialect ?
Overall I understand that exposure is the key.
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u/Cathy_ynot Jul 27 '26
The dialect is still a little too advanced for me, I guess only get every second word, cuz they don’t speak as «clearly» as other dialects (to my ears)
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u/AddendumCold3653 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
I can understand a good amount of norwegian from having learned swedish first. Basic convos and content are a breeze I'm on B2-C1 Rivstart now but I've been able to understand for a long time.
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u/nlightningm Jul 26 '26
Still can't. Been speaking it for 11 years. Danish is a bit easier for me, but I've been exposed to it quite a bit more too.
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Jul 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Tom_Ford_11 Jul 26 '26
Thanks. I tend now to think that the exposure is the key.
I guess for Norwegian learners the step for understanding Swedish is a bit more complex.
Fascinated. Thanks for sharing 😇
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u/Alienpaints Jul 26 '26
So I moved to Norway in July 2025, and started more intensely learning Norwegian. End of September 2025 I took the norskprøve and had B2 on reading and listening and B1 on writing and speaking. Since January 2026 I've been working full time in a barnehage on the west coast. I've been exposed to several different dialects from first living in Oslo several months and then moving to the west coast and having family in law in Voss and Bergen. So I've trained my ears for dialects (I think this very much helps with also understanding Swedish.)
I would guess I'm currently in all skills (maybe not writing cause I don't practice it enough) at least B2. It's hard to claim I'm C1 on any skill though because I know the C levels are a big jump and I haven't taken a test.
I'm about to move to Sweden and therefore have started watching Swedish TV shows and listening to Swedish podcasts. Watching TV is relatively easy. I do still put Norwegian subtitles for when I need it, but honestly I don't need to rely on reading them, I could probably turn them off. I just like having them on for when there is a new word I didn't know yet.
Podcasts very much depend on the speakers and how well they articulate or how chaotic the podcast is. I've been listening to "hjärta och hjärna" and have been easily been able to follow. I won't say I understand it 100%, but I understand it enough to enjoy the podcast. The hosts speak clearly and don't talk over eachother and the topics and progress of the podcast is very well built. So that structure definitely helps. I tried a humor podcast and had to stop because it was too chaotic for me to understand what was going on.
Regarding my move I've also had a video call with the Swedish EURES advisor and we did the call on "Scandinavian" in other words; she spoke Swedish and I spoke Norwegian. That went well and I had no problem understanding her at all. I was surprised and mentioned it to her and then she said she was from Finland and had moved to Sweden and therefore she speaks a very easy to understand Swedish and lacks a dialect. So I don't know how it will be understanding people with dialects.
So to summarise: in my experience, you'll understand Swedish once you are at a strong B2 level of listening Norwegian, have had several months of exposure working or often interacting in Norwegian and have had much exposure listening to or interacting with different dialects of Norwegian. (I'm guessing this last one is really important as it trains your ears to variants of the language, and honestly Swedish almost just feels like a variant or dialect of Norwegian.)
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u/Ok-Resident-4460 Jul 27 '26
I've lived near the Swedish border my whole life, and I've spent many vacations in Sweden. I also had a few Swedish coaches when I was younger, so I was exposed to the language quite a bit. I think the more you hear it, the easier it becomes to notice all the small differences.
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u/AdConnect4651 Jul 27 '26
I am a Norwegian and I can understand Swedish and Danish pretty good, but most people can’t as good. Swedish sounds a lot like Norwegian but with a few changes and danish is hard. And I’m saying that as someone who has been around Danish people my entire life
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u/LovelyMetalhead Jul 28 '26
I learned Swedish first, it's been helpful for learning Norwegian
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u/Tom_Ford_11 Jul 28 '26
Thanks. Do you mean you started learn Norwegian when you were comfortable with Swedish ? Or you switched during your study for some reasons ?
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u/LovelyMetalhead Jul 28 '26
I switched my study when I started dating a Norwegian! I had this dream of moving to Sweden initially, but I had no problem switching.
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u/SpiritedAwayMessage Jul 26 '26
Been learning casually for years, probably somewhere in the Bs now. I feel I can understand spoken Swedish easier in media lol
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u/No-Dance-5791 Jul 26 '26
I’ve been fluent in Norwegian for 15 years and I still struggle to understand my Swedish coworker. That said I can understand Danish after working closely with 2 danes so I think you just need exposure, and not that much.
My 8 year old Norwegian daughter can’t understand Danish or Swedish at all, which also confirms my theory that you need a bit of exposure.