Learning a new language is never easy. Learning a niche language with limited resources is even more difficult.

In a previous post we looked at the pros and cons of various Nordic languages, as well as difficulties of particular ones.

This followed on from an earlier piece in which we drew attention to the recent offering by language learning website Duolingo. This gives learners the ability to learn both Danish and Swedish, however Norwegian is still in the beta phase.

My plan is to learn the language using rival website Memrise, which offers a number of free courses in Norwegian.

As Norway is an extremely wealthy country with a limited number of expats involved in teaching the language overseas to foreigners, there are not many opportunities to learn it in London.

This is perhaps unsurprising given that niche languages are always harder to get materials and teachers for, however this also means that those that take the plunge will helpfully be rewarded with the opportunity to do business in one of Europe’s strongest economies.

I will be documenting my efforts to build up a repertoire of phrases and idioms while also getting my head around the intricacies of Norwegian grammar.