La norma de una lengua/ The prescriptive standard of a language

La correcta escritura, el buen uso del léxico y el dominio de las reglas gramaticales constituyen los tres grandes ámbitos que regula la norma de una lengua.

Frase con la que empieza la presentación de la Ortografía de la lengua española (2010).

Proper writing, good use of vocabulary and command of the rules of grammar constitute the three main areas regulated by the prescriptive standard of a language.

Opening sentence of the introduction of Ortografía de la lengua española (2010).

Fire/Fuego

It is snowing outside, or freezing, or the wind brings horribly chilly drafts that make your spine go stiff and you have gosebumps all over. What you want is get home, make yourself a nice warm cup of coffee, grasp a book and sit by the fireplace. The smell of the wood as it burns is synonym of home here in the north of Europe. Is there anything cosier than fire in the fireplace? Fire (fuego) and home (hogar) are the same thing in Spanish, since both words share the same etymological source: fuego derives from latin focus, and hogar comes from focāris, an adjective which in turns derives from focus.

Here is how I prepare the wood and start the fire in my house. This is how I make my house a home.

Imagina que está nevando, o helando, o que sopla un viento helado que te tensa el espinazo y te eriza toda la piel. Lo que seguramete te apetezca es llegar a casa, hacerte una buena taza caliente de café, agarrar un libro y sentarte junto a la chimenea. Aquí, en el norte de Europa, el olor a leña ardiendo evoca la idea de hogar. ¿Hay acaso algo más acogedor que el fuego de una hoguera? Fuego y hogar son la misma cosa. De hecho, en español ambas palabras comparten una misma fuente etimológica: fuego del latín focus, y hogar del latín focāris, que es un adjetivo derivado, a su vez, de focus.

Así preparo la madera y enciendo el fuego en mi casa. Así es como hago de mi casa un hogar.

Ax and wood/ Hacha y leña

Here is all you need/ Esto es todo lo que necesitas

Here’s the fireplace and the tools/ He aquí la chimenea y las herramientas

Let air come in/ Permite que entra un poco de aire

This is what you will feed the fire with/ con esto alimentas el fuego

Chop up the wood in small pieces/ corta la leña en astillas

Small wood to start the fire/ Leña pequeña para empezar

A big log sets the fire/ Un tronco mayor termina de prender el fuego

Learning Norwegian #04

Yes/No Questions / Jei/Nei Spørsmål

Spørsmål –Question	Svar–Answer
Snakker dere spansk? Do you speak Spanish?	Ja, litt. Yes, a little.
Forstår du arabisk? Do you understand arabic?	Ja, jeg forstår arabisk. Yes, I understand arabic.
Kommer du fra Gran Canaria? Do you come from Gran Canaria?	Nei, jeg kommer ikke fra Gran Canaria. No, I don’t come from Gran Canaria.
Leser du norsk? Do you read Norwegian?	Nei, jeg leser ikke norsk. No, I don’t read Norwegian.

Notice that…

• The verb goes in the first position within the question structure.
  
• Unlike English, in Norwegian we don’t have to use a modal verb to make the question.
  
• ‘Ikke’ goes after the verb to make a negative answer.

Learning Norwegian #03

A dialogue / En dialog

Hei! Hyggelig å se deg!	Hi! Nice to see you!
I like måte.	Likewise.
Hva gjør du?	What are you doing?/What do you do?
Jeg drikker kaffe og leser.	I drink/am drinking coffee and read/reading.
Leser du norsk?	Do you read/are you reading Norwegian?
Nei, nå leser jeg engelsk. Jeg    forstår ikke så mye norsk. Men jeg forstår engelsk ganske bra.	No, now I read/am reading English. I don’t understand so much Norwegian. But I understand English quite well.
Du er ganske flink i norsk også!	You are also quite good at Norwegian!

Some verbs in the infinitive:

1. Å gjøre –to do
2. Å drikke –to drink
3. Å lese –to read
4. Å forstå –to understand
5. Å være –to be

Notice that…

• Both the present simple and the present continuous in English are equivalent to the Norwegian present.
  
• The present in Norwegian is generally made by adding the suffix ‘-r’ to the infinitive (e.g.: Å drikke – jeg drikker).
  
• ‘Ikke’ is one of the words in Norwegian that one can hear the most, and it means ‘do not’. It is used to negate the verb in the sentence (e.g.: Jeg drikker kaffee –I drink coffee; Jeg drikker ikke kaffee –I don’t drink coffee).
  

Learning Norwegian #02

Interrogative Pronouns / Spørreord

Hva	What
Hvor	Where
Hvem	Who
Hvordan	How
Hvilken	Which
Hvorfor	Why
Når	When

1. Hva heter du? – What is your name?
2. Hvor bor du? – Where do you live?
   
3. Hvem skriver hun til?    – Who does she write to?
   
4. Hvordan lærer du norsk? – How are you learning Norwegian?
5. Hvilke språk snakker de? – Which languages do they speak?
6. Hvorfor ringer du meg? – Why do you call me?
7. Når spiser du middag? – When do you have dinner?

Notice that…

• The ‘h’ in the interrogative pronouns is never pronounced at all.
• The letter ‘ø’ is another vowel in the Norwegian alphabet. Its pronunciation is kind of similar to but not exactly like the vowel in the English words ‘bird’ or ‘stir’ in standard British English.
  

Learning Norwegian #01

Subject pronouns / Subjekt Pronomen

Jeg	I
Du	You (singular)
Han	He
Hun	She
Vi	We
Dere	You (plural)
De	They

1. Jeg heter Víctor. – My name is Víctor.
2. Du går på norskkurs. – You go to Norwegian lessons.
3. Han kommer fra Gran Canaria.    – He comes from Gran Canaria.
4. Hun bor i Las Palmas. – She lives in Las Palmas.
5. Vi snakker engelsk og norsk hver dag. – We speak English and Norwegian every day.
6. Dere leser avisen, men de leser boken. – You read the newspaper, but they read the book.

Notice that…

• Og = and
  
• Men = but
  
• ‘Å’ is a vowel in the Norwegian alphabet, and it is always pronounced as the ‘o’ in the English word ‘sport’ or ‘au’ in ‘autumn’.