Norwegian Children
Yesterday, Arild and I went to a friend's house who has two small children. I just love listening to them speak! I can actually understand more of what they have to say than adults. I'm assuming because children probably emphasize more on syllables.
What impressed me most was these two children ages 5 and 3 knew a little English! They could count to 12 in English and the 5 year old knew colors in English. Arild's friend, her dad, would name a color, rosa for example and he would ask her, "Hva er rosa på engelsk?" (What is pink in English?). She'd reply back with "PINK!". They did this with about 5 colors and she knew the English words to them. It was very impressive to watch!
I was later informed that on the show Dora the Explorer in Norway even though there are Norwegian voice overs, one of Dora's friends speaks only English so it helps the children learn English. I know in America Dora helps kids with Spanish and I'm not sure if she also uses Spanish in the show in Norway or if it's only English. I forgot to ask about that. Anyways, children in Norway are now learning English at earlier ages and formally it begins when they begin grade school at age 6. My husband's generation began learning English at school when he was around age 9, but he says he already knew some English before then thanks to cartoons and video games.
In today's time there is a larger percentage of the oldest generation who only speak Norwegian, but in 20-30 years or so it's thought the entire population of Norway will be fluent in English.
What impressed me most was these two children ages 5 and 3 knew a little English! They could count to 12 in English and the 5 year old knew colors in English. Arild's friend, her dad, would name a color, rosa for example and he would ask her, "Hva er rosa på engelsk?" (What is pink in English?). She'd reply back with "PINK!". They did this with about 5 colors and she knew the English words to them. It was very impressive to watch!
I was later informed that on the show Dora the Explorer in Norway even though there are Norwegian voice overs, one of Dora's friends speaks only English so it helps the children learn English. I know in America Dora helps kids with Spanish and I'm not sure if she also uses Spanish in the show in Norway or if it's only English. I forgot to ask about that. Anyways, children in Norway are now learning English at earlier ages and formally it begins when they begin grade school at age 6. My husband's generation began learning English at school when he was around age 9, but he says he already knew some English before then thanks to cartoons and video games.
In today's time there is a larger percentage of the oldest generation who only speak Norwegian, but in 20-30 years or so it's thought the entire population of Norway will be fluent in English.
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