I Learned Norwegian in 2 Weeks Then Went on Live TV in Norway

This is the story of how I learned to speak Norwegian in two weeks and then flew to Norway and spoke it with a journalist on the TV show of VG, Norway’s biggest newspaper. It was an incredible challenge and thanks so much to VG and Thomas Bløndal for putting me up to it.

0:00 Intro
0:57 Norwegian journalist challenges me
1:29 Sponsored by Displate
2:22 Day 1 – study schedule
3:50 Day 3 – this is hard!
4:42 Day 6 – Norwegian words sound like curse words in English
4:59 Day 10 – surprising Norwegian strangers with my Norwegian
7:53 Flying to Norway & my first impressions
8:51 Interview on Norwegian TV
14:11 Conclusion

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[kien]

I couldnt believe my eyes when i saw Xiaoma sitting in a little restaurant in the middle of Oslo, had a little chat with him and asked him jokingly is he gonna learn norwegian, to which he responded in norwegian, absolute mad lad 💯

[gullinkambe]

For those of you wondering, he has a thick english accent but everything is fully understandable. Truly impressive for such a short time practicing.

[prospect]

As a norwegian I have to say I was really impressed, learning norwegian at a level this decent in 2 *weeks* is actually insane

[Carrot]

I am so impressed! I'm Norwegian and you did great! Learning to hold a conversation in another language in just a couple of weeks is incredible. And no, I dont think any Norwegians would consider it cultural apropriation to wave our flag. XD

[JoelCreates]

Norwegian is a great language for English speakers to learn, most of the difficulty lies in pronunciation and cadence. I enjoyed the video!

[alvidoranwashere]

Bro i’m Swedish and even I can confirm this is good. An American guy learns Norwegian in 2 weeks, and a Swede can understand. Mad respect.

[blacksmirf]

It’s absolutely insane how quick he picks up languages, I’m fluent in Norwegian and I understood every sentence and point he was trying to get across. Not sure what’s more impressive him remembering the words on the spot or understanding the questions from the interviewer🤯

[amoolyanarayan]

What i love most about your videos is how you show the struggle of trying to be understood. You may fumble, or have an accent or be slower but you persevere. And that makes you learn. It's fantastic how you're learning in front of us all!

[TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

His ability to learn languages so quickly is truly amazing

[xerxes-music]

Norwegian here - you did absolutely incredible. You made perfect sense and some of the words I think we should change to the way you said it. For instance brus (soda) sounded way cooler when you say it 😂

[stevensavoie]

His Norwegian is very fascinating. It's generally terrible as far as grammar, word usage and pronunciation goes... but for 2 weeks it's *astoundingly(!)* good. Yet he makes mistakes that I wouldn't expect from someone who used more time than him but can survive a basic conversation/interview...

At the same time, he sometimes uses words that fit a lot better than the textbook stuff that you'd have to cobble together to get your point out; he didn't rely on textbooks after all.

I've never heard anything like it.

[MilkJugA_]

The great thing about learning Norwegian is that 80% of it translates into Swedish and Danish, so it's very efficient. It's also not too far off English

[santumos]

I’ve been learning Norwegian in Norway for almost two years. The level and progress shown here was very comparable to that of someone who’s been learning the language for at least 6 months (with dedication). Impressed. I would shit my pants if I had to go on live TV

[NorwegianNationalist]

Norwegian speaker here, man you did really well. I’m surprised about how little grammatical mistakes you made, and you responded correctly to every question.

[craigevans]

As someone who’s previously worked in Norway for 10 months and has now lived here for one year and has just started Norskkurs I find it not only unbelievable what you achieved in two weeks but also inspiring for me to get my arse into gear and push harder to learn this Bonkers language 👌👌

[lostnorwegianx]

Never in a million years would I expect Xiaoma to speak my own language. This was a pleasure to watch!

[AndreHansen]

I’m Norwegian and this is very impressive. It’s one thing to know how to pronounce words and learn vocabulary, but to have the understanding you have when spoken to, that’s next level. Especially considering the timeframe… well done!

[ThunderPants]

That was absolutely are my hero! I'm American but have Norwegian ancestry and have tried for months to learn Norwegian on Duolingo, with minimal progress. The fact that you agreed to do this and then spoke so well on national tv is amazing. You have got nerves of steel, my friend!

[mr.dynamite]

Some of those "polyglots" speak only a fraction of this in 20 languages and they claim to be realy polyglots but this man is one of the few that are not a fraud. The amount of things you said for just two weeks of learning is incredibly impressive.

[Soloee_]

This was such a surprise as a Norwegian! I never imagined I would ever see you try my language. You did REALLY well! It totally gave me a new perspective at just how fast and good you are at learning languages. I could never 😂