To all non norwegian speaking in noway

[Anonym bruker]

My husband and I are thinking of moving to Norway. Since I am a norwegian it wont be a problem for me. i'm just curious how others find it when they dont speak the languge.

 

How is it to find a job, is it hard to find friends you think?

 

We bothe would love to go, but its just this launguge barrier that might hold us back. (well, maybe me the moust)

 

anyone who would like to chear their stories?

 

Is the any schools that teaches english? we will most likely live just outside Oslo....

 

 

[Anonym bruker]

Hi. I thought I could share my thoughts all though I am Norwegian.. My husband is English and we have lived here now for 2.5 years.

We moved here to have our children and an easier family-life and my husband does not want to move back to the UK now. Even though he was a little concerned about the language and making friends he has slowly met people through work who are also English; with Norwegian wifes funnily enough ;o)

We do live near Oslo and I think it helps being close to a bigger city. This is where the jobs would be. My husband learns Norwegian, but it is allways great to have a few friends that are in the same situation as you or have the same background. So my point being that most foregniers come to Norway to work so you are most likely find them in the bigger cities.

My advice would be to move not too far away from a big city and to socialize quite allot in the beginning.

Good luck with the decition!

[Sinah]

There is an English school in Bærum, near Bekkestua, I think. It charges English fees, though...it's by far the most expensive public (elementary) school in Norway.

[Gjest]

Yes. I actually went to that school myself... It is a really tough environment, but the school is pretty good. It has everything... Covers elementary school up to upper-secondary... The school goes under the name OIS (Oslo International School) and is indeed at Bekkestua:)

[Chunky81]

I'm also norwegian and my husband is american. I moved to norway 2 years ago (new job) and last year my husband came to live and work in norway (he had a job lined up when he arrived).

 

He loves norway and doesn't want to move back any time soon. He has been taking norwegian classes and is starting to pick up on the language. At work everyone speaks engelish or norwegian/engelish so he doesn't have any communication problems there. At home we speak english (should be norwegian so that he learns, but english is much easier).

My family speaks norwegian to him, and it seems like it works.

 

We live in Bergen, so a pretty big city, but I don't think he would have disliked living on the country.

 

Most citys have english shools. Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger etc.

 

Good luck making your moving choise. We love it...

[2 gutter og 1 jente]

im norwegian too with an english husband. we moved to norway one and a half year ago, and he had problems finding a job. he attended norwegian course, but still dont speak norwegian very well. (this because he find it hard to learn a new language...he cant find motivation to get it done) he now finally have a job and things are working out well. when that is said he loves norway. and he did, with or without a job, not want to go back to uk. we live in the north of norway.

 

yes, it is difficult with the language...my family does not speak english well, so he does often not get to be a part of family chats....and he also say that the people he work with try to be friendly and speak english during lunch, but that they often ends up speaking norwegian...

everyone tells me to speak to my husband in norwegian....but i find it hard, because we have found a rutine and its hard to break it.

[TrengerEnVenn]

I am 24 year old woman from philippines. My husband is a 28 year old norwegean and we got a baby boy last May 2007. I came here in norway almost 4 years ago.

In my own experience, its really hard to live in a country that has diffrent language than english. I have been to school here in norway to study norwegean. I can read, understand written norwegean better but still struggling with my speaking. We are still speaking english at home so i have not practice my norwegean speaking as i should.

I had a job before in a vegetable packing factory... they all speak norwegeans and i do understand all the work instructions... but during breaks... i end up seating alone in the table cos i cant converse coworkers. I felt so left behind and left out from the group.

I am afraid of meeting and talking to people. For almost 4 years of living here in norway... i only got 1 norwegean friend. I have been alone and lonely for these years. Its hard, i always cry on my husbands shoulder. My husband is always there for me, but its diffrent having friends. I have many many friends way back in philippines.

We have second doubt of moving to philippines and live there. But im also thinking of my husband's and baby's sake. They would have better life here Norway, peaceful and secure.

So i would say, its hard to find work and friends here in norway due to language barrier. But i believe it depends on every person.

I wish your family luck. Hope you will enjoy Norway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Twinkletwinkle]

Can I ask all you girls who answered what type of jobs your husbands got when you moved to Norway? Does your partner have formal qualifications from USA/UK that they could use when applying for a job? My partner has got no formal education,only work experience as a designer and salesman.He's afraid he'll end up with any old job because of the language barrier.He's English.

[--niffi--]

My husband is American and moved here a year ago. He has lots of education and experience and got a job set up in advance - that meant he could get a work visa through the job rather than getting a fiancé visa. So I don't know how getting a job after arriving would be. Although we're happy living here, there's definitely been a "honeymoon" with Norway that's over now. Language is hard. He's taken a course and can have a conversation now, but so often when he tries to speak Norwegian people will just answer back in English, which really makes learning difficult - and it's sort of insulting, like they're saying his Norwegian sucks, although I know that's not what people mean. I don't think we Norwegians are very good at trying to understand foreigners speaking Norwegian. The other really awful thing was that when he went to get his drivers licence here. We don't have a car as we live close to the city so he'd not driven a lot in Norway, which in retrospect, was a pity. And if you're from outside of the EU you have to retake the test within a year. Anyway, the "sensor" was really obnoxious - my husband didn't understand the Norwegian directions, took a wrong turn, then overcompensated by driving slower than normal, and failed. So now he can't legally drive in Norway without taking the ENTIRE drivers test thing, which as you can imagine, is not a great thing for an American who's been driving since he was sixteen. Also means we'll be continuing to not own a car, when we'd actually intended to buy one before having a baby.

 

Add things like long queues to get your passport stamped with a visa, a complete lack of information about procedures (nobody told us that after getting teh visa in the passport you have to go to Folkeregisteret and apply for a personnummer which you need to get a bank account which you need to get paid - how on earth would someone WITHOUT a Norwegian girlfriend/wife even find out?) and unbelievably complicated rules about how to enter a tax return for US and Norway (actually that's the US's problem too, not just Norway's - but Norway has no information about taxes in English, what's up with that?) - well, there are plenty of annoyances, apart from the obvioius ones of being away from his family and friends.

 

But having said that, things are going well, and he's found some friends (an American at work, that sort of thing) and gets on well with some of mine, and he's also seeing more and more of the good things about Norway - which makes me happy.

 

Good luck, whatever you decide!