7. My Norwegian CD

Michal Ryszard Wojcik (2001 September 12):

I had ordered a Norwegian textbook through the Internet. I received it more than two weeks ago. It has a CD that can be played in CD-players just like normal music CDs. When I was ordering this textbook with the CD, I hoped that the CD would contain texts from the textbook. I wanted to have the same texts both written and spoken. I planned to learn Norwegian pronunciation by reading and listening to the same text.

Unfortunately, it turned out that the CD doesn't contain the same text as the textbook. The CD is an extension of the textbook - there are additional texts there. Actually, I only know about the first seven tracks from the CD that they are not transcribed in the textbook. I have only read the textbook thus far. However, there are two songs on the CD and they are both transcribed in the textbook.

Anyway, I need to replace my original idea to learn Norwegian pronunciation by reading and listening to the same text. I am planning to decipher Norwegian pronunciation by listening to the CD very carefully. My task will be much more difficult than I had originally hoped. But on the other hand, it will be more interesting. I am curious if I can decipher Norwegian pronunciation on the basis of this CD.

For over two weeks I was listening casually to the CD. I understood very little, much less than in the case of the tape I had listened to before. That tape was very easy - it was a zero-beginners course. This CD is difficult - it is the last "modul" of a four-modul course. The textbook contains texts about life in Norway, looking for a job, the Norwegian political system, some Norwegian history. It focuses on knowledge about Norway rather than on the language itself.

Today I started listening to the CD carefully. I put on headphones and gave my full attention to the CD. I still understood very little - I do not have a spectacular report this time. I'm going to keep on listening to the CD both casually and carefully.

I almost forgot to remark that I listen to Norwegian with great pleasure. I have grown to like the sound of spoken Norwegian. I find it soothing to be listening to my Norwegian CD.

21 days later

Michal Ryszard Wojcik (2001 October 03):

I have listened to the CD for about 18 days, almost every day. My previous report was that I understood almost nothing. It was written after I listened to the CD carefully for the first time.

My understanding grew with each day. Today I cannot say that I understand nothing. It is difficult for me to write how much I understand. I understand many fragments and some whole sentences.

There are many tracks on the CD and I understand some of them better than the others. There is one track such that I can naively estimate that I understand 70% of it. But this 70% is very inaccurate. It is only my attempt to write a report.

Anyway, this experiment is finished now. I mean listening to the CD without having its content written down. It is finished because now I have a CD for which I have the content written down. Now I will be able to listen and read at the same time. It is now a new period in my process of learning Norwegian pronunciation. Now I have long written texts recorded on a CD.