Nordic Languages Thread

[Fenris]

Er kanskje ikke så rart, med tanke på at de fleste nordmenn er fra østlandet (Oslo-området aleine er jo nesten en fjerdedel av befolkninga). Litt artig med tanke på at hele østlandet er utrydda i tegneserien.

Might not be that strange, considering that most Norwegians are from the east (the Oslo area alone is almost a fourth of the population). A bit funny considering that the entire east is extinct in the comic.

[Fimbulvarg]

Er kanskje ikke så rart, med tanke på at de fleste nordmenn er fra østlandet (Oslo-området aleine er jo nesten en fjerdedel av befolkninga). Litt artig med tanke på at hele østlandet er utrydda i tegneserien.

Might not be that strange, considering that most Norwegians are from the east (the Oslo area alone is almost a fourth of the population). A bit funny considering that the entire east is extinct in the comic.

Halvparten av befolkningen bor i det større Østlandet. Når det er sagt kommer så godt som alle her fra nærheten av Oslo.

Half of the population lives in the Greater East Norway. That being said, almost everyone here comes from the vicinity of Oslo.

[Eich]

Huuuuu...  Just did another lesson after about a week of nothing. 
I think I should try to keep fresh and do a little at least every two days, if not daily.

My brain feels all weird and learn-y right now, so I'm gonna play some guitar to get my hands moving.

[kjeks]

I practiced on a poem fenris showed me.

På stengrunn :norway:
De unge bjerkene i svarte byen
de står og bruser med sitt lyse løv,
som om de åndet store skogers vårluft
og ikke skorstensrøk og gatestøv.

De løfter tappert sine tynne grener
og lar dem svaie under vårens sus
og varme sig i solens gode stråler,
som flommer inn imellom gatens hus!

Men de blir aldri som de store trærne,
som står og suser ute i det fri.
Slik er det når man vokser op på stengrunn
og bare har en drøm om skog og li.

Auf steinernem Boden (Steinboden):germany:

Die kleinen Birken in der schwarzen Stadt,
sie stehen und rascheln mit ihrem leuchtenden Laub
als ob sie der großen Wälder Frühjahrsluft atmeten
und nicht Schornsteinrauch und Straßenstaub.

Sie heben tapfer ihre dünnen Zweige
Und lassen sie in der Frühlingsluft (Frühlingssausen) schwanken,
und wärmen sich an der Sonne guten Strahlen,
die zwischen der Straßen Häuser hindurchfluten.

Aber sie werden nie wie die großen Bäume,
die draußen in Freiheit stehen und rauschen.
So ist es, wenn man auf Steinboden wächst
Und bloß einen Traum von Wald und Berghang hat.

On stone floor :uk:
The small birches in the black citie,
They stand and rustle with their glowing foliage
As if they breathed the big woods’ spring air
And not chimney smoke and street dust.

They raise their thin branches bravely
And let them sway in spring air
And get warmed by suns gentle rays,
Which flood through the streets houses.

But they will never be like the big trees,
Who stand in freedom and rustle.
That’s how it is, when you grow on stone floor
And has nothing but a dream from wood and slope.

[olavi]

De unge bjerkene i svarte byen
Die kleinen Birken in der schwarzen Stadt
The small birches in the black city

This caught my eye. Doesn't Norwegian (I'm assuming this is Bokmål, right?) have separate words for village and city? In Swedish, atleast to my knowledge, by is clearly a small village while stad is a larger city. Nynorsk seems to have both words, but if the dictionary I'm using is correct they can stand for both village and city.

Could one of you native speakers clear this up for me? Cheers!

[ThisCat]

I practiced on a poem fenris showed me.

This is really good! Let me see if I can fix a few small mistakes.


On stone floor :uk:    Stone ground is more accurate.
The small birches in the black citie,
They stand and rustle with their glowing foliage    Bright, not glowing.
As if they breathed the big woods’ spring air
And not chimney smoke and street dust.

They raise their thin branches bravely
And let them sway in spring air     I'd say, beneath the rustle of spring wind. I'm not sure about the accurate translation for "sus". It just means the sound of the wind.
And get warmed by suns gentle rays,   Good rays, but gentle sounds better.
Which flood through the streets houses.   In between, not through.

But they will never be like the big trees,
Who stand in freedom and rustle.
That’s how it is, when you grow on stone floor
And has nothing but a dream from wood and slope.



Other than that and a few english grammatical isues, I'm impressed. This is a good translation. I wish I was good enough at German to comment on that one as well.

This caught my eye. Doesn't Norwegian (I'm assuming this is Bokmål, right?) have separate words for village and city? In Swedish, atleast to my knowledge, by is clearly a small village while stad is a larger city. Nynorsk seems to have both words, but if the dictionary I'm using is correct they can stand for both village and city.

Could one of you native speakers clear this up for me? Cheers!

Village: Landsby
Town: By
City: By or Storby (big city)

[Sunflower]

Hello!  While I was looking for jobs to apply to, I saw one in Silicon Valley (where I live) that calls for fluency in Nordic languages (with bonus points for Finnish). 
Posting is here:
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/12013264?trk=vsrp_jobs_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A22823061420667772944%2CVSRPtargetId%3A12013264%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary

If you're interested, do let me know!  I can provide some background on the local job market and high-tech buzzwords.  If it gets to the point of an on-site interview, I'm happy to meet up in person.

Text of the posting:
Houzz is looking for a smart, top-notch Swedish, Danish and English writer and researcher to join our Palo Alto, CA team. You should have native proficiency in the Swedish, Danish and English languages (Norwegian and Finnish a plus), with the ability to confidently and correctly translate and write in each language. You should be web savvy, with a good understanding of how search engines work. You have experience in research, comparative analysis and content writing. You love working in a fast-paced environment and are eager to enhance the user experience on Houzz.

This full-time position is based in our Palo Alto office.

Position Responsibilities:

Conduct research for search optimization
Understand and optimize website for best user experience
Research and write quality, original online content in Swedish, Danish and English
Translate content when needed
Work with current team to ensure a consistent, accurate site
Help coordinate the efforts of US and international teams
Perform quality checks and tests on all new site features

Skills and Experience:

Native proficiency in Swedish, Danish and English languages required
Degree in marketing, business, journalism or related field
Experience with search engine tools
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Ability to conduct accurate online research, highly analytical
Detail-oriented and organized, able to meet deadlines
Fluency in additional languages, especially Norwegian and Finnish, a plus

[Fimbulvarg]

Native proficiency in Swedish, Danish and English languages required

What a bunch of absolute [insert 18 extremely profane cusswords] this company is.

[Sunflower]

What a bunch of absolute [insert 18 extremely profane cusswords] this company is.

Um... are you familiar with Houzz?  (I'm not.)  Or did they say something extremely stupid/presumptuous in the job posting that I didn't pick up on?  (I'm certainly familiar with the phenomenon of companies asking for extravagant qualifications for a relatively modest job.)  I apologize if I unknowingly passed along something offensive.

[Nimphy]

Um... are you familiar with Houzz?  (I'm not.)  Or did they say something extremely stupid/presumptuous in the job posting that I didn't pick up on?  (I'm certainly familiar with the phenomenon of companies asking for extravagant qualifications for a relatively modest job.)  I apologize if I unknowingly passed along something offensive.

No, it's just hilarious... How can one be natively proficient in both Swedish and Danish? (Furthermore, if I'm not mistaken Swedes and Danes don't exactly have a reputation of loving each other)

[Sunflower]

No, it's just hilarious... How can one be natively proficient in both Swedish and Danish? (Furthermore, if I'm not mistaken Swedes and Danes don't exactly have a reputation of loving each other)

Well, a person could have grown up bilingual (say, with one parent from each country). Or have started in one language and learned a second (or more) as a child or teen, developing native-level fluency by adulthood. 

You yourself are a good example:  English presumably wasn't your first language, but none of us would know it by the ease and correctness you write with.  I imagine you probably speak both Italian and Albanian with native-level fluency -- and those languages aren't closely related, the way Swedish and Danish are.  (Regardless of Emil's and Tuuri's reactions to spoken Danish...)

[Nimphy]

Well, a person could have grown up bilingual (say, with one parent from each country). Or have started in one language and learned a second (or more) as a child or teen, developing native-level fluency by adulthood. 

You yourself are a good example:  English presumably wasn't your first language, but none of us would know it by the ease and correctness you write with.  I imagine you probably speak both Italian and Albanian with native-level fluency -- and those languages aren't closely related, the way Swedish and Danish are.  (Regardless of Emil's and Tuuri's reactions to spoken Danish...)

I thought about that too, but how many people do you think would be trilingual at a native level? Not nearly enough, since even if there were enough to work at said place, it's not guaranteed that they will even want to work for said company or have the rest of the qualifications.

[Fen Shen]

I was always told that job postings are like a letter to Santa: You write on it anything you want, just in case he might be genereous, but you don't really expect to get everything from that list. And you're happy if more than half of your wishes are fulfilled.

So, I guess they need someone native in Danish or Swedish but with some notions of the other - then why not exaggerate a bit in their "wishes". But maybe I'm just credulous.

[Sunflower]

I was always told that job postings are like a letter to Santa: You write on it anything you want, just in case he might be generous, but you don't really expect to get everything from that list. And you're happy if more than half of your wishes are fulfilled.

So, I guess they need someone native in Danish or Swedish but with some notions of the other - then why not exaggerate a bit in their "wishes". But maybe I'm just credulous.

No, your "wish list" perspective is exactly what my mother says.  And she's a career counselor, so she should know.

Actually, I agree with Nimphy that the company will have trouble finding candidates with near-native fluency in all those languages, far from Scandinavia, with all the other qualifications they ask for, who are willing to work for the (probably not very high) pay they'd offer, in a very expensive area.  I just didn't share her skepticism about the existence of people who speak Swedish AND Danish AND English/other fluently. 

(Houzz itself seems to have very ambitious plans about expanding into non-U.S. real estate markets, judging by all its similar job postings for people who speak Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, etc. ... but I don't think it has the resources to turn those plans into action.)

Now I've taken up too much of the Nordic Languages thread with off-topic stuff.  But I'll repeat my original offer:  If anyone on this Forum ever considers relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area, I'm happy to serve as a local guide and cultural interpreter. 

[Fimbulvarg]

Um... are you familiar with Houzz?  (I'm not.)  Or did they say something extremely stupid/presumptuous in the job posting that I didn't pick up on?

No I'm not, I'm just sullking at the fact that Norwegian is not good enough for them.