The Fastest Way to Learn Nynorsk in 2026

The fastest way to learn Nynorsk is to spend most of your study time on Nynorsk you can mostly understand. That kind of Nynorsk is called comprehensible input. What you read and hear should change as you improve, so the plan below shows what to do at each level and how to split an hour of study.

Find the level that sounds like you. Its bar shows how to spend an hour of study.

1. Level 1

   I'm just starting out or know only a few words.

   • Read and listen 35 min
   • Review 15 min
   • Speak 10 min

   Start the 50LANGUAGES course and play the MP3 audio while you read each lesson. Then pick a level 1 picture story on Barnebøker for Norge, listen as you read, and say a few lines out loud.

   • 50LANGUAGES
   • Barnebøker for Norge
2. Level 2

   I can read simple sentences.

   • Read and listen 40 min
   • Review 10 min
   • Speak 10 min

   Hide the translation and look up only the words that stop you. Try the Nynorsk stories on Duostories, where short questions check what you understood, and move up a level on Barnebøker for Norge.

   • Duostories
   • Barnebøker for Norge
3. Level 3

   I can read short stories and messages.

   • Read and listen 40 min
   • Review 5 min
   • Speak 15 min

   Read Klart & Kort, a simple Nynorsk newspaper from Klar Tale, and the shortest news items in Framtida on topics you already know. Check an unfamiliar ending in Nynorskordboka, and talk about what you read for longer.

   • Klar Tale (Klart & Kort)
   • Framtida
4. Level 4

   I can read longer texts about everyday life.

   • Read and watch 45 min
   • Review 5 min
   • Speak 10 min

   Read Nynorsk Wikipedia articles about things you like, and pick an easy book from the lists on Nynorskbok.no. Read the local news from NRK Vestland or NRK Møre og Romsdal, which is mostly in Nynorsk, and notice which words you catch.

   • Nynorsk Wikipedia
   • NRK Vestland
5. Level 5

   I can follow complex topics, but miss some details.

   • Read and watch 50 min
   • Speak 10 min

   Read opinion pieces and essays in Dag og Tid, and watch NRK programs without subtitles. Look up only the words that block the story in Nynorskordboka.

   • Dag og Tid
   • NRK
6. Level 6

   I can read almost anything.

   • Read and watch 50 min
   • Speak 10 min

   Read Nynorsk novels from Samlaget and the weekly newspaper, and talk about them for their own sake.

   • Samlaget
   • Dag og Tid

Move up a level when your lessons start to feel easy, and move back down if you lose the thread by the third line.

The U.S. Foreign Service Institute lists Norwegian in Category I, its group of languages closest to English, and estimates about 24 weeks of full-time classes, or 552 class hours, to reach professional fluency. It lists Norwegian as one language, with no separate figure for Nynorsk. The University of Bergen teaches a Nynorsk course for international students that has about 36 teaching hours, and students take it after they have finished about level B1 in general Norwegian. Here is how long those take at different amounts of study a week:

These are class hours, so treat them as a rough guide. The Bergen course builds on a general Norwegian course you finished first, and time you spend understanding Nynorsk on your own counts too.

• 🏷️Nouns Without ein, ei or eitThe word for “a” decides the ending for “the”: ein hest becomes hesten, ei bok becomes boka, and eit hus becomes huset. Learn each noun together with its “a” word.
• ✍️Bokmål Forms in Nynorsk TextThe two written standards spell many words differently: “I” is eg in Nynorsk and jeg in Bokmål, and “not” is ikkje and ikke. If you write Bokmål, check these first, because they are the easiest to mix up.
• 👂Skipping the Sound of DialectsNynorsk is a written standard, and people speak their own dialects. Hear a few of those voices early, such as the speakers on NRK.

Skip a list of the 500 most common words as your starting point, since it gives you meanings but not usage. Read and hear those words in sentences you understand, then review them in context.