Friday, March 11, 2011

Strikk, Stryk and Hekle

I Dream of Mastering Two Languages

 Can you teach an old dog new tricks?
If the dog once knew some of the tricks, when she was a puppy, would that help?

Either way, I've got a long road ahead of me. :-)


The NVO has taken it upon himself to learn Norwegian. It's incredibly endearing. We have purchased every language learning tool we could find in Norway, in the USA and online. He studies for hours each evening. He is getting so good. I did not think I had to study as it was my native language (does until the age of 2 1/2 count as ones native language?) Boy, was I ever wrong!

Some Norwegian words I get mixed up:
Strikk (Knit)...............................Stryk (Iron)
One was fun, one was not, until today.

It was brought to my attention via comments from my previous post:
God Bedring Erna that I used the wrong word.
(No worries, it's been corrected now.)

Stryking: Ironing
I meant to use
Strikking: Kniting
These two words sounded so much alike to me; however, with the help of my Artic Strawberries blogging friend and the NVO I have learned the difference in the spelling and pronunciation of the two words.

Stryk:
The "y" is pronounced as "ee" with a lower tone with the lips pursed forward and it is said slowly.
Strikk:
The "i" is pronounced as a long English "e"  but with a smile and is said quickly due to the double consonant.
(Of course one would smile when talking about knitting.)

Can YOU hear any difference?

I told the NVO while we were courting that Norwegian was an easy language to learn. Perhaps I thought it would entice him to marry me....hmmmm...the thought of learning such an exotic language from the country of his sweetie's birth.....what's more enticing than that? If I was not truthful, it was not intentional.

There are so many other "Norsk"words that entertain us and are similar like these. As I write this post the NVO writes a post about another funny Norwegian language story. Click here for his story; he's such an excellent writer. :-)

Well one thing led to another preparing for and taking photos for this post today and I found myself actually having fun with the stryking (ironing) whilst reminiscing about another collaboration between the strikker (my mother) and the hekler (me).

Here are some photos of how one inspiring thought led to another inspiring action today:

Before....................After
'En strøket pyjamas'
Fire Strøket Putevar
(I don't remember the last time I ironed pj's and pillowcases).
Maybe this blog is good for me. :-)

Then there are the clothes...I do remember the last time I ironed THOSE....every week, but today it was fun.
Repeat...maybe this blog is good for me.
(Did you read that NVO?)

A collaboration of the hekler and strikker from years ago:

Once again, the strikkt (knit) squares were mor's creation and the heklet (crocheted) squares were mine.

The collaboration rests on a chair in the corner of the "Elske Reir" along with a pillow with lace that my grandmother had crocheted many, many years ago.
(A tres generaticiones photo opportunity - Hey, there's a third langauge here. :-0 )

All this has worn me out and I am ready to hit the hay and wrinkle up those pj's and pillowcases and get some well needed rest.
Tusen takk (a thousand thanks) not to be confused with Tusen tak (a thousand ceilings) Artic Strawberries, for the inspiration.

9 comments:

  1. Hahaha, easy mistakes! There are many words that sound incredibly similar and confuse the heck out of we non-native speakers. However, the majority of Norwegians have a good laugh, correct us, and don't think anything more about it! I simply enjoy giving them something to laugh about! ;-)
    However, that Norwegian is an "easy" language to learn I must say I disagree with you. It's a difficult language and probably mostly because of all the different dialects around here. I tried to learn Norwegian when I lived in the states but it was almost impossible. When you study for an hour a night and the rest of the time everything is in English, it's difficult. Much easier when we live here, because while I also get a lot of English here through tv, radio, etc...I'm surrounded by Norwegian as well! The first year here I didn't really try to learn, I just let the Captain translate everything for me afterwards, but when he headed out to sea, I had no choice! Sink or swim, and I'm proud to say I'm swimming pretty good these days! ;-)
    Have a great Saturday!

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  2. It is so funny, reading about your norwegian-learning-thoughts, especially since I know both languages! So today it is my turn to say 'thank you for the smiles'!
    Ha' en god weekend!

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  3. I'm so impressed by your efforts to learn Norwegian. And 'stryking' isn't an easy word.

    The verb:
    å stryke - stryker - strøk - har strøket

    I would say 'En strøket pysjamas' (Ironed pajama's), but 'stryke' can have several meanings.

    Å stryke på eksamen - to fail an exam
    Å stryke på dør - to move hastily out from a room
    en strøken bil - a flawless/great car
    stryke på maling - put on paint
    stryke av tavla - erase the blackboard
    stryke et alternativ - remove an option

    På tide å finne fram strykebrettet :-)

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  4. And to correct myself: It's called pyjamas, not what I originally wrote ;-)

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  5. Hei Astri :o)
    Så flinke dere er :o)
    Norsk er ikke så enkelt. Ikke bare har vi mange ord som høres likt ut, men vi har også mange ord som betyr det samme. Bønner (prayer/beans) For eksempel.
    Ikke rart man blir forvirret.
    Takk for oppskriften på Asbjørns shortbread cookies.
    Gleder meg til å bake dem :o)

    Ha en fin helg :o)

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  6. FYI the link in your story doesn't work, at least for me. But, since I know where to find the NVO's blog (I've been "creeping" in his words) I was able to read the story. Great Story. I can't even imagine the luxury of ironed pajamas and pillow cases...of course I can't imagine me ironing them...guess I'll never know.

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  7. Holy cow, I'm getting worse not better! You all make me laugh.

    Inga Helene - I corrected a few mistakes but left the Norsk words that I put an "ing" at the end because it was so ridiculous. I am hoping I can look back on this post one day and wonder "what was I thinking" and then giggle. The kind and sweet corrections from these comments are so helpful so, please, please, please continue. :-)

    You are so right Amy, I have never had anything but a positive experience with the Norwegians when I really mess up the language. They make me feel good about trying. Keep up the good work, I bet the Captain is proud!

    Brilleting, your blog is always a smile maker. I'm so glad you smiled at this post. You may like to see my "Bunad" post for photos of Norsk paper dolls.

    Hey, K - the link is fixed now. Thank you for letting me know. Next time we get together to crochet let's stryk our pj's and pillow cases instead. ;-) BTW - I did not have the heart to wear my ironed pj's last night...I would have had to lie there real still in an effort to keep them wrinkle free. Oh and the NVO loves "creepers."

    Malu-Tonight I will Bønn for Bønner. Once I mixed up advokat (attorney) and apekatt (monkey). That really confused the Norsks. Oh and please let me know how the cookies turn out. We baked off the forzen ones yesterday and they are already gone!

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  8. I adore how you joined the white squares with a fluffier yarn. I did that once for a kid's afghan, but it was done in so many crazy colors to match her room that it was almost overwhelming. I am a huge fan of the white on white with the subtle change of texture. Ooo la la! I love your blog and all the inventive ideas I am finding here. Best to you!

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  9. So glad you explained about the ironing of pillowcases and pyjamas ... I was getting insecure there as I have never ironed either! :)

    (Do jokey blog comments make me a "heckler"?) :)

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