Free Norwegian learning resources
35 free resources, checked and categorised.
Every link is usable without paying. Some ask for a free account or keep extras behind a paid tier, and those are labelled.
Norwegian is one of the easiest languages for English speakers, and the free material is good enough to take you a long way without paying for anything. The grammar is close to English (no cases, simple verb conjugation, familiar word order), so most of your effort goes into vocabulary and listening rather than rules.
The complication is dialects. Norwegian has two written standards (Bokmål and Nynorsk) and unusually strong regional variation in speech, and there is no single 'neutral' spoken form the way there is in many languages. Pick Bokmål to start unless you have a reason not to, and expect spoken Norwegian to vary more than your course suggests.
Because the grammar is easy, move to real material early. Norwegian news, radio and TV are freely available, and comprehensible input is more valuable here than continued grammar study.
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Downloadable resources for Norwegian learning, including a textbook and a vocabulary list.
Podcast-style Norwegian lessons and videos with transcripts and some beginner materials, plus links to dictionaries and practice tasks.
Ten-chapter Norwegian beginner course with texts, audio, pronunciation and listening exercises, grammar notes, vocabulary lists, and chapter exercises for practice
An interesting experiment - the guy has learnt Norwegian without any dictionaries, without any resources in languages other than Norwegian, he didn't even make any notes or try to remember anything. After two months he was able to read and understand a book in Norwegian. You can read how in his account here.
Free Norwegian course with video and audio lessons, downloadable notes, a 1,500-word dictionary, and quizzes with progress reports
Community site for Norwegian learners with Discord server info and short grammar lessons on pronunciation, verbs, sentence structure, and usage
Blog article listing Norwegian slang words and phrases with brief English meanings, meant for reading and learning informal vocabulary
YouTube channel with Norwegian language videos and later culture and travel clips, many in Norwegian with subtitles, for watching lessons and Norway-focused content
Blog-style resource list with free Bokmål Norwegian beginner materials, including grammar explanations, pronunciation pages, themed vocabulary, exercises, and PDF activities
Many interesting science articles. Sister site has science for kids articles.
Norwegian news site with current articles, opinion, culture, sports, puzzles, and an e-paper for reading or browsing headlines and stories
Searchable Bokmål and Nynorsk dictionary entries showing spelling, inflection, and example usage for Norwegian words
Searchable Norwegian dictionary with free-text lookup, for checking word meanings and usage in contemporary and historical language
Norwegian Bible text on BibleGateway for reading chapter and verse passages, with version information and access to search and other translations
News aggregator with current headlines and article links from many sources, where learners can read authentic Norwegian news stories and browse by topic or location.
Free Norwegian grammar course with online drills and extra exercises that follow the book, covering parts of speech, sentence structure, word formation, and language use
Norwegian easy-read news homepage with daily articles, opinion pieces, audio newspaper, weekly task, and newsletter links for browsing and reading current events
YouTube video series for learning Norwegian with native-speaker listening, Norwegian and English transcripts, subtitles, grammar, texts, forums, and interactive exercises
Blog posts by linguists about language topics, including Norwegian-language commentary, quizzes, and occasional translation notes; browse individual articles.
Norwegian recipe collection with meal ideas, searchable filters, weekly menus, and cooking tools like shopping lists and unit converters, plus ratings and favorites
Live NRK P3 radio stream in Norwegian for listening practice, with links to the radioguide and related NRK pages
Streaming TV archive with Norwegian series, documentaries, entertainment, films, sports, and news to watch and listen to in Norwegian
Norwegian national library. You may need Norwegian IP to access some of the papers.
Norwegian learning blog with free exercises, grammar and vocabulary articles, plus reading and listening practice grouped by topic and level
Online database of Norwegian dialect samples with mp3 recordings and transcripts, arranged in map, list, and search views for browsing by place
Reading collection of Norwegian folktales for children and adults, with illustrated texts including original versions and familiar stories by Asbjørnsen and Moe
My favourite Youtube channel for Norwegian learning. Videos and lives are in Norwegian only.
Polish-language blog posts about Norwegian language and life in Norway, with vocabulary pages and practical articles on school, health, work, and public services
Free Norwegian eBooks from Project Gutenberg, mostly classic literature and translations, for browsing and reading online or downloading texts
Norwegian language authority site with grammar advice, dictionaries, language law information, online courses, and over 1,000 searchable language questions.
Free searchable encyclopedia with over 300,000 expert-written Norwegian articles, used to look up topics, definitions, and background information
YouTube channel with Norwegian video lessons, cultural tips, and promotion for individual tutoring and free club materials
Learn it there, practise it here
Free resources are great for input: reading, listening, explanations. They are weaker at the two things that actually move you forward: speaking Norwegian out loud, and remembering what you met once. That is what OwnSlides is for.
Say it out loud
Talk to an AI tutor that answers back, or get matched with other learners and native speakers for a text chat.
Practise what you read
Turn a grammar point or article into exercises, so it moves from recognised to usable.
Keep the words
Save new words to My Words and let spaced repetition bring them back before you forget them.
This directory began from a community-built list of free language resources, a year of collecting and checking by Joanna (u/chlebka) and dozens of contributors who suggested links, shared freely. See the original list. We have since expanded, re-checked and re-categorised it, and we keep the per-resource credits where the original list recorded them.