After my first overseas trip to Poland, I learned that I didn’t want to only be an observer, I wanted to be truly immersed in my new experiences.

So in an attempt to arm myself with better understanding of a broader world, I downloaded a language app.

My love for the north was a natural lead-in to choosing the Norwegian language. I practiced alone almost every day for a year. Repeating phrases into my phone and learning grammar rules that didn’t make sense. Learning a language all by myself was lonely, but rewarding once I was able to comprehend Norwegian posts online (and news about my sport especially)!

Bokmål, Nynorsk, and Dialects

Norway has two official written forms of the language: Bokmål and Nynorsk.

Bokmål developed during the 400-year union with Denmark (1380–1814) and is closely related to Danish. After independence, many Norwegians wanted a written form that reflected rural dialects, which became Nynorsk.

Both are taught in schools. And then there are over 1300 different dialects.

Arriving in northern Norway for some biathlon races, and hearing thick Northern dialects, was like I just unlocked a new difficulty level. Sometimes I understand one word and then miss the next five. Or catch the tone but not the meaning. It is always humbling. And always exciting!

What Language Changes

Showing up to Norway for the first time but able to read signs, understand menus, and follow simple conversations changed my entire experience.

It meant that for the first time I wasn’t just observing. I was participating.

There is something powerful about being included in a conversation that isn’t always switching to English for your comfort. I felt just a little less like just a visitor.

I may have still needed to use google translate fairly often, but I felt more empowered to travel new places in the city on my own, or take the hour and a half bus to Holmenkollen and be confident I could find my way back, even though I didn’t have internet service.

Training with international teams usually means relying on translations and missing parts of conversations. This time felt different. Even when I didn’t understand everything, being able to follow some instructions and conversations in Norwegian before needing English made me feel more included and confident.

Although I knew I could always ask for help if I needed, it was special to know that my skillset was enough to understand on my own.

But language alone didn’t bring me there. My sport did. And biathlon, always gives me both the best moments and the hardest ones.

Racing this season taught me lessons in resilience, performance mentality, and overall skillset growth. I look forward to sharing my experiences in the next post!