Read better Norwegian: strategies for texts that are slightly too hard
Reading is the skill you can train most on your own, and the one that gives the most new words per hour. The key is to read texts that are slightly too hard — where you get the point but not every word — and to have word explanations one tap away, so looking things up does not break the reading.
Read for the whole first
Read the whole text once without looking anything up. Ask yourself: what is it about, who wrote it, why? Then read it again and look up the words that stop you — not every unknown word, only the ones that block understanding. Most unknown words are understood from context, and that is a skill in itself.
The question types on the reading test
The test asks for details (what does it say), main idea (what is the paragraph about), inference (what does the author mean without saying it), sequence (what happened first), and reference (what does "it" refer to). Knowing which type you get wrong tells you what to practise. If you miss inference, reading more words does not help.
Reading builds vocabulary
Words you meet in a text stick better than words from a list, because they arrive with a situation. Save the words you look up, with the sentence they were in, and practise them the following week. Ten words from a text you liked beat fifty from a list.
In NorskMentor
The reading module has ready-made texts by level and topic, and you can generate a text on a topic you choose. Tap a word for its explanation, inflections and translation without leaving the text, and save it to your vocabulary. After the questions you see which question types you get wrong. The exam-practice module is the same reading against the clock, without aids.
Frequently asked questions
Should I read Norwegian newspapers?
From B1, yes. Below B1 news language is too dense. Start with texts made for your level, and move to newspapers when you understand 70–80 percent of an ordinary news story.
How to practise this in NorskMentor
Reading
Level A1–B2
Read Norwegian texts at your level and answer tasks like the ones on the Norwegian language test.
Exam practice
Level B1–B2
A timed reading test, with the same restrictions as the real one.
Vocabulary
Your own vocabulary, built from the words you actually met in your texts and episodes.
Want to practise what you just read?
NorskMentor has a free plan with the core modules. Choose your level, and start with the skill this guide was about.
NorskMentor is a practice tool and is not affiliated with the organiser of Norskprøven. Level requirements for residence and citizenship are set by UDI and can change — check udi.no for the current rules.
