During our free week, Felix and I went on a road trip to Norway, and we used one of our fjord hikes as an opportunity to continue our language exchange. It was a great setting to practice, because the landscape was so different from anything we know from the Netherlands, France, or even the Alps. The quick change in vegetation made us feel like we were hiking much higher than we actually were, and it gave us a lot to talk about regarding nature in our home countries.
During the hike, I focused mainly on learning new French vocabulary connected to the landscape around us. One of the first words Felix taught me was cascade, which means “waterfall. Which sounds quite different as the Dutch and English ways. As we kept walking, I also learned sommet (summit), sentier (trail), and roche (rock). Every time we passed something that matched one of the new words I tried to learn them.
I also practiced using the words in short sentences, such as Je vois une cascade or Le sentier est difficile ici. Saying them aloud in the middle of nature made the learning feel much more natural compared to studying vocabulary from a textbook. I still struggle with French pronunciation, especially the softer sounds and the way words flow together. It was nice to see how much faster I learned when I connected the words directly to what I saw around me.
Besides vocabulary, we talked a lot about the differences between hiking in the Netherlands, France, and Norway. While hiking, we both noticed how unusual the Norwegian landscape is for us, especially because the vegetation changes so quickly with altitude. This gave us many chances to describe things in different languages and compare expressions.
Comments