Tag Archives: Norway

Member Profile: New 2 Norway

AmCham News, Company Profiles, Travel, ,

MEMBER PROFILE

New 2 Norway

Tove Jane Fjeldstad, Founder & Managing Director 

With their 20th anniversary quickly approaching, AmCham sat down with Tove Jane Fjeldstad, Founder and Managing Director of New 2 Norway to gain insight into the industry and hear about their exciting plans for 2022. 

New 2 Norway offers Norwegian language courses customized to individual needs and progress. Tove Jane truly loves what she does, and it shows. With over 25 years of experience, she knows the industry like the back of her hand.  

Tove Jane and Madeleine met up in Dronningens Hage

Language Learning During and Post-Pandemic

While most have been far less mobile during the past year due to travel restrictions and other regulations, Tove Jane was ahead of time when offered online classes via Skype to specialized online teaching platform. She also noticed an increase in those wanting to learn and build skills, including brushing up on their Norwegian skills via online teaching platform. Not only was this a phenomenon in Norway, but a developing trend of language learning increasing globally. Additional time at one’s disposal due to home office and home deliveries, meant there was good opportunity to pursue existing interests, such as language learning. 

Many working professionals have returned to school during their furlough. Suddenly, executives who have been in Norway for five to ten years were given the opportunity to learn as a part of skill-building through their employer. 

Building Connections Through Language

Norwegian is said to be one of the easiest languages in the world for a native English speaker to learn. The reason is that from a linguistic perspective, the languages have a lot in common: the way verbs work, word order (in many, but not all cases), and a large amount of shared vocabulary, although the Norwegian language has fewer words compared to English. Composite words are commonplace, whereby two words are compounded to make a new one.

Tove Jane notes that perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of learning Norwegian is that Norwegians generally don’t make it easy for expatriates to practice their Norwegian. Norwegians will gladly switch to English once a non-Norwegian person enters the conversation. It is commonly said that you don’t need to speak Norwegian to live in Oslo, but that is not the case in all of Norway. 

Showing interest in learning the language shows colleagues respect and a positive attitude towards the culture. However, in many cases, Norwegian is the fourth or fifth language of immigrants to Norway. Tove Jane has experienced high-level executives who understand Norwegian perfectly but lack the confidence of speaking. Many are looking to learn so they can communicate more effectively and connect with their teams. For practicing, she suggests engaging in conversation with someone outside the company or family. The New 2 Norway team consists of knowledgeable teachers who can customize their programs to fit the needs of the individual learner. Classes are offered to individuals or to small groups of up to six persons.

Combining “Norgesferie” with Learning

One of the best ways to learn Norwegian is by learning through experience, New 2 Norway’s Explore Language Packages are five-day intensive training programs through which you’ll learn Norwegian by doing, by talking to people, by interacting in real-life scenarios, and by living the Norwegian culture.

The Explore Program is perfect for individuals who:

  • want to learn Norwegian as fast as possible, 
  • need to improve their communication skills in Norwegian, 
  • wish to be able to measure their progress in a systematic way, 
  • love nature, outdoor activities, and adventure. 

Currently, the Explore Language Packages are offered in Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and beautiful Sognefjorden (the area where Tove Jane grew up). From 2022, they will expand and offer Explore Packages in additional locations covering the East, West, North and South. 

Tove Jane has never been to the far north of Norway, but she would like to go to Tromsø! She enjoys the idyllic south coast, and says “Norway is so diverse, there are so many opportunities both by the sea and in the mountains.” 

Tove Jane’s “dream holiday” in the US would be to go back to New York, and she would also like to visit her working partners in Minnesota. 

Interested in learning more about New 2 Norway’s language courses?

Visit: Norwegian Language Courses by New 2 Norway

Norway’s push for a change to ‘bad deal’ with EU – POLITICO

Business News, Government,

As Norway heads toward an election, its Euroskeptics are on a roll. 

The Center Party, the Nordic country’s most European Union-unfriendly mainstream party, is topping opinion polls ahead of the 2021 ballot, winning over voters with a message that Norway needs to put more political distance between itself and Brussels.

Although Norway is not a member of the EU, it has pretty much the closest relationship with it of any non-member. It struck a deal in 1994 to follow a swath of the bloc’s rules, and pay billions of euros in grants for access to the single market.

The Center Party wants a new, looser deal, and its energetic pursuit of a reset has put future relations with Brussels back in the center of the political debate. 

“We need to discuss the alternatives,” said Sigbjørn Gjelsvik, a Center Party lawmaker and spokesperson on EU relations. “The deal we have now is a bad one.”

For the EU, a flare-up in Norway would be just the latest instability to hit its relations with its northern frontiers. 

The U.K. is engaged in a tortuous retreat, while Scotland plots independence and a potential return. In Scandinavia, Sweden and mainland Denmark remain members of the EU but continue to dodge the monetary union. A decade ago, Iceland requested EU membership then changed its mind. 

Norway’s agreement — the European Economic Area Agreement — allowed the country to retain more control over key parts of its economy, particularly its fishing grounds, but forced it to follow big chunks of EU policy over which, as a non-member, it has no say.

It is dissatisfaction with this ever-evolving — new rules from the EU are also passed down to Oslo — outsourcing of political control that the Center Party is tapping into. 

Read the full article

 

WSJ: Finland and Norway Avoid Covid-19 Lockdowns but Keep the Virus At Bay

Business News, Government, Health, ,

Tight controls on travel and borders—and political consensus—helped the Nordic nations fight the pandemic

While the U.S. and Europe struggle to contain an autumn surge in coronavirus infections, two small nations are bucking the trend, keeping cases under control without stringent restrictions.

In the north of Europe, Finland and Norway boast the West’s lowest rates of mortality linked to Covid-19 and a low incidence of coronavirus infections even though they have kept their economies and societies largely open while lockdowns returned to the continent.

Read the full story

IMF Staff Country Reports: Norway : Financial System Stability Assessment-Press Release; and Statement by the Executive Director for Norway

Accounting / Financial, Business News, ,

Much of the work of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) was conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the missions ending on February 13, 2020. Given the FSAP’s focus on medium-term challenges and vulnerabilities, however, its findings and recommendations for strengthening policy and institutional frameworks remain pertinent. The report was updated to reflect key developments and policy changes since the mission work was completed. It also includes a risk analysis that quantifies the possible impact of the COVID-19 crisis on bank solvency. Since the previous FSAP in 2015, the Norwegian authorities have taken welcome steps to strengthen the financial system. Regulatory capital requirements for banks were raised and actions were taken to bolster the weak capital position of insurers. Alongside other macroprudential measures, temporary borrower-based measures for residential mortgages were introduced, which seem to have had some moderating impact on segments of the housing market. The resolution framework was also strengthened, with the implementation of the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) and the designation of Finanstilsynet (FSA) as the resolution authority.

Download full report here

Bloomberg: Norway’s Deep Cuts to Oil Loadings to Curb Atlantic Basin Crude

Business News, Energy, ,

Norway may not officially be part of the OPEC+ alliance to curb oil supply in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, but next month it looks like the Scandinavian country will do its bit toward helping the producer alliance to avert a global glut of crude.

Norway’s main oil loadings will drop by 261,000 barrels a day in September, according to shipping schedules seen by Bloomberg. The nation’s giant new Johan Sverdrup grade will account for about two-thirds of the slump in cargoes. That makes the country by far the biggest contributor to a month-on-month drop in exports from producers in the Atlantic Basin who have so far released their advance cargo-loading programs.

Read entire article here

Bloomberg: Norway Bets on Tech to Cut $100 Billion North Sea Oil-Well Bill

Business News, Government, Technology, ,

North Sea nations and oil companies face costs of more than $100 billion to shut down old wells in the depleted region. Researchers in Norway believe they can cut that figure dramatically.

A new technology center in Trondheim hopes to halve the costs of plugging and abandoning wells — a procedure known as P&A that could reach an estimated $85 billion in Norway alone by 2050. Curbing that outlay would be a boon to operators and prospective investors in the aging region, where thousands of shafts must be closed up in the coming decades as oil and gas flows dwindle.

High abandonment costs can put buyers off purchasing older fields, as the expense can outweigh profits to be made now. Oil’s slump has exacerbated this fear, forcing some North Sea producers to close fields earlier than planned. A drop in the cost of dismantling wells could reduce risk, buying them more time.

Read more HERE.

NRK: Norge sier nei til amerikansk grensekontroll på norsk jord

Airline / Travel, Business News, , ,

Med amerikanske grensevakter på Oslo Lufthavn Gardermoen kunne USA-turen blitt enklere, og flyplassen blitt et mer attraktivt knutepunkt. Nå har regjeringen skrinlagt prosjektet.

For flypassasjerer til USA kan den amerikanske grensekontrollen være tidkrevende og slitsom.

Derfor begynte Norge i mai 2017 å forhandle med amerikanske myndigheter om en fremskutt grensekontroll på Gardermoen.

Les hele saken HER.

CNBC: WHO officials enroll first patients from Norway and Spain in ‘historic’ coronavirus drug trial

Business News, Health, , , ,

The first patients in a “historic” drug trial to test treatments for the coronavirus have been enrolled in Norway and Spain, World Health Organization officials announced Friday.

World health officials are testing four of the most promising drugs to fight COVID-19, including malaria medications chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, an antiviral compound called Remdesivir, a combination of HIV drugs Lopinavir and Ritonavir and a combination of those drugs plus interferon-beta.

Read entire article HERE.

Bloomberg: After 350% Jobless Jump, Norway Unemployment Is Worst Since WWII

Business News,

Norway’s unemployment rate shot up to the highest level since World War II, as the economic shutdown brought on by the coronavirus sends the richest Nordic economy into shock.

The number of Norwegians seeking unemployment benefits rose almost 350% in the past two weeks, after companies temporarily laid off tens of thousands of workers to cope with the loss of demand triggered by the spread of the virus. Registered unemployment is now 10.4%, which is the highest on record for the measure.

Read entire article HERE.

Norway Today: Dual citizenship approved

Business News, Government, ,

From 1 January 2020, Norwegians can become nationals of another country without losing their Norwegian citizenship, and foreign nationals no longer have to give up their original citizenship to become Norwegian.

 

“When we allow for dual citizenship, we ensure that Norwegian law follows developments in a more globalized world, where more and more people are connected to more than one country,” Minister of Knowledge and Integration Jan Tore Sanner said in a press release.

 

Read entire article HERE.