basica wrote:It's actually fascinating for me how many small European languages attract people that don't have ties to them (e.g. not a heritage speaker). Norwegian is probably a great example as on here and unilang I seem to come across heaps of people learning it and to me at least it's a real obscure language with almost 0% of actually using it in day to day life (I'm sure this is different depending on where you live, but even still I can't imagine there's too many Norwegian expat communities of noteworthy size considering their population size). Of course, you're interested in what you're interested in but I don't know where that interest comes come. Maybe because I live in Australia and have less of a connection with the region
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To me it’s relatively clear. A hell of a lot of ppl learn English for financial reasons, such as job markets or employment opportunities, which equates to a potential increase in quality of life.
Norway often tops or is near the top of quality of life index ratings and happiness ratings. Such lists are based on educational levels, access to health care, commuting times, pollution, crime, income and so on. Norway is a wealthy country, and one’s purchasing power if you want to travel from Norway to other countries is very high (compare earning a Romanian wage to a Norwegian one if you like to travel, and even in general). Access to stunning nature is easy, work-life balance is better than many other western countries from what I hear and they have many social structures that protect individuals and families much better than many other countries (compare maternity leave of Norway to the U.S.A. for example).
Norway’s not alone but the attraction is clear for me. I’ve been very tempted to learn the language myself by being tempted to relocate there (likely temporary-ish). I have my heart set on France, but when I read/ hear of the quality of life in Norway, the benefits of their social structures and their government, even their relation to the land and their property rights, I suffer from wanderlust. Romanian doesn’t pull me in like Norwegian since it’s poor in comparison, I’ve heard some rather off-putting things about the Romanian government with regards to fundamental rights and respect and life would be tough there moving from Australia. Australia’s quality of life is high, but Norway’s is higher (that’s in ratings and anecdotally).
As a bonus for us language learners, learning Norwegian brings with it a great level of Swedish and Danish comprehension hardly lifting a finger- two more happy and wealthy countries where social systems do a lot to provide for their citizens.
As a side note, I don’t learn languages just from an economic stand point, but for Norwegian (and Luxembourgish and Swiss German) I am tempted quite often.
Edited for spelling errors and a couple of minor additions.