Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Hun snakker med læreren om eksamensangst og får noen enkle råd. - She talks with the teacher about exam anxiety and gets some simple advice.

Norwegian usually uses the definite form when both the speaker and listener know exactly which teacher is being talked about (for example, her teacher, the one they both know).

You would use en lærer when it’s not a specific, known person:

Hun snakker med en lærer = She talks with a teacher (some teacher, not specified).

In this sentence, med læreren implies a specific teacher, probably her own.

Why is the preposition med used with snakker? Could you say something else instead?

The normal phrase in Norwegian is:

å snakke med (noen) = to talk with someone

So:

Hun snakker med læreren = She talks with the teacher.

You might see related phrases:

snakke med = talk with
snakke til = speak to (more one‑way, can sound a bit like “address” or even “scold” depending on tone)
snakke om = talk about

In this sentence, she is having a conversation with the teacher, so med is the natural choice:

Hun snakker med læreren om eksamensangst
She talks with the teacher about exam anxiety.

Why is it om eksamensangst and not another preposition?

Om is the standard preposition used when talking about a topic:

snakke om noe = talk about something
lese om noe = read about something
tenke på noe, but snakke om noe (think about vs talk about is split between på and om)

So:

Hun snakker med læreren om eksamensangst
= She talks with the teacher about exam anxiety.

Using om here is directly equivalent to “about” in English in this context.

What exactly does eksamensangst mean, and why is it one long word?

Eksamensangst is a compound noun:

eksamen = exam
angst = anxiety

When Norwegian combines nouns, the first part is usually put in a linking form:

eksamen → eksamens- (with an -s)
eksamensangst = exam anxiety

Norwegian often creates one long compound word where English might write two:

eksamensangst = exam anxiety
hjemmearbeid = homework
arbeidsplass = workplace

So eksamensangst is a single, normal compound meaning “anxiety related to exams.”

Why is the verb snakker in the present tense? Could it mean something else?

Snakker is the present tense of å snakke (to speak, to talk):

snakker = speaks / is speaking / talks / is talking

Norwegian present tense usually covers both simple and continuous forms from English:

Hun snakker med læreren
can be understood as:
- She talks with the teacher.
- She is talking with the teacher.

The exact meaning (habitual or right now) depends on context, not on a different verb form.

So snakker is correctly in the present tense to describe a current or generally true action.

What does får mean here, and is it the same verb as in “to get” or “to receive”?

Yes. Får is the present tense of å få, and it often means:

to get
to receive
to be given
sometimes to be allowed to (depending on context)

In this sentence:

… og får noen enkle råd
= “… and gets/receives some simple advice.”

So it is the same få you see in:

Jeg får en gave = I get/receive a gift.
Får jeg gå? = May I go? (Am I allowed to go?)

Why is there no subject before får? Shouldn’t it be Hun får?

The subject Hun is shared by both verbs:

Hun snakker med læreren om eksamensangst og (hun) får noen enkle råd.

Norwegian, like English, doesn’t repeat the subject if it’s the same for both verbs in a coordinated clause connected by og (and).

In English you can say:

“She talks with the teacher and gets some simple advice.”

You don’t need “she” again.
Norwegian works the same way here, so Hun applies to both snakker and får.

Why is it noen enkle råd and not something like noen enkle råder?

There are a few points here:

Noen
- noen = some, a few (used with plural count nouns)
Råd
- et råd = one piece of advice
- råd (unchanged) = pieces of advice (plural)
The noun råd doesn’t change its form in the plural.
So:
- singular indefinite: et råd
- plural indefinite: råd
- singular definite: rådet
- plural definite: rådene
There is no form råder; that would be incorrect.
Adjective agreement: enkle
Enkle is the plural form of enkel (simple, easy):
- et enkelt råd = a simple piece of advice
- noen enkle råd = some simple pieces of advice

So noen enkle råd is exactly “some simple (pieces of) advice” in good Norwegian.

Why is enkle (with -e) used instead of enkel?

Adjectives in Norwegian change form depending on gender, number, and definiteness.

Basic pattern (indefinite):

en enkel idé (masculine/feminine singular)
et enkelt råd (neuter singular)
enkle råd (plural, any gender)

Since råd is plural here (because of noen = some), the adjective must be in the plural form:

noen enkle råd = some simple pieces of advice

If it were just one, you’d say:

et enkelt råd = a simple piece of advice

Is the word order Hun snakker med læreren om eksamensangst fixed, or can I move things around?

The word order is fairly flexible, as long as the verb stays in the second position in a main clause (the V2 rule).
All of these are natural:

Hun snakker med læreren om eksamensangst.
Hun snakker om eksamensangst med læreren.

The difference is just focus:

First version focuses slightly on whom she’s talking with:
She talks with the teacher about exam anxiety.
Second version focuses slightly on what she’s talking about:
She talks about exam anxiety with the teacher.

Both are correct, and both feel quite natural.

Why is there no article before eksamensangst? Why not om en eksamensangst?

Eksamensangst is used here as an uncountable/abstract noun, like “fear,” “anxiety,” “stress.” In Norwegian, such abstract nouns often appear without an article when you talk about them in general:

Hun snakker om eksamensangst = She talks about exam anxiety.
Han lider av depresjon = He suffers from depression.

You would only use an article if you were specifying a particular instance in a very marked way, which would sound unusual here. So om eksamensangst (no article) is the natural, general expression.