Ahhhhh help!

Hi PhoebeV and welcome to Expat.com!

Your thread has been moved to Bergen forum for better visibility.

Do not hesitate to browse through the forum,
Harmonie.

Hi Phoebe,

I work in the city as a teacher, but I stayed at home with my kids when they were young. I can meet up for lunch on Fridays but I'd understand a cagey response (I wouldn't like my wife meeting some bloke off the internet).

Where in Britain are you from and which area of the city are you moving to?

Hi again. I am from the Great Colchester (!) in Essex and whilst I miss my family I do not miss an awful lot about the UK. The schools here seem an awful lot better. I am hoping to teach english too bur firstly have to get my Norsk speaking up. Apparently I get free lessons if im married to a Norwegian, which I will be soon.Where do you come from?

I know you got loads of lessons free when I first came over, I did my norsk exams in Oslo, I felt like I needed to learn it all over again when we moved here. I'm originally from the Southampton area but have also lived in Solihull and Birmingham a fair bit. Moved over to Norway in 1999 and will never return.

Have you taught English before? What level? I'm originally a primary teacher and taught at the international school here and in oslo. Now I teach English at videregående (16-18). I might be able to give some advice.

No unfortunately I havent taught before, I worked in a pre school before my degree which is in literature.

Hello Phoebe! I lived in Bergen for 3 years and loved it. I now live on Stord. You might think of applying for a job in a barnehage. I was a primary school teacher in the UK and moved here in 2005. I was at home with babies for a few years but currently work as a barnehage assistant. The Norwegian courses are excellent in my experience and you can get a 'praksisplass' via NAV when you feel ready, which helps both with the language and with a feel for the workplace here. I know what Ben means about learning the language all over again between Oslo and Bergen..even more so in rural areas though, nynorsk and dialect are sometimes challenging even when people consider you fluent!!
I've two children, one in barneskulen and one of barnehage age.

Hiya, I have lived in Bergen for 3 years and have a little girl who is 2 and a half.

I would recommend checking out your local Åpen Barnehage if you are home with your little one for a while, they are either free or cheap playgroups, normally in church halls.

There is also an international playgroup that meets on Mondays at the YMCA in town, it's a bit more expensive, but worth going to meet other English speaking mums.

My little girl is at Barnehage now, so we don't go anymore... another good tip tho, is Åpenhall. Every weekend at various sports halls in town there is free soft play, there maybe one close to you.

You can search for åpenbarnehage and åpenhall on the Bergen kommune website.

Otherwise.... Send me a message if you (or anyone else) fancies getting together with our toddlers/babies and older children on the weekend sometime!

It's worth sending a CV and letter to the international school too. I don't know if you're a qualified teacher or not, but you'd probably at least get some supply work if you are.
Like in Britain, supply teaching is often the best way to get into a teaching job. It's how I got mine.

There's also something called a morsmål lærer (mother tongue teacher) that most schools use. A teacher who comes in once a week to have separate lessons with one or two children who need to keep up with another language. I'm not sure how you get into this, but you could find out from the kommune.

Totally agree with what Ben just said, you don't need to speak Norwegian to work at the international school. I know a few people who work there as nursery assistants and supply teachers all got their jobs by sending in a CV and letter as opposed to applying for vacancies.

Welcome to Bergen, Phoebe! 
Sorry, I haven't check this site in awhile. I noticed this thread is a few weeks old.

I've been in Bergen for 9 months.  Moved here with the family from New York for my husband's job.  Currently, I'm a stay at home mom to a 1 year old. I know very little Norsk.  Let me know if you like to meet up.  I would be more than happy. 
When the weather is nice, I prefer to take the little one out hiking.