NOVEMBER 2019
NOVEMBER 2019
LANGUAGE TUITION:
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PUBLIC vs PRIVATE?
Could the withdrawal of the government subsidy conversely be a blessing for students looking for quality Since the summer of 2018, there have no longer been free Danish-language classes for foreigners. The classes are still subsidised, but according to the government’s 2018 tax bill agreement, each module now costs a minimum of 2,000 kroner, which means the six-module course costs a total of 12,000 kroner. In addition, students are required to pay a 1,250 kroner deposit per module, which is refundable upon completion. “The deposit and fees charged to participants provide an incentive that should ensure that only economically self-sufficient people who are highly motivated start courses,” noted the agreement. The new measures came into force on 1 July 2018. Two providers in capital There have also been fundamental changes made to the system regarding language tuition for adult foreigners in Copenhagen Municipality. Danish lessons have always been heavily subsidised, but now the municipality
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is given a block grant instead of a ‘per person’ allowance from the government. This was introduced mainly to encourage municipalities to tender for language school contracts in order to negotiate a lower price. Since 1 August 2018, only two language schools have been able to offer municipal classes. A number of their competitors have either given up or had to switch to going completely private. The two schools are responsible for teaching all the students eligible for free classes – so refugees and successful family reunification applicants from non-EU countries. Self-supporting adults (including students, spouses and family reunification applicants from EU countries) need to pay to learn Danish. This is the case regardless of choosing a private or public school. An easy choice? It sounds like an easy choice, right? Opt for one of the ‘public’ schools offering subsidised lessons and learn Danish. Aſter all, why would anyone choose a ‘private’ school and pay
between 2,500 and 4,500 kroner a module. Well, the answer is similar to the reason why thousands of Danes choose to drink a Carlsberg in a city centre bar instead of exactly the same drink in a backstreet bodega. Or opt for a private school over a public one. The company! Learning alongside those who have never been to a western school before and have a limited knowledge of any European languages raises some pretty formidable obstacles. Paying a bit more doesn’t guarantee a learning atmosphere conducive to mastering Danish, but it dramatically shortens the odds – particularly as before July 2018, when all the schools got the subsidy, it was impossible to know who might be learning alongside you. While an estimated 50 percent of the country’s new arrivals are passing up the opportunity to learn Danish due to the cost – of which a large proportion are foreign students – a healthy half are, and the majority are opting for more expensive courses that are still highly affordable for most working people.
NOVEMBER 2019
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NOVEMBER 2019
LINGUA DANCA THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING DANISH
BY EDWARD OWEN
If you’re new to Copenhagen, there’s a good chance you will have never heard anything quite like the Danish language. Sure, maybe you’ve watched a few episodes of ‘The Bridge’, but essentially your brain switches onto autopilot as you read the subtitles. You’ve also noticed that the Danes seem to speak pretty good English. And so, you could easily convince yourself that learning the language isn’t really a priority. The fact of the matter is there are of course a myriad of advantages to learning the native language of your new home – especially given the strong possibility that you won’t want to leave. Employment: Avoid the creek! Some ability in Danish will present you with a wider range of choice in your chosen profession. Perhaps you’re here in Copenhagen because you work for a large international company and the official language is English. However, there is no doubt that new opportunities within such firms – in different departments or new projects – will be available to you if you can grasp Danish. But what if you came here as a refugee of love or to follow your spouse, and your qualifications (a bachelor’s degree for example) aren’t what the big companies are thinking of when they talk about ‘highlyskilled foreigners’. The truth is that even if you find a job that specifies mother tongue English, they will very oſten still want you to speak Danish when socialising with the other workers. Such a situation can spoil the office hygge! Within the service industry there are some employers who don’t have a preference on
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your Danish language skills and there are some that do. The point remains: you will have more options if you can get to grips with Danish. Whatever your profession, you will eventually find yourself in a situation in which knowledge of Danish is highly advantageous at work. The time may also come where you want to change your job or employer, and it’s at this point that the ability to use the language will open up significantly more opportunities than those already within your reach. Education: Join the clique! Attending university is one of the main reasons for the large international presence
in Copenhagen, and learning Danish will also help at school. Remember: many programs are available in English, but the number is being cut. Now, we’re not suggesting you move to Denmark and immediately enrol onto a course taught in Danish, but there is a significant amount of group work involved in a Danish education. Inevitably, you will find yourself in one such group as the only foreigner. Imagine; you take a five-minute break from your group work and grab a coffee. Upon your return your peers are chattering away in Danish – no big deal, right? Wrong. It turns out that as you were gazing off into the distance, important decisions were
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made about the direction of the group project. If only you had understood, you could have recognised the importance of the conversation. Socially: Power when you speak! It’s also important to consider your social life outside of work. Making friends with Danes can be a tough audition. Being able to converse in Danish will really allow you to immerse yourself in society and glide through social interactions and feel more at home. The day-to-day situations in which a good command of Danish can be an advantage are numerous, but here are a few examples. ‘Getting around’ – place names, directions, announcements on transport – particularly out in the regions where far fewer Danes tend to speak English well. Imagine you’re sat on the train and it fails to depart – there’s an announcement and everyone gets off the train. You can assume this train is going nowhere – but what did the announcement say?! ‘Life administration’ – paying bills, making purchases online, understanding receipts and terms and conditions, checking the small print etc. You are responsible for your own tax assessment in Denmark – receiving a large tax bill at the end of the year is not ideal. ‘Basic communication’ – not just with the Danes, but with a sizeable chunk of the 10 percent of the population who aren’t Danish, but don’t speak English. Immigrating from countries like Eritrea, Afghanistan and Syria, they wouldn’t have learned English as a child, but most will speak Danish aſter being here for a few months. ‘Making new friends’ – not just with the Danes but also the social outlet offered by language school. Many oſten remain friends for decades, and it’s not unknown for some to start
sports clubs once the learning experience is over. ‘Complaining’ – whether it’s in a checkout queue or at the traffic lights, if you’re speaking in English, will they admit to understanding you? ‘Eavesdropping’ – fun in any language. ‘Safety’ – last, but by no means least. In an emergency situation, Danish language skills could prove to be the difference – offering crucial clarity and timesaving. Culturally: New horizons to seek Ultimately it might come down to how well you want to get to know and appreciate your new home. Imagine the excitement many feel at being able to read and appreciate Hans Christian Andersen’s stories in their original language, or the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard. Danish also connects you with the past and the culture and history of northern Europe. It developed from Old Norse, which eventually split into Old West Norse, spoken in Norway and Iceland, and Old East Norse, spoken in Sweden and Denmark.
If you understand Danish you can go to more events, exhibitions and social happenings. Learning Danish will make you aware they are happening in the first place and will also allow you to get more out of them once you are there. And don’t forget that Danish is closely related to Norwegian and Swedish, even if their Scandinavian neighbours to tend to mock the Danes for sounding
as if we speak with a potato in our mouths. So you’re not just learning one language, but three! Norwegian (bokmål) is almost a carbon copy of Danish, with a few distinctions irrelevant to normal every-day use. Swedish uses some unique words and phrases, but to a great extent is very understandable to Danish speakers.
Denmark’s most effective Danish courses! www.kiss.dk
Eventually, Old East Norse evolved into the Danish that is spoken today. Believe it or not, there are many regional dialects in Denmark and its territories, of which many are still spoken today. LANGUAGE SCHOOL GUIDE
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NOVEMBER 2019
SO MANY LANGUAGE SCHOOLS – but which one to choose?
of Copenhagen has an agreement with two language schools to provide classes. A 1,250 kroner deposit is now payable and the modules cost 2,000 kroner each. It is also possible to study in neighbouring municipalities, such as Frederiksberg, so it is wise to go online and check individual language schools. It is usually possible to enrol on courses several times a year. Mandatory examinations are held twice a year. Adult learning centres The adult learning centres (VUCs) offer courses in all general subjects for adults at lower and upper secondary school level. In addition to the general courses offered to Danes, some of the VUCs offer Danish language courses for foreigners. Each course lasts 6-12 months and comprises 240 lessons. You can obtain more information on these courses from your local municipality or from the individual adult learning centre. If you are interested in a more intensive or perhaps a more individually designed course, you can enquire at one of the local language centres about private language teachers.
There are many different types of language schools offering a range of courses catering to your individual needs and circumstances. Let us help you find the school that is right for you. Getting started Once you have arrived here and have settled, getting started on language tuition is relatively simple and requires only that you have a Danish CPR number (civil registration number). You will have to apply for this through the website or office of your local kommune (municipality). In order to obtain a CPR number, you have to meet the following criteria: • You have been in Denmark for more than three months; • If you are an EU citizen, you have a registration certificate (does not apply to Nordic citizens); • If you are a non-EU citizen, you have obtained a residence permit; • You have a valid, permanent address. A minimum length of one month’s stay is expected, but you might be asked to provide proof of three months. All this will be checked and your registration
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will not be accepted if there are any anomalies. Your registration can be cancelled if the address proves to be illegal. You will also be expected to provide other documentation, such as a valid passport, a marriage certificate if you are married and the birth certificates of your children if you have them with you. What’s available As well as teaching Danish to adult foreigners, many schools offer a wide range of other courses, including special youth courses and courses on Danish culture and society. There are long courses that run during the academic year, short intensive courses and summer courses. Depending on your needs, time, interests and prior qualifications, the main options below are available to you: Via the municipality Local authorities are required by law to offer Danish language and culture courses to all foreign residents. The local language schools offer courses at all levels. The target groups for these courses are new immigrants and refugees. Due to a shake-up of the language school system, as of 1 August 2018 the municipality
Folk high schools Some folk high schools (folkehøjskoler) offer residential courses in Danish language and culture, either during the summer holiday (3-4 weeks) or during the autumn and spring semesters (4-5 months). These courses do not normally include formal tests or examinations. The Secretariat for the Danish Folk High Schools will provide you with further information about courses, admission and tuition fees. Visit hojskolerne.dk for more information. Higher education institutions In connection with a language school, some institutions offer intensive Danish language courses at the beginning of the academic year, during the semester, or as a part of a summer university program. Students who are enrolled at the institution are not usually charged a tuition fee, but have to pay a deposit of 1,250 kroner. Private instruction There are many private language schools and instructors out there. This type of learning is ideal for those who don’t have time to attend scheduled classes.
NOVEMBER 2019
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NOVEMBER 2019
THE CONSENSUS IS CLEAR: A command of Danish will help your career
CPH POST recently had the privilege of sitting down with three experts on the benefits of language tuition for new arrivals to Denmark.
taking the courses. Probably around 80 percent of the companies we deal with acknowledge the need because they look at the return on investment.
Nikolai Lubanski is the director of talent attraction at Copenhagen Capacity, the formal investment promotion agency of Great Copenhagen; Annette Juel Baunsgaard is the founder of Onboardingsdk, which eases incoming expats into their new lives in Denmark; and Thomas Mulhern is the managing director of Globally Local, which assists companies with diversity management programs.
How important is Danish at the workplace? Even though most people here are able to speak English, knowing Danish helps you get into different settings. You would be better acquainted with the country and also your workplace – it is a part of getting out of the international bubble. And likewise, for the international individual talent: simply because we believe that even if the corporate language is English, the career language is definitely Danish – to open new doors and opportunities for promotions. It is a good idea if you want to network and further your abilities.
For the long haul All three agree that learning Danish is a crucial step toward successfully integrating in Denmark, from advancing at work, to mingling with the crowd, to enjoying a rich social life, to getting the most out of your time in Denmark, however long that might be. Quite simply, to paraphrase Nikolai Lubanski, while English is oſten the corporate language, Danish is the career language. ULRIK JANTZEN
And in the corporate world – for a company as an entity? Oſten companies start working more with Danish customers, and then it’s handy to have Danish speaking staff for good customerrelation building. It is important to know the language while working with clients, manufacturers and suppliers who are still very reluctant to communicate only in English. Moreover, it is essential for B2B relations and to understand the work culture of Denmark. Apart from at work, how essential is Danish in everyday life? There are definitely other benefits of learning Danish looking from the personal livability side of it. I emphasise learning it to have a fuller life and being able to interact with the Danes. For families, it is helpful to know Danish when their kids are studying in Denmark to speak with the teachers and understand instructions – if they have to go to the doctor, to the supermarket etc. They will obviously navigate their way through in English, but Danish helps them get so much closer to society.
Nikolai Lubanski How many companies seem interested in the prospect of getting their international hires to learn Danish? It’s been around four years since we collaborated, and now there are almost 7,000 international teams interested in
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What do you think about the future of expats in Denmark? I think it will only increase because if you look at the labour market situation over the last few years, internationals are highly needed. Hopefully, we will see some positive times looking at what is really needed than what the strict immigration policies do.
Annette Juel Baunsgaard Can you tell us a bit about Onboarding2dk? Onboarding to Denmark is a company I started in March this year. I have been in the recruitment and onboarding industry for over 20 years at different kinds of companies, including the HR department at DTU and Copenhagen Business School. I built a great network there in regard to the authorities and municipalities, which is the reason I was able to then start my own business. I am dedicated to helping people getting a good start in Denmark. That’s my motivation. How important do you think it is for internationals to learn Danish? Learning the Danish language is a very important way for internationals to pave their way into Danish society. That way they can socialise, integrate and have a better life in Denmark, which is much better than the one in which you don’t understand anything being said across the table. In my work, I have seen many internationals leave Denmark because they don’t feel they can interact with the people and in society. Speaking the language will give you a sense of belonging and a good life here. What’s the importance of Danish in the workplace? I would say it is very important. It is among the most important things to learn when you are an expat working here. You can
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understand things that are being said in the workplace and break the otherwise prevalent cultural barrier. It’s a tendency for employees to talk in Danish during lunch and not to integrate with internationals sometimes. So it’s crucial to mix with the crowd. And for the expat’s family ... It depends on how long you are planning to be in Denmark. If it’s more than two years, then it’s very important to at least learn the basics. It helps with socializing – for example with one’s neighbours. It’s a good way to break into society and develop friendships, which can be quite a challenge otherwise in Denmark. Having a social life is very important. You want to be happy – that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? What do you think about the future of expats in Denmark and the growing importance of the Danish language? I hope it will be a mixture of languages and cultures. Danish people also perhaps might learn more languages in order to know about the other nationalities around them. I hope that’s the way it goes. When you come to a new country as an expat, you should learn the language of course and hopefully from someone like Copenhagen Language Center. Hopefully more expats actually learn the language.
Thomas Mulhern What’s the importance of Danish in the corporate sector? At a strategic level we see that learning Danish is crucial in terms of building up a network of especially Danes, as well as having more influence and increased wellbeing at the workplace. From the company’s perspective, they see it as a cog in terms of maximising employee performance and retaining a higher percentage of global talent so that they can contribute in the best way possible. Do you think that the companies also push their employees to opt for the language – more than it being an option, maybe some companies actually have a necessity? Some do. It’s a mix. There are some companies where the corporate language is English, so there’s not that expectation. There are others where employees are expected to learn the language – otherwise they will just be given the minutes of a meeting and then a brief summary at the end. However, if you really want to maximise your ability to thrive at your workplace, Danish is a must; you will invariably reach a certain level in the organisation where having Danish is almost a prerequisite to be able to have influence.
What about the importance of learning Danish for an international’s social life – in the wider community away from the workplace? Indeed. It’s also important in terms of social life – to make local friends and to participate in different clubs that which are predominantly Danish. If you have your children at a Danish school, then the communication is primarily in Danish. There are a lot of such places throughout society where it’s really beneficial to just be able to read Danish and speak Danish to make life easier. We can see a direct correlation between settling in and learning the language and how that impacts well-being. What do you think about the future of expats in Denmark in general? Well, we can see that the number of expats keeps growing – especially in the Copenhagen area. So I expect that trend to continue. I
think that in terms of the influence that it will have on society, it depends. It’s like there is a glass ceiling for many top leaders who come from a different culture and don’t speak the Danish language, which prevents them from making it to the top levels. But we will see how the changing demographics affect that and how Denmark reacts to more diversity, because it’s historically a monoculture. Do you think that the Danish language is one of the important factors that comes into play? I think it’s a very important factor. It’s a way of building bridges. If you move to a society, it’s a way of demonstrating that I’m here and I want to understand you, a Dane, today in your native tongue. I want to communicate at the best possible level. And that’s a great way of showing it. It’s a way of showing that you want to be active and participate.
Yes, you can even sit on the floor with your laptop if you like
Learn Danish your way
www. laerdansk .dk/ netdansk LANGUAGE SCHOOL GUIDE
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NOVEMBER 2019
THE DANISH LANGUAGE’S irritable vowel syndrome
An overabundance of vowel sounds makes Danish a difficult language to learn – even for Danish children, say linguists by Jennifer Buley A 15-month-old Croatian child understands approximately 150 words, while a Danish child of the same age understands just 84 on average. It’s not because Danish kids are dumb, or because Croatian kids are geniuses. It’s because Danish has too many vowel sounds, according to Dorthe Bleses, a linguist at the Center for Child Language at the University of Southern Denmark. “The number of vowels has big significance for how difficult it is to learn a language. Many vowels makes a difficult language,” Bleses told Weekendavisen newspaper in 2011.
Forty vowel sounds to master
The official number of vowels in Danish is nine: a, e, i, o, u, æ, ø, å and y. “’Y’ isn’t a vowel,” you say? Well, in Danish it is. In Danish, even consonants are vowels. But written Danish is not the issue. The problems start when Danes speak. In spoken
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speech, Danish actually has some 40 vowel sounds, explained Bleses, depending upon where the vowels are placed in words and sentence strings. To make matters worse, modern Danes ‘swallow’ lots of the remaining consonants that would create more audible definition, or annunciation, between words. Linguists call it ‘reduction’ or ‘ellision’. It is how ‘probably’ becomes ‘probly’ in American English. In Danish, it is how ‘spændende’ becomes ‘spen-nă’, and how a simple, little sentence like ‘Det er det‘ becomes ‘dā-ă-dā’ …
Hardest to learn
While marvelling at Danish pronunciation is an amusing pastime for tourists, immigrants and other Scandinavians, the irony is that the pronunciation is terribly hard even for Danish children to learn. Bleses researched how children in seven different cultures acquire their native languages. Of the seven – Danish, Swedish, Dutch, French, American English, Croatian and Galician – she found that Danish was the most difficult for children to learn. She discovered that the number of vowel sounds in a language determine not only how many words a 15-month-old baby under-
stands, but also the number of words a child is able to speak and use. Accordingly, the linguist contended, young Danish children have smaller vocabularies than children learning the other six languages.
A decade of development
Does the difficulty of the language have anything to do with how early children begin learning in school? Bleses thinks so. “Of course it’s important that the teacher knows these things in the earliest school grades and can explain the difficult connection between the sounds and the letters. For that reason the learning ability can take a little longer to develop,” she told Weekendavisen. “But the difference between the Croatian child and the Danish child doesn’t persist. Once the children have reached the third or fourth grade, the linguistic code has been cracked, and then other things have significance for whether the student learns well,” she added. In other words, according to the linguist, it takes Danish children with Danish parents until they are nine or ten years old – in the third or fourth grade – to “crack the code” of the Danish language.
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NOVEMBER 2019
JUMP IN Speaking Danish can be a tonguetwisting exercise for many, but do not get discouraged! Many ex-pats before you have mastered the language, and so can you. Just being immersed in Danish culture will go a long way to helping you grasp the complexities of Danish. It may sound peculiar to foreigners, but the written language is highly structured The joy of dialects Danish is the official language of Denmark, Greenland and the Faeroe Islands. Both Greenland and the Faeroe Islands have their own languages too, which most of the people speak, but Danish is used for official purposes and taught in schools. Even though Denmark is a small country, the Danish language has a number of dialects. The standard language, called ‘Rigsdansk’, originated around Copenhagen, and was originally based on the sociolect of the upper class of Copenhagen. Almost every island has its own dialect, which can even be difficult to understand for Danes from other parts of the country. However, the vast majority of the population speak either standard Danish or a social variation of it.
– and give it a try!
Danish is a Germanic language and many of the words and phrases have much in common with German, French and English. For this reason, it is not exactly renowned as one of the most beautiful-sounding languages in the world. Actually, the sound of Danish always seems to amuse foreigners, which gives the language a certain entertainment value. Foreigners oſten characterise Danish as a monotone-like drawl, and many people say that Danes speak as if they have a hot potato in their mouth. Of course, the Danes themselves find their language both charming and pretty, though they are aware of the fact that Danish can be difficult to learn for people from other countries. Written Danish is characterised by a very strict norm, but the spoken language may vary considerably in pronunciation. The Danish vocabulary is not based upon an enormous amount of words, but it is in principle unlimited, as new words can freely be formed by means of compounding or deriving. Existing words are simply used to create new words and as a result of this, the largest Danish dictionaries contain more than 200,000 words.
DANISH LANGUAGE HELP
With so much to cover with the Danish language, we have put together a list of resources which will help you along the learning process:
#1 You should start by familiarising yourself with the 28-letter Danish alphabet. The Danish alphabet is derived from the Indo-European languages and is part of the Germanic languages. It uses the Standard English alphabet plus three extra vowels not found in the English language. They are: å/æ/ø. They can also be written this way: aa for å, ae for æ and oe for ø.
#2 You should check out Danish num-
bers, which include some important information that can save you a lot of embarrassment and confusion. Try counting to 10: 0 – nul; 1 – en; 2 – to; 3 – tre; 4 – fire; 5 – fem; 6 – seks; 7 – syv; 8 – otte; 9 – ni; 10 – ti.
#3 Learn about dates and times too, since the Danes do this differently to most countries. For instance, in English we colloquially say ‘half-ten’ when we mean ‘half-past ten’, but in Danish, ‘klokken halv ti’ would be understood as 9:30. #4 Learn some common Danish words, which might help you when doing the basics like shopping and interacting with service people. Below are some basic terms. Hej! - Hi Goddag - Hello (formal) Hvordan Har Du Det? - How Are You? Hvad Så? (informal) - What’s Up? Farvel - Good-Bye God Morgen - Good Morning God Nat - Good Night Tak! - Thank You Undskyld Mig - Excuse Me Jeg Elsker Dig - I Love You
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NOVEMBER 2019
The joys of the Danish language
This being an English publication, we assiduously avoid speaking Danish at every opportunity. Most of us can mumble a few phrases, at various levels of competence, but it really does make your head hurt aſter a while. by Ray Weaver Choking on pork rind Let’s face it. Danish is virtually unpronounceable to anyone not born here. I think there is a chemical reaction that happens when leverpostej is smeared on rugbrød that renders a Danish child’s tongue able to say these words. Extra letters. Why? Really. Why? So you have a written version of something that sounds like you are choking on a pork rind? And of course, no matter how many times our Danish friends and significant others rail at us that we should “snak dansk for helvede!”, as soon as we do, they switch to English. Their delicate ears are simply not accustomed to hearing their musical, mellifluous language spoken with an ugly coarse, foreign accent. Heaven forfend! Can I borrow your kok? But, there is fun to be had whilst we wade through Danskland.
As a musician, I learned early on not to ask a Danish guitarist if I could borrow his pi(c)k. My elderly mother required smelling salts and a whisky after my Danish wife told her she was very pleased that I was such a great kok in the kitchen. And my microwave calls me a slut every time my Thai box has finished heating properly. And I’m betting that many of those reading this column have snapped a photo of at least one ‘Turistfart’ sign. I know I have. (If you are not sure why any of the above are funny, it’s your Danish assignment this week to find out why.) Meat stuck in my tooth meat One of the first things any expat learns to love is the literalness of Danish translations. How can you not love a language in which the word for gums literally translates as ‘tooth meat’, a vacuum cleaner is a ‘dust sucker’ and a refrigerator is a ‘cold closet’. It’s brilliant! Although Danes are loathe to hear expats butcher their syntax, they are quite proud of their ability to speak English, and regale us with it at every opportunity. Unfortunately, much of their knowledge comes from teachers. I was bemused – and a little
pissed off – the first time I had a parent/ teacher conference with my son’s English teacher and he told me, right up front: “I don’t speak English.” I learnt it on DR Ultra Many Danes get much of their English from films and, of course, there is no filter as to who is watching what when. One of my first encounters with Danes speaking my language was in the company of a father and his two blonde-haired, blue-eyed young children on a windswept Bornholm beach. Twenty years ago, Yanks on Bornholm were a bit of a novelty, so the dad was excited to introduce me to the kids. “This is Ray. He comes from America. He speaks English.” While I was puzzling why Daddy had not introduced me – a grown man – as Mr Weaver, I could see the blueeyed boy struggling shyly for a suitable English phrase. “Fuck you!” he squeaked happily. “You fucking motherfucker!” his sister joyfully exclaimed. Their dad beamed. The original version was first published in October 2014 LANGUAGE SCHOOL GUIDE
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NOVEMBER 2019
DANISH LANGUAGE MUCH HARDER than Norwegian and Swedish, argue linguistics experts
No place in Babbel’s top nine languages easiest to learn for Anglophones by Ben Hamilton “Daddy! Say ‘rødgrød med fløde’.” An inaudible mumble follows. Daddy doesn’t play games – well maybe Cluedo at which he’s unbeatable because the Brits pretty much invented sleuthing – or eat Danish desserts. Yuk!
Photo: Oleksandr Pidvalnyi /Pexels
And now a list by Babbel.com has confirmed what we’ve defensively been telling our overseas relatives all these years, along with: “Well, everyone speaks such good English” and “Nobody gives us a chance to practise.”
Neighbours have it easy
According to Babbel’s experts, the easiest for Anglophones to learn are Norwegian and Swedish, two languages closely related to Danish. But tellingly perhaps, there was no room for Danish in Babbel’s top nine, despite its Germanic roots. A number of commenters were quick to take issue with the list’s omission of Danish, but were quickly put in their place by others, who argued that the language’s pronunciation was what made it so difficult.
Photo: Tanya Vinogradova
It’s all harmless fun – no complexes or counselling involved – and we’ve all been there, as Danish is a difficult language to learn.
Far more flexible
“You’ll have a lot more leeway with pronunciation when learning Norwegian,” contends Babbel. “That’s because there are a vast array of different accents in Norway and, therefore, more than one ‘correct way’ to pronounce words.” Swedish, suggested Babbel, has benefited from its exposure through companies like IKEA. English speakers around the world have been exposed to a number of Swedish words while simply shopping for furniture (and chowing
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down on some meatballs),” it noted. “The popular, minimalistic Lack tables are named aſter the Swedish word for ‘varnish’. And the Stockholm rugs, of course, get their name from Sweden’s capital.”
Easy according to the US
However, the US government disagrees – when doesn’t it, these days! Its foreign affairs training provider, the Foreign Service Institute, assesses Danish to be one of the world’s easiest nine languages, contending it would need 23-24 weeks
(575-600 hours) to attain a level of general professional proficiency in speaking and reading. It places Danish alongside Afrikaans, Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish – and of course Norwegian and Swedish. Next time they’re in Copenhagen, guess who’s going to be made to order rødgrød med fløde. The original version was first published in 2017.
NOVEMBER 2019
Boost your career Improve your English English at work You will have greater impact at work if you speak English fluently. So boost your career - sign up for an English course at The Cambridge Institute. Classes at all levels and a maximum of 8 students in each class - you will learn a lot in no time.
cambridgeinstitute.dk LANGUAGE SCHOOL GUIDE
15
NOVEMBER 2019
Speak Hellerup Bernstorffsvej 20C 2900 Hellerup Speak Lyngby Klampenborgvej 221 2800 Kgs. Lyngby Speak Frederiksberg Lindevangs Allé 8-12 2000 Frederiksberg hello@speakspeak.dk +45 3946 3050
speakspeak.dk
Smile! It’s easy to learn Danish