Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Swedes take time to learn Danish

For my non-Scandinavian readers: The Scandinavian languages are similar and closely related, but you still make a mistake if you think they are "all the same". As a rule of thumb, educated Scandinavians should be able to read each other's languages (that's why I frequently quote Swedish or Danish newspapers), but it is a bit more complicated when it comes to spoken dialects. It is not unusual for Swedes and Danes in particular to switch to English because they have a hard time understanding each other:

Swedes take time to learn Danish

Unemployed academics in Sweden have begun to look to Denmark as the land of opportunity and have signed up for a weeklong intensive Danish class in record numbers. The programme, which is offered by the Centre for Danish Studies at Lund University, reported a 50 percent increase in the number of applicants. 'There has been a particular increase in ph.d. students this year who want to enter the Danish workforce, but who recognise that good Danish skills are a necessity,' said the programme's co-ordinator Barbro Bergner. Although the Swedish and Danish languages are closely related and share a number of similarities, the differences between them are significant enough to give some Swedes problems when they cross the Øresund Sound to Denmark. The class consists of morning sessions in a language lab where participants can practice their pronunciation and analyse the Danish language. Afternoon sessions include lectures on various aspects of Danish society and culture.

7 Comments:

At July 26, 2005 8:18 AM, Blogger ik said...

I hope the Danes are very very careful.

In India we have found that Bengali Hindu leftists who move into India from Bangladesh continue to hold onto their leftist world views and mess things up in our country by writing big articles in newspapers pushing their leftist world views.

Once a people are infected it is best to Quarantine them until they are cured

sorry if this sounds harsh. I have nothing personally against Bengalis or Swedes.

 
At July 26, 2005 8:45 AM, Blogger Herr Unswedenizer said...

ik:

The Swedish way of messing things up is by doing nothing. There is no more loyal and well adapted person in the world than a Swede. Decisions are carried out silently and efficiently without any complaints.

This is precisely the problem for a nation as Sweden when lead by a suicidal elite.

So Swedes need no quarantine. What Swedes need is deprogramming. Being exposed to Danish environments is a small step in the right direction.

 
At July 26, 2005 10:19 AM, Blogger Vera said...

Actually the French has just released a report saying that anti-semitic incidents are dramatically (about 50%) down in comparison with the last year.

 
At July 26, 2005 10:20 AM, Blogger Vera said...

Argh, wrong place, sorry. :(

 
At July 26, 2005 5:55 PM, Blogger Evan said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At July 26, 2005 5:55 PM, Blogger Evan said...

Why would the market for academic types be much better in Denmark than in Sweden?

 
At July 26, 2005 7:06 PM, Blogger Herr Unswedenizer said...

I have no idea Evan. Sweden is the veritable paradise for "academic types".

Maybe it's that we are getting short of public money...

 

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