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.

4 Comments:

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?

 

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