What You Need to Know if You Want to Learn a Scandinavian Language
Posted by According to a study conducted by the Foreign Service Institute, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are among the easiest languages to learn for English native speakers. With only 575 to 600 hours of study, you can achieve fluency in these Scandinavian languages. And the best part is that these 3 languages are very much alike and mutually intelligible, so your effort will pay off if you plan to visit or settle in Denmark, Sweden, or Norway. However, you should also bear in mind that you will encounter regional variations in terms of spelling, vocabulary and pronunciation.
Keep on reading and discover how these 3 Scandinavian languages are similar, how they are different, and how to choose the best one to learn (if any!).
Are Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Similar?
These 3 Scandinavian languages all developed from a common ancestor (Old Norse) and are considered sister languages. Plus, they belong to the same linguistic branch, the North-Germanic, which makes them mutually intelligible.
What does this mean? That, to a certain degree, people speaking Norwegian and Swedish can understand each other when speaking their own native language because their phonetic and grammar systems are very similar. Likewise, Danish and Norwegian have similar spelling and vocabulary, so once you have learned a reasonable number of words and expressions, you can get around in both Danish and Norwegian (at least in writing!).
Some Differences
Pronunciation
- While the Danes usually use the stød(a kind of glottal stop), shorten words and “swallow” the endings, this is not very common in Swedish and Norwegian. Thus, the Danish spelling is sometimes strikingly different from the way they pronounce certain words.
- Norwegian and Swedish use tones and word stress to convey meaning, while Danish doesn’t do that so often. In Swedish, for example, the word anden with stress in the first syllable means “duck” while in the second it means “spirit”.
Vocabulary
Be careful with false friends between Scandinavian languages! These are words that look similar but mean something completely different. For example, rar in Danish means “cute”, while in Norwegian the same term means “strange”. The same happens with the Norwegian word kneppe (shirt), which in Danish is the equivalent of the F word.
So, mind these regional variations when learning these Scandinavian languages and save yourself some embarrassment!
Spelling
Between the 14th and the 19th centuries, Norway was part of the kingdom of Denmark and everything was printed in Copenhagen. As a result, their spelling and vocabulary are almost the same today. For example, the word navn (name) is spelled the same in Norwegian and Danish, while it’s written as namn in Swedish. Also, the Danish and Norwegian first-person pronoun is jeg but the Swedes use jag.
Which One Should I Choose?
Norwegian is your best choice, especially if you plan to learn just one of these Nordic languages and use it when travelling around the Scandinavian peninsula (except if you go to Finland… which is a whole new story). Here are some reasons why:
- Danish and Norwegian vocabulary and spelling are almost the same, so you’ll be able to read street signs, books, subtitles and other written documents in both languages without major issues.
- Norwegian sounds a lot like Swedish, as they have almost identical phonetic systems. So, while you’ll need to learn some new vocabulary if you travel to Sweden, you’ll be able to participate in conversations easily.
Of course, if you have other reasons to learn a Scandinavian language (such as buying property, meeting your in-laws, doing business or just moving to a certain country permanently), you should definitely learn the language of the place where you are going to spend most of your time. In any case, your effort will pay off!
If you’d like to get started with Danish, Norwegian, Swedish or any other Nordic language with the help of an expert instructor, reach out to us at Language Trainers. Our Academic Department will prepare a course that suits your needs, requirements and learning style so you become fluent in the shortest time possible!