I agree with you that learning a language depends on the learner. Some could learn it fast (especially some who has German background like you) and some can’t just “get it” (like your Japanese friends). This has indeed nothing to do with one’s intelligent level.

The thing about Danish, Danes and Denmark (perhaps you haven’t lived too long here to realize / experience it) is that how often Danes connect these two together. When you speak Danish like a 5-year old, they would just ignore you, claiming that you’re incompetent. I have read and heard many (foreign) mothers get completely ignored by their childrens’ teachers when these mothers couldn’t speak Danish in parents meeting. Some Danes would just take no effort in making communication.

Just yesterday my Norwegian colleague complained to me that when he was in Denmark, nobody could understand him (he was speaking Norwegian to them) so he must switched to English. He said it was horrible for having to speak English with Danes but I explained to him that Danes aren’t used to hearing words pronounced in different way – which is actually the root of our (immigrants learning Danish) problem. And oh, my colleague is a blond blue eyed native Norwegian, by the way – it’s not like he’s speaking Norwegian with foreign accent.

It’s true that Danes say “hvad siger du” to each other, and it’s frustrating isn’t it? To know that they could barely understand each other. Unlike you, I understand Sjælland accent better, because I learned Danish in Copenhagen. I think Jutlanders speak a bit “lazy” by dragging the words altogether, but that’s just an opinion.

PS: I got my PD3 after 12 months, full of 10 and 12s. Nothing special there. Language course certificate unfortunately doesn’t prepare you for real communication (problems) with the Danes.

The Japanese seem to speak most other languages badly, least of which Danish. I don’t have to think much further than of English to make the point. I’m not sure why that is; they don’t lack for native intelligence and ability, but I do think their educational system, along with the silly gimmicks they use for learning all kinds of things makes them way off base when it comes to languages. When I was in Denmark I had a Japanese classmate who just could not “get it” no matter how hard she tried. Unfortunately, neither was her English even all that good, despite her having studied it for two years at university. I never thought she was stupid, but rather that “Japanese Education” terribly let her down…

The difficulty of learning any language, even if it’s Danish, is relative to the learner. We linguists say that there is no such thing as an inherently difficult language. I honestly did not find Danish to be difficult at all, despite its supposed reputation for being so. After five months at a Danish folkehøjskole learning Danish more or less 24/7 from scratch, I passed my Prøve i Dansk 2 with all 12’s, and my Jamaican classmate, also with no previous Danish, but definitely not a linguist, accomplished nearly the same feat. But I do have to admit that, besides English being my native language, that German is my second language, so that about 20% of the Danish I know I could already figure out through my German. Of course, the PD2 only gets you so far, since there’s the PD3 and the Studieprøve. I am able to understand many Jutlanders perfectly well, while I struggle to understand even one word from not too few people from Sjælland. I can follow almost all the news on TV2, but not most talk and music shows on DR. I can read almost all of Metro or 24 timer, but not a whole lot of those really long articles in Politiken. Being back in the USA for the summer, I’m applying for a Danish Greencard to come back to Denmark, and if I can come back I’ll start studying more advanced Danish at a sprogskole (like at Lærdansk in Århus…). As for practicing Danish with my fellow foreign classmates, I didn’t find it particularly useful. Fortunately our sproghøjskole shared the same infrastructure with an organic agricultural school with many native Danes, so I was able to integrate my Danish with them. And of course, the school staff was Danish, and they helped a tremendous amount.

Your point that “Danish does not tolerate deviations very well” is well taken, but I disagree with it entirely. What impressed me (not necessarily in a good way) about hearing Danes speak Danish is how often they say to each other (practically every other sentence) “hvad siger du?” or “hvad sagde du?”. A Danish friend explained to me that there is really no perfectly right way to speak Danish. Not even the Queen speaks it perfectly, he said. There are enough of those common everyday Danish words which you can vary the pronunciation of and still be understood; or, better yet, get a “hvad siger du?” in response. Two examples I can think of are the words “hvad”, and “tager”. You can say “hvad” in at least three different ways, and “tager” also in at least as many. My Danish friend also claimed that Danes can understand foreigners quite easily, precisely because they tend to pronounce the letters that are otherwise silent. And just a little comment about “øl”; I pronounce it pretty much as the German “öl” (which instead means “oil”), and I have no problems being understood. One of the most gratifying experiences I’ve had is having a conversation with an older Danish couple on a plane, leaving Denmark, who spoke no English, and who likely mistook me for a native Danish speaker, or being “nydansk”. The reason for its significance to me is that I am not white, but Asian, and they didn’t have to start talking to me in Danish at all, and expect me to understand them…

Thanks for your commentary. Many of the things you describe in this article I too have experienced while I lived in Denmark. I really could relate to your comments on “reverse culture shock” upon returning to the United States after 8+ years. I felt for the longest time that I was on an extended vacation and soon I would be able to return “home” to Denmark. I still miss many things about my other home and believe that I will always hold Denmark and its people in high esteem. I feel as if I too am a Dane in many ways and will remain so, regardless if I ever have the opportunity to live there again or not! : )

– Jules

Thanks for your summary of the Danish cultural phenomenon of “Hygge”.

I lived in Denmark for over eight years. I was fully embedded in their world…i.e. I was married to a Dane, worked for the Danish military as a civilian instructor, spoke Danish with everyone there with the exception of my husband and a few English speaking friends. I feel that during those years I was very familiar with the culture and their concept of “Hygge”. But still…the closest word I could ever use to describe the concept of “Hugge” to my American or European friends was to refer to it as making everything cozy”, but the word always seemed to fall short.

You made me smile with your description of the Danes own view of the concept of “Hygge” and their own belief that they are the only culture and nationality who have this type of social gathering and/or experience. However, in their defense the experience is unique to them or at least for them…and therefore it is very special and viewed as such.

I do agree with you that other cultures share in this type of social activity and many even to the same degree/intensity. But then again I have to argue that these other cultures may just not hold their form of “Hygge” so close to their hearts as the Danes do! : )

Thank you again for your description and review…I quite enjoyed reading what you had to say on the topic.

– Jules

I don’t understand either how someone in Japan can learn Danish and expect to use it in Denmark. We – who learned Danish in Denmark – struggled in learning it. However, I am curious to know how the Danish class is taught in DK.

I must applaud you for being good spirited and like Heidi said, I couldn’t quite agree with the ridicule around someone’s mispronunciation but you’re right about Danish language being like that for hundreds of years. If only the Danes are more “tolerant” to the foreigners’ accents, right?

If you’re saying there is not “do something about it” then there really is no way of staying here, is there?