What do scandinavians speak

Despite the similar languages, Scandinavians sometimes end up speaking English between themselves often due to the dialects existing in the Scandinavian countries and the effects of globalisation. However, making an effort to try and understand each other is only a matter of practice — in the same way as when an American person tries to understand a Scottish person.

The similarities of the Scandinavian Languages. Comparing Swedish, Danish and Norwegian Languages. North Germanic Languages. The Scandinavian Language School in Brussels. TermCoord on Europarl. EU Cookie Policy. Data Protection. Home All posts Are Scandinavian languages mutually understandable? All posts Linguistics. Norwegian is to Danish as Valenciano is to Castellano In terms of vocabulary, the most similar languages are Danish and Norwegian, which is possibly due to Norway once being under Danish rule.

Danish is an official minority language in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. In the South Schleswig area, Danish has been one of several official languages since Finnish is recognised as a minority language spoken in the Republic of Karelia, in north-west Russia.

Nordic co-operation involves a certain degree of parallel language use between the three Scandinavian languages Danish, Norwegian and Swedish on one side, and English on the other. Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are the working languages of official Nordic co-operation. For meetings of the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers, an interpretation service is offered between Finnish, Icelandic and Scandinavian, but never between the Scandinavian languages.

Since , the Nordic Council of Ministers has developed close co-operation with the three Baltic republics — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. English is the working language of Nordic-Baltic co-operation. In some respects, it might be easier and more convenient for all co-operation to be through the medium of English.

However, the fact that political co-operation is rooted in the mutual understanding of the neighbouring Nordic languages Danish, Norwegian and Swedish sends a positive signal of cohesion across linguistic and national boundaries.

For example, the Council of Ministers has a special focus on listening comprehension between Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Does language hold the Nordic Region together? Danish and Swedish — from neighbouring languages to foreign languages, and Man skal bare kaste sig ud i det Just take the plunge! Breadcrumb Home Home. Mail Facebook Linkedin Twitter.

I get hundreds of emails from language learners, telling me how their academic education failed them. I studied the native language of my own country for eleven years at school, along with five years of German. I absolutely could not claim to be an expert in either subject when I finished my education. So, what is it that sets Scandinavians apart from anyone else wishing to achieve fluency in a foreign language? The main reason Scandinavians push to become fluent in foreign languages is unsurprising.

Knowing the language native to your country brings many benefits, in a cultural and community sense. The Scandinavian languages have a rich history and the fact that they have not fallen to extinction as the East Germanic languages have done is to be commended. Scandinavians recognise that there is a need to learn foreign languages, particularly if they wish to maintain relevancy on the global stage.

As English is considered the main international language, there is a particular emphasis put on learning this language, above all others. In a recent poll, all three Scandinavian countries made the top five in terms of nationalities who love to travel. Consider this. Although this is a number that is on the rise, do take into account the diversity of the landscape within the United States.

The Nordic countries make for visually stunning getaways, with unique cultural experiences such as the midnight sun and northern lights. I believe there are many advantages to travelling without using English. However, it is the third most common native language in the world. Virtually all are fluent in English too.

To the untrained eye, English and the Scandinavian languages may not seem to have that much in common, yet the truth is quite different. All are members of the Germanic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by more than million people. While there are significant variations, all the languages share some important linguistic features that results in familiarity.

For example, the way verbs are conjugated in English is similar to Swedish, Norwegian and Danish, but very different from the Romance languages like Italian and Spanish that have their roots in Latin. Both English and the Scandinavian languages have lent each other many words over the years. We have Old Norse and the Vikings to thank for words such as ski, skull, knife, cake and my personal favorite, berserk.

The English vocabulary is one of the biggest in the world with an estimated , words. Some idioms and phrases have even crept their way into everyday use across Scandinavia, especially in advertising.