Scandinavians

[TBoneTX 45,812]

Speakers of Swedish -- have you seen this, in Off Topic?

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/404009-native-or-fluent-swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-out/

Thanks, si man.

[turion2 2]

Hi all!

Sent packet 3 to the embassy in Stockholm.

I also added and extra sheet with my contact information.

Will I get the interview date by email or whats the next step?

[MrsB2012 10]

I have a story that the Danes on here might be able to relate with..

This morning my husband and I went for an Infopass appointment at our local USCIS office. While we were standing in line, we struck up a conversation with the girl standing in line behind us (she was a US Citizen). Apparently Denmark is now a location inside of Canada... Who would have guessed!? I had to turn my head the other direction to hide my disdained expression. My Danish husband, being the kind and diplomatic person he is, kindly explained to this girl that Denmark is a country inside of Europe, close to Germany. She then replied, "OH! So you're German!" Ummmm.... never mind...

I'm a USC and have traveled abroad extensively. I know that the perception abroad of Americans isn't so good and I completely understand why. It saddens me that some of the people in this country, who are actual citizens and have the right to vote, can't even decipher where the area considered "Scandinavia" is on a map. I know that Denmark is a small country, but inside of Canada??? Forhelvede

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

I have a story that the Danes on here might be able to relate with..

This morning my husband and I went for an Infopass appointment at our local USCIS office. While we were standing in line, we struck up a conversation with the girl standing in line behind us (she was a US Citizen). Apparently Denmark is now a location inside of Canada... Who would have guessed!? I had to turn my head the other direction to hide my disdained expression. My Danish husband, being the kind and diplomatic person he is, kindly explained to this girl that Denmark is a country inside of Europe, close to Germany. She then replied, "OH! So you're German!" Ummmm.... never mind...

I'm a USC and have traveled abroad extensively. I know that the perception abroad of Americans isn't so good and I completely understand why. It saddens me that some of the people in this country, who are actual citizens and have the right to vote, can't even decipher where the area considered "Scandinavia" is on a map. I know that Denmark is a small country, but inside of Canada??? Forhelvede

My Danish husband didn't know where the Netherlands was and my 4 year old can name almost all of the European countries on a map - he can name like 5. Some people are just terribad at geography.

[MrsB2012 10]

My Danish husband didn't know where the Netherlands was and my 4 year old can name almost all of the European countries on a map - he can name like 5. Some people are just terribad at geography.

Very true. We've encountered this a number of times. Actually when I met my husband the very first time, I asked him where he was from because he had an accent. He said he was from Denmark and couldn't believe that I actually knew that he must speak Danish. He later told me that the majority of people he comes across here don't know that Denmark=Danish.

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

Very true. We've encountered this a number of times. Actually when I met my husband the very first time, I asked him where he was from because he had an accent. He said he was from Denmark and couldn't believe that I actually knew that he must speak Danish. He later told me that the majority of people he comes across here don't know that Denmark=Danish.

I told him to just accept his German or Swedish fate. Everyone we encountered knew about Denmark, but that just might be a factor of where I lived. He was actually pretty sold on moving to Viborg, South Dakota so that people wouldn't ask him silly questions, but I told him that he'd have to contend with a lifetime of people coming up to him with "My great-grandfather was Danish," and so that idea was scrapped. My neighbors in America already want to talk to him about their Scando-parents and have been harassing my mother for updates.

Maybe it is just people like my husband who are real "show me how I'll actually use this" types who don't care to know things they don't think they'll use? I don't really know, but sometimes I do get a little ashamed for my fellow Americans when it comes to stuff like this.

Do you think that the Danish accent can be mistaken for German? From day one it has always sounded like my grandfather and bio-father's thick Yorkshire accents, even the glottal stop! I actually understand my husband more than I understand my grandfather when he speaks.

[MrsB2012 10]

Do you think that the Danish accent can be mistaken for German? From day one it has always sounded like my grandfather and bio-father's thick Yorkshire accents, even the glottal stop! I actually understand my husband more than I understand my grandfather when he speaks.

Hmmm... I'm not really sure. My husband lived in the Middle East and went to an American International School when he was a kid, so he speaks perfect English and his accent almost sounds British. Same situation with his parents and brother, their English is also very, very good and his dad particularly sounds British. Now if you asked me if I think Danish sounds like German I would say no. At least with German I can decipher some of the words already knowing Spanish and some French and Italian. When it comes to Danish, they might as well be speaking Mandarin because I can hardly understand anything. I'm definitely learning the basics, but it's really, really hard!

[Mr. Borkström 63]

As far as linguistics go, Swedish and Danish are more closely related, but I can't understand much of it at all if I hear a Danish person, on tv for example. (There are a lot of popular Danish cooking shows on Sveriges Television. It used to be police/detective series, now it's tv chefs.) Thank God for subtitles!

Norwegian, although technically not as closely related to Swedish as Danish is, is much easier for me to understand (and I don't think that's because I have family from Norway; two of my cousins are half Norwegian, half Swedish, and I have met the Norwegian relatives quite a bit).

I suspect it would be easier for me to learn German than Danish. I don't think the two sound alike. But that's just me.

[Alaska2012 462]

I suspect it would be easier for me to learn German than Danish. I don't think the two sound alike. But that's just me.

I hear it!! I speak German but I can't understand a word when spoken to by a Dane! Norwegian in way easier!

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

I hear it!! I speak German but I can't understand a word when spoken to by a Dane! Norwegian in way easier!

My husband seems to understand a lot of Swedish and Norwegian. Hmmmm. Actually, I probably understand a little less Swedish than I do Danish, but not by much. The reading in both is quite easy. I had studied Swedish in the past and it is so much easier to learn from an English perspective. The big problem with me and Danish is things are not written in a way that it is intuitive how they are pronounced and even when I pronounce something just the way my husband does, he still has trouble understanding it. Unless you learned Danish from before 7 years old or something, I don't think it is very possible to replicate all the throat noises and silent letters.

Ever see "The Bridge"? I've been watching it on Danish Netflix.

Do you learn German in school as the Danes do?

[Mr. Borkström 63]

When I went to school, you could pick a third language (after Swedish and English; English was always my favorite subject in school btw) and start studying that language in 7th grade, but it was not required. At the school I went to grades 7-9, it was either French (which I, regrettably, chose) and German. Nowadays a lot more kids chose Spanish. Personally I think German would have been the easiest for me to learn. Unfortunately I chose French because I had this vague idea that I wanted to go to France. I was not a diligent student of French. I have learned more French from my interest in the Montreal Canadiens, a French-Canadian hockey team, than I did from taking French in högstadiet.

[Alaska2012 462]

Yes I read German in school, it is a quite easy language to learn, at least from a swedes point of view....until you get too tangled up in their grammar!!!! But I get around with it when traveling!

Back in my days we also only had German and French to chose from, I would have loved to have learned Spanish! Maybe I'll look into learning it now! I need a hobby! Lol

[MrsB2012 10]

As far as linguistics go, Swedish and Danish are more closely related, but I can't understand much of it at all if I hear a Danish person, on tv for example. (There are a lot of popular Danish cooking shows on Sveriges Television. It used to be police/detective series, now it's tv chefs.) Thank God for subtitles!

Funny you mention the Danish cooking program. On one of my trips back to the US from CPH, I sat next to a Swedish lady who told me the same exact thing and mentioned the Danish cooking programs. She said that many Danes can understand Swedish but it's difficult for Swedes to understand Danish. My husband understands both Swedish and Norwegian and told me that he feels Danish is more closely related to Norwegian than to Swedish.

NOLA- I completely agree with you. I'm really trying to learn the language the best I can without living there and taking classes. It's pretty hard though and like you said, unless you learn it at a young age, it's hard to get the pronunciation correct.

[jaycali 415]

As far as linguistics go, Swedish and Danish are more closely related, but I can't understand much of it at all if I hear a Danish person, on tv for example. (There are a lot of popular Danish cooking shows on Sveriges Television. It used to be police/detective series, now it's tv chefs.) Thank God for subtitles!Norwegian, although technically not as closely related to Swedish as Danish is, is much easier for me to understand

I can relate. I can carry a conversation with a Danish person if they speak slowly, but if I'm watching Danish TV I understand maybe half. Swedish is way easier, often times when I speak to a Swede I don't even register that they're speaking a different language than my own.

Reading though is completely different. I can read Danish 100% fluently, while I actually have to focus to read Swedish. Makes senses as Norwegian and Danish are grammatically identical and 90% of the words are spelled identically. The pronunciations though are way different. I feel like Norwegian is pronounced closer to the spelling than Danish is.

Edited December 14, 2012 by Jay Jay

[turion2 2]

Hi all!

Sent packet 3 to the embassy in Stockholm.

I also added and extra sheet with my contact information.

Will I get the interview date by email or whats the next step?

bump