{"id":360,"date":"2012-02-16T10:00:41","date_gmt":"2012-02-16T10:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=360"},"modified":"2012-02-16T19:50:08","modified_gmt":"2012-02-16T19:50:08","slug":"danish-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2012\/02\/16\/danish-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Danish in the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>If people had been blogging in the year 900 AD, you might very well have been reading this on gennemsigtig.kom\/dansk<\/span> (gennemsigtig<\/strong> is the Danish word for \u2019transparent\u2019<\/span>, from gennem<\/strong> \u2019through\u2019 + sigt<\/strong> \u2019view\u2019 + –ig<\/strong> \u2019-y\u2019)<\/span>. The Vikings ruled the waves, and most of eastern England was a Danish colony. Admitted, the Danish spoken in Danelagen<\/strong> (the Danelaw<\/a>) wasn\u2019t quite like the modern language\u2026 (And web addresses would have been written in runic letters anyway\u2026 Let\u2019s get back to 2012!)<\/p>\n

In my experience, most people are proud of their languages: Italians love Italian<\/a>, Norwegians love Norwegian<\/a>, and so on. That\u2019s not the way it works in Denmark. Whatever linguistic pride people carry with them inside, they rarely broadcast it. Bragging about your language is very un-Danish \u2013 and besides, your fellow Danes might suspect you of being a narrow-minded, racist nationalist! Instead, many people make sure to spice up their language with English bits and pieces. That is a Danish way of saying: I\u2019m open and modern and do care about the rest of the world!<\/p>\n

What is often overlooked, though, is that Danish is indeed an international language<\/em><\/span>! Obviously, the best place to practice your Danish skills would be Denmark, where dansk<\/strong> is spoken by about 5.5 million persons (placing Danish in the Top 150<\/a> of the World\u2019s most widely spoken languages). You might also want to bring your dictionary and your Transparent Language<\/a> course with you to:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Tyskland <\/strong>(Germany<\/span>, in German: Deutschland<\/em>). There are about 50.000 German citizens who consider themselves Danish. Most of them live in Sydslesvig <\/strong>(Southern Schleswig, in German: S\u00fcdschleswig<\/em> or just Schleswig<\/em>) just south of the Danish border. For historical reasons the area has been in both Danish and German hands, and there is a minority on both sides of the border (Germans in Denmark and Danes in Germany<\/a>). Many of the German Danes conserve their Danish language and customs. They have their own newspapers, shops and bilingual public schools.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Gr\u00f8nland\u00a0<\/strong>(Greenland<\/span>, in Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat<\/em>).\u00a0The 55.000 Greenlanders are reaching new levels of independence each year, but the world\u2019s largest island is still a part of Rigsf\u00e6llesskabet<\/strong> (the Danish \u201dCommonwealth\u201d, literally \u2019The Community of the Kingdom\u2019). The arctic country is officially bilingual, and you can get along in Danish in most \u2013 but not all \u2013 places. A considerable portion of the population is made up by Danish immigrants.<\/p>\n

\u2022 F\u00e6r\u00f8erne<\/strong> (the Faroe Islands<\/span>, in Faroese: F\u00f8royar<\/em>). This small island group between Scotland and Iceland is also a part of Rigsf\u00e6llesskabet <\/strong>(with Queen Margrethe<\/a>\u00a0as sovereign). The 45.000 inhabitants speak Faroese, but Danish is understood and spoken by everyone. I was there in 2007, and didn\u2019t meet a single person who didn\u2019t speak perfect Danish! In fact, it might be the perfect place for beginners, as Faroese Danish is pronounced with much greater clarity than Danish Danish!<\/p>\n

\u2022 Island <\/strong>(Iceland<\/span>, in Icelandic: \u00cdsland<\/em>). Iceland became fully independent from Denmark in 1944, but Danish is still taught in every public school \u2013 as a third language, after Icelandic and English. In this way, most Icelanders can communicate with Scandinavians without switching to English. If you arrive as a non-Scandinavian tourist in Reykjavik, though, most people will prefer to talk to you in English.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Nordamerika <\/strong>(North America<\/span>). In some faraway places, there are people who still speak Danish \u2013 though heavily mixed up with English. In California there is a Danish-style town called Solvang<\/a> \u2013 my family was there, and told me it was more \u201dDanish\u201d than anywhere in Denmark! \ud83d\ude42 (Unfortunately, you won\u2019t find a single Danish speaker in De Amerikanske Jomfru\u00f8er\u00a0<\/strong>[the US Virgin Islands, down in the Caribbean], which the US bought from Denmark in 1917.)<\/p>\n

\u2022 Norge <\/strong>(Norway<\/span>),\u00a0Sverige<\/strong>\u00a0(Sweden<\/span>), \u00c5lands\u00f8erne\u00a0<\/strong>(the \u00c5land<\/a><\/span> Islands)\u00a0and a few other places in\u00a0Finland <\/strong>(the coastal towns where they speak Swedish<\/a>). Most Norwegians, Swedes and Finland-Swedes understand some Danish \u2013 provided you speak slowly and pronounce ev-er-y sound. You may not have thought about it like that, but your Danish studies might eventually unlock the whole vast world of Scandinavia\u2026<\/p>\n

For the fun of it, I\u2019d also like to add the German capital of Berlin <\/strong>to the list \u2013 sometimes it sure seems like you bump into a couple of jabbering Danes on every street corner!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

If people had been blogging in the year 900 AD, you might very well have been reading this on gennemsigtig.kom\/dansk (gennemsigtig is the Danish word for \u2019transparent\u2019, from gennem \u2019through\u2019 + sigt \u2019view\u2019 + –ig \u2019-y\u2019). The Vikings ruled the waves, and most of eastern England was a Danish colony. Admitted, the Danish spoken in…<\/p>\n

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