Learn the top five reasons you should be learning to speak Danish right now
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Anna: "Hej"! Hello! Anna here. |
| Becky: Hi! And I’m Becky. Welcome to DanishClass101.com. This is All About, Lesson 1 - Top 5 Reasons to Learn Danish. |
| Anna: Together, we'll be your guides to everything Danish. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: That's right. And this first lesson is all about Denmark and the Danish language. |
| Anna: We’ll take you on a tour through Denmark in this lesson. Let’s start with where Denmark is located. |
| Becky: Sure! Denmark is located in Scandinavia in Northern Europe, bordering Germany to the South, connected by bridge with Sweden to the East, and separated from Norway by the North Sea and the Skagerrak to the North. Greenland and the Faroe Islands, located in the North Atlantic, are also part of the Kingdom of Denmark. With a long coastline, Denmark is characterized not only by sandy coasts, but also by woodlands. The largest cities are also highly urbanised. |
| Anna: There’s more variety than people might think! |
| Becky: Definitely. Speaking of variety, we should mention the weather, too. Denmark has four seasons and large seasonal variations in daylight because of its location. The climate is temperate, with cold winters, mild springs, slightly warmer summers, and wet autumns. It is possible, though rare, to experience snow in April and hot and sunny weather in October. |
| Anna: Right. Now let’s talk a bit about the language of Denmark. Danish is referred to as a North Germanic language. |
| Becky: That’s right! And it can actually be traced all the way back to the 8th century when Proto-Norse, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia at that time, had evolved into Old Norse. This could be divided further into the two dialects Old East Norse and Old West Norse, whereas the former was called Runic Danish. So, Anna, is it true that some words in the English language actually derive from Old East Norse? |
| Anna: Yes, it is! Because of the interactions with the Danish Vikings during the Viking Era, Old East Norse was spoken in northeast England. Actually, did you know that at one point in the early Middle Ages, a large part of the the English isles was held by Danish rulers? At one point, a Danish king even came to the English throne and briefly integrated it into a larger North Sea Empire. |
| Becky: Oh really! Where else can you see this relationship? |
| Anna: Oh, there’s a funny example to do with the east coast dialect of Scotland. It is very similar to the Danish west coast dialect. |
| Becky: How come the two dialects are so close? |
| Anna: Because of trading that has been going on between the two regions for so many centuries. Naturally, it became a convenient way for people to avoid switching languages when they encountered each other in the North Sea. |
| Becky: Ah, that's interesting. Oh, and I also remember reading about that - words such as “gate,” “egg,” and “knife” still used today in English all come from Old East Norse, don’t they? |
| Anna: Yes! But the pronunciation has obviously changed a little. Anyway, the runes used for writing Runic Danish were replaced by Latin letters in the Late Middle Ages, as they were brought along with the introduction of Christianity. |
| Becky: Right - it was also during this time that Danish was highly influenced by Low German due to immigrating merchants and craftsmen from northern Germany. In fact, Low German was the actual mother tongue of many Danish kings during the Middle Ages because Germans joined the chancery. |
| Anna: So that’s why Danish sounds more similar to German than Swedish or Norwegian. |
| Becky: Yes, but today the basic vocabulary of the Danish language is still Nordic, after all. However, since the 1950s, it has been highly influenced by the English language and loanwords are even used on a daily basis. |
| Anna: That’s right! |
| Becky: So Anna, tell our listeners - how many letters does the Danish alphabet have? |
| Anna: The Danish alphabet has 29 letters, 26 of which are similar to the letters used in English. After that, 3 more vowel letters are added. |
| Becky: We’ll learn more about consonants and vowels later on in this series. For now, Anna, let’s motivate our listeners, and go over the top 5 reasons that Danish is worth learning! |
| Anna: Sounds great! The top five reasons are... |
| Number 5... |
| Becky: You don’t need to study complicated characters! |
| Anna: The Danish alphabet is exactly the same as the English alphabet with the exceptions of the three vowel letters æ, ø, and å. |
| Becky: So it’s very convenient for English speakers to read and write, and make quick progress while learning. |
| Anna: Number 4... |
| Becky: It is practical for learning other languages from nearby countries! As Danish shares language elements with Swedish, Norwegian, German, and English, knowing Danish is an excellent basis for learning other languages of the neighbouring countries of Denmark. Even languages of countries further away may become easier to practice speaking, because if you can master Danish pronunciation you can master anything! |
| Anna: Number 3... |
| Becky: Denmark is a beautiful country! Rich in natural and cultural attractions, Denmark is becoming one of the must-see tourist destinations in the world. Learning Danish gives you more opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of this beautiful and interesting country and its people. |
| Anna: Number 2... |
| Becky: Denmark is one of the world’s best welfare societies. Despite having one of the world’s highest tax levels, Denmark is also one of the world’s best welfare societies. So if you dream of living in Denmark one day, learning Danish will definitely give you an advantage, as the Danes love it when people have taken the time to learn the Danish language spoken by just a few people worldwide compared to English. |
| Anna: And number one? |
| Becky: Learning Danish is fun! |
| Anna: Of course! In many cases, when the Danish stress is not positioned correctly or the Danish stød is not present when it is supposed to be, or the other way around, the word you are trying to pronounce will have a completely different meaning than the one you are trying to say. |
| Becky: It is also a great way of making friends and family and perhaps even yourself have a good laugh when people hear you speak, as many people think Danish can sound like you are trying to speak with a hot potato in your mouth! |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, now that we’ve gone through this list, are you ready to learn more? Get out your pen and notebook, grab your iPhone, fire up your computer, and whatever else you use to study - and get ready for some Danish lessons from DanishClass101.com! Until next time! |
| Anna: Bye everyone! Vi ses! |
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