Learn where Danish is spoken
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Intro |
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| Michael: Where is Danish spoken? |
| Anna Juul: And how many dialects of Danish are there? |
| Michael: At DanishClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Nikolaj Nedergaard is curious about where Adler Schmidt learned Danish. |
| Nikolaj asks Adler, "Where did you learn Danish?" |
| Nikolaj: Hvor har du lært dansk? |
| Dialogue |
| Nikolaj: Hvor har du lært dansk? |
| Adler: På Grønland. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Nikolaj: Hvor har du lært dansk? |
| Michael: "Where did you learn Danish?" |
| Adler: På Grønland. |
| Michael: "In Greenland." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: When Nikolaj asked Adler where he learned Danish, he wasn't only referring to a particular language school. He wanted to know which country Adler learned the language. That's because the Danish language, or |
| Anna Juul: Dansk |
| Michael: is spoken in countries other than Denmark. But even if Danish is spoken in other countries, it is not spoken by that many people. Today, only about six million people speak the language. It is primarily spoken as a national language in Denmark by 5.8 million people. Danish, by the way, is a North Germanic Language, or |
| Anna: Nordgermansk sprog |
| Michael: a language group also referred to as |
| Anna: Nordiske sprog |
| Michael: or "Nordic Languages." This makes it a sister language to Norwegian, Icelandic, and Swedish. It's not uncommon for Nordic languages to be spoken in Greenland too. In fact, Danish is considered as the first foreign language spoken in Greenland. And, not only that, Danish was also an official language in Greenland until the country gained autonomy in 2009. Since then, Greenland has adopted Greenlandic, or |
| Anna: Grønlandsk, |
| Michael: as their official language. This has resulted in the status of Danish going down to a recognized language alongside English. Aside from Greenland, another country where Danish is widely spoken is |
| Anna: Færøerne |
| Michael: or the "Faroe Islands." Like Greenland, the Faroe Islands is a constituent country of Denmark. This means that, while it's part of the Danish Kingdom, it is also an autonomous state. The country has a total population of 52,337, and 3.1% of the people speak Danish. Most of these people can be assumed to be guest workers, however, and not native residents of the country. There are a few other places where Danish is spoken aside from the three countries we've mentioned. One of them is |
| Anna: Island |
| Michael: or "Iceland." Like Greenland and the Faroes, Iceland used to be under the rule of the Danish Kingdom. During that period, Danish was widely spoken in Iceland alongside Icelandic. In 1944, the country became a republic, and the people gradually let go of Danish. Today, less than 5% of the country's population speak Danish as their first language. Finally, two other places where Danish is spoken as a minority language are |
| Anna: Tyskland |
| Michael: or Germany, where it is spoken by around 21,200 people out of the country's population of 80 million people, and |
| Anna: Sverige |
| Michael: or "Sweden," where Danish is spoken by approximately 56,900 people out of the country's population of 10 million people. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: Denmark used to have a number of regional dialects. Many of the traditional ones have gone extinct, however, and, today, only the oldest generations use them. The traditional Danish dialects are divided into three main groups. The first one is |
| Anna: Jysk dialekt |
| Michael: or "Jutlandic Dialect," also known as "Jutish" or the Western dialect. This dialect is spoken in the Jutland peninsula of Denmark. Jutlandic is divided into Northern Jutlandic and Southern Judlandic. It is further composed of 20 separate minor dialects. The second main group is called |
| Anna: Ømål |
| Michael: or "Insular Danish." Dialects belonging to this group are traditional dialects spoken in Falster, Funen, Langeland, Møn, and Zealand. And, finally, the third group of Danish traditional dialects is |
| Anna: Bornholmsk |
| Michael: or "Bornholmish." This is a dialect spoken in the East of Denmark, particularly in Bornholm. Over the past one hundred years, inhabitants of Borholm have been moving to Standard Danish, putting Bornholm dialect in danger of extinction. The good news is that an organization called Bevar Bornholmsk has been established with the main aim of preserving the said dialect. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Anna Juul: Farvel! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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