Hej! Let's talk a little bit about the Danish language. I'll start by saying that I absolutely love languages, and learning new ones is one of my favorite things to do. Like about 60% of the students at DIS, I'm taking a Danish language course. I'm not going to be fluent or anything by the end of it, but hopefully by the time my semester here finishes I'll be able to have a few simple conversations completely in Danish. Danish is definitely not the easiest language to learn. I'm used to studying romance languages like French and Spanish, so in that respect it's a lot different than the languages I'm used to learning. On the other hand, like English, Danish is a Germanic language and they actually have a lot in common. Grammar in Danish is so much simpler, and a lot of words are extremely similar to their English counterparts. Honestly, the hardest part of learning Danish is pronunciation. The Danes like to mangle their words, ignore endings, and just not pronounce entire chunks of words. Things are not pronounced the way they look on paper (because of course in English we pronounce everything like it's spelled, right?). Not to mention the three extra vowels in Danish, æ, ø and å. My host siblings are definitely not afraid to correct me, but I'll do whatever it takes to learn. My host mom actually told me that I'm really good at pronouncing Danish words, so hopefully I'll sound like a real Dane in no time! So far in my Danish class we've learned the basics of introducing ourselves and where we're from, to the basics of ordering food at a café or restaurant. Yesterday I actually went to a sandwich shop and ordered my lunch completely in Danish! It was a proud moment. While the Danish course has definitely been helpful, I think that I've actually learned the most from living with a host family. My siblings here are 3, 6, and 9, and while Asbjørn has started learning some English in school, they basically only speak Danish. I don't really have a choice but to pick it up if I want to communicate with them beyond simple gestures. It's really helpful and I've picked up plenty of words and phrases (especially the ones necessary to play princess with Ellinor). The kids love teaching me as well. I took a walk a few days ago with Asbjørn and he pointed at different items and named them in Danish. I responded by naming them in English. It's a fun way for the both of us to learn a little bit while having some bonding time. I came to Denmark with the intention of learning as much Danish as I could in four months. One thing I didn't expect, however, was that I'd also get the opportunity to practice my French as well. Basically all Danes speak English, but when I go to my practicum site on Thursdays, a Muslim school, not all of the staff are actually Danish. The receptionist and one of the teacher's I work with each time I go there both can understand little English and can't really speak it either. I obviously can't speak Danish fluently. I'm not sure how we stumbled across the fact that both they and I could speak French, but now that is the language I use when communicating with them. It's actually great, because I definitely needed the chance to practice and get better at it, and somehow that opportunity came about in Denmark of all places. It really makes me appreciate this multilingual, multicultural world that we live in. I think that anytime you get a chance to learn a new language, even if you don't end up amazing at it, you should always take it. Talk to you soon!
À bientôt! Nos vemos! Vi ses!
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AuthorOn ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. Part of my heart I'm leaving behind in the United States. Join me as I take the rest on an amazing adventure to Copenhagen, Denmark! ArchivesCategories
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