I am very obsessed with scandinavian culture and language right now. I really want to learn a north european language, however, I do not know wish to learn. Which should I learn based on amount of speakers, beauty (sound and country), and ease of learning? Aslo, which country is the most welcoming to other ethnic groups? I want to learn a language of one of the countries that would be welcoming to a Jew loving their culture.
2006-12-06 14:42:29 · 11 answers · asked by ihaveissues 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Swedish
2006-12-06 14:48:22 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, depends on what you want to use it for. German is by far the language spoken by the most people of the languages you mentioned but it's also grammatically the trickiest for an English speaker. Knowing German would help a lot when learning Dutch, and maybe a little to learn Swedish and the others, but vocabularywise they're quite different languages. Swedish does have a vast amount of Low German loanwords, though, as a Swede, I find I can read quite a lot of Dutch without actually knowing it. Knowing Swedish helps a lot when learning Danish and Norwegian and vice versa, and Danish and Norwegian are very close since they've shared their basic written language for a long time. However, when it comes to speaking any of the languages mentioned, or understanding it spoken, it's a whole different matter. As a Swede I can find it quite difficult or close to impossible to understand, for example, a Danish speaker, even though reading Danish can be a piece of cake. On the other hand, Norwegian is far easier. There are Swedish dialects that are harder to understand than Norwegian, for other Swedes. Icelandic is a wholly different story. And to get the terms right. They're all Germanic languages, just different twigs of the same branch. English is also a Germanic language, even though the vocabulary nowadays is mainly loanwords from French and Latin. The skeleton of the language is still Germanic, though.
2016-05-23 02:38:03 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you should learn Danish...but that's only because I myself am Danish, so I'm interested in it. I don't live in Denmark, but from what I know of the Danes, they are very open to Jews. You should actually read some of the awesome stories (if you haven't already) of how the Danish people saved the Jews during World War 2...simply amazing stories. Have a good day!
2006-12-06 17:37:52 · answer #3 · answered by jennabeanski 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are all related, so learning one will get you a long way with the others. In fact, linguists consider Norwegian and Danish to be the same language because they are so largely mutually intelligible. As far as traveling in Scandanavia, it doesn't really matter because so many Scandanavians are fluent in English. But I think it's great to learn other languages.
2006-12-06 18:30:42 · answer #4 · answered by drshorty 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Danish is a lot easier to learn. Taler du dansk? Do you speak Danish? Ja / Nej Yes / No Hello = Goddag. Written Danish bears a strong resemblance to Norwegian and Swedish.
2006-12-06 15:00:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Swedish
2006-12-06 14:44:04 · answer #6 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pick a country, learn THEIR language! Now that wasn't too difficult, was it?
2006-12-06 14:44:42 · answer #7 · answered by Maewest 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
id go with swedish, by far, most developed out of those countries, people are nice there, i have swedish friends.
2006-12-06 14:44:34 · answer #8 · answered by jared l 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Spanish easier,
chin
2006-12-06 14:44:35 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would say Sweden b/c I am part Sweden.
2006-12-06 14:44:09 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋