Danish/ German is easier to learn?

xiaoblur · Post by **xiaoblur** » Thu, 04 Sep 2008 1:55 am

Hi... Im a local singaporean having a german bf who stays in copanhagen... And might need to move to copanhagen next year..

was just wondering if any of u know any danish classes taught here in singapore other then the seaman's church?

Which language is easier to pick up danish/ german? As I'm thinking of picking up both language.

=)

Bafana · Post by **Bafana** » Thu, 04 Sep 2008 9:56 am

German but thats probably because I like watching old WW II movies.

ozchick · Post by **ozchick** » Thu, 04 Sep 2008 3:25 pm

The good folk of Copenhagen are well-versed in English you can be sure. The Scandinavian countries are great with English except for some of the older folk. So if your language enquiry is on a needs basis, you will not need Danish. Stick with the German. It's far more useful in the world travel situation and is the language of your boyfriend and his family. Despite some similarities in these two languages, you will go crazy learning both languages and will become a 'jack of all trades and a master of nothing'.

Viel Glück !

Plavt · Post by **Plavt** » Thu, 04 Sep 2008 4:39 pm

However, nearly all Germans in the western part below the age of fifty will speak fluent English and are often happier to do so than speak their native tongue. However, if you choose to live in Germany then it would be sensible to learn to both read and write it. Ozzy, you may be wrong about the Danes, in Copenhagen that is true (where are you KSL) but there does seem to be a call for it away from the major centres. In addition if you learn Danish well you can understand Swedish and Norwegian without much difficulty. Although it has also been said that Swedes and Norwegians speak English well, lately I have seen a number of jobs requiring knowledge of languages with the Scandinavian languages suffering the most acute shortage of suitably proficient speakers. A curious situation and I don't know the full details but that is what I have been told.

xiaoblur · Post by **xiaoblur** » Thu, 04 Sep 2008 5:13 pm

Thank you for all the replies..

The problem is im thinking of working in denmark..
Most likely in the hospital.. thou i know that they could speak english but most of the people conversate in danish and i cant.. And all the signs are in danish..

My bf's parents are not very good in english and thats y i wanted to learn german also.. As to be able to communicate in the future..

*sigh... tough thing to do i guess...

durain · Post by **durain** » Thu, 04 Sep 2008 6:05 pm

if you thinking of working in denmark, then you better learn danish because their immigration/work permit is very strict and i think you have to take a test on your danish, etc.

xiaoblur · Post by **xiaoblur** » Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:15 am

Ya thats what i heard.. thats y i wanted to learn danish here in singapore before i leave for denmark. But other then the seaman's church doesnt seem that alot of places there are danish classes...

ozchick · Post by **ozchick** » Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:21 am

xiaoblur wrote:Ya thats what i heard.. thats y i wanted to learn danish here in singapore before i leave for denmark. But other then the seaman's church doesnt seem that alot of places there are danish classes...

Gonna talk to my Swedish rooster about this and then I'll report back to you. He went to a Viking golf tournament yesterday and has a good number of Scandinavian buddies who may know someone. Are you wanting 'one to one' tuition or a 'class' situation ?

xiaoblur · Post by **xiaoblur** » Sat, 06 Sep 2008 2:50 pm

I haven thought exactly on whether grp or one to one.. But becacuse i'm doing shift work so might not be easy on the timing. Thank you for the help

ozchick · Post by **ozchick** » Mon, 08 Sep 2008 2:10 pm

Hi Xiaoblur- sending you an email now.

xiaoblur · Post by **xiaoblur** » Mon, 08 Sep 2008 4:30 pm

thnx u so much oz for the help!!!

jstmeann · Post by **jstmeann** » Sat, 20 Dec 2008 3:35 pm

Hi ozchick, xiaoblur,

I also would like to learn the Danish language. Kindly let me know the right contact.

Thank you very much.

ksl · Post by **ksl** » Sun, 21 Dec 2008 1:49 am

xiaoblur wrote:Thank you for all the replies..

The problem is im thinking of working in denmark..
Most likely in the hospital.. thou i know that they could speak english but most of the people conversate in danish and i cant.. And all the signs are in danish..

My bf's parents are not very good in english and thats y i wanted to learn german also.. As to be able to communicate in the future..

*sigh... tough thing to do i guess...

I believe for none Europeans Denmark now test foreigners on language, When i first moved to Denmark, I had to take what work that i could get, and that was manual labour, working on the roads, putting in cables, really hard manual work, and only one of them I worked with could speak a little English. Within 6 months, I was quite confident of speaking it, yet to pull the women, English was always the best, because they love to practise.

Although after a while many of them said, you have been here long enough you should be speaking Danish. I did, I studied at night school for 3 years, did my 10th grade extended school exam in several subject and went to study at the business school, before going into the export academy, Denmark have to rely on exports, so they occasionally set up special studies for intensive exports, if there are shortages of qualified personnel, the one i went to moved from Ranum to AAlborg.

In Denmark the facilities for learning both languages are very good, but if you want to work in Denmark and integrate, you must learn Danish first. I had knowledge of German before attending courses in Danish. Danish is simple to pick up, pronunciation is difficult for many.

Once you learn Danish, German comes pretty easy, although German Grammar is a little more complex than Danish. Personally I would say one needs the ability to be linguistic, or quite young to master the tones, I have been there 23 years, and still speak Danish with English accent, although my son who was 12 years old on his arrival, speaks with a Danish accent.

The main thing is to speak enough to survive and to upgrade in the work place, you can imagine, occupational language is another challenge in itself, that you have to learn, and you don't learn it in night school,

Danmark have many occupational courses, so learning hospital and medical courses shouldn't be too much of a problem through the union. Your boyfriend is just that, so what's the rush, you need to secure your life, before, doing anything you will regret later.

Mind you if he's wealthy, you should marry him, at least you have more chance of winning 50% of his money and very little chance of winning the lotto.

jstmeann · Post by **jstmeann** » Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:03 am

xiaoblur wrote:thnx u so much oz for the help!!!

hi, I am also interested to learn the Danish language. Have you already started learning it? How does it go?

ksl · Post by **ksl** » Wed, 24 Dec 2008 2:35 pm

jstmeann wrote:
xiaoblur wrote:thnx u so much oz for the help!!!

hi, I am also interested to learn the Danish language. Have you already started learning it? How does it go?

Like the alphabet ABC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_and ... n_alphabet

http://www.dkheadlines.com/learndanish.htm

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/danish.htm

SINGAPORE EXPATS FORUM
Singapore Expat Forum and Message Board for Expats in Singapore & Expatriates Relocating to Singapore

Danish/ German is easier to learn?

Danish or German is an easier language

Danish/ German is easier to learn?

Who is online