Learning a Foreign Language, In Older Age

ElfsborgAddick said:

Oggy Red said:

ElfsborgAddick said:

Valleysarr said:

I wouldn’t worry they speak perfect English. 

What strikes me why you didn’t get lessons off your wife ( or kids ) over the last 10 years ? 

From experience, it is still VERY important to speak Swedish over there, regardless of the flawless English the majority speak.

Agree. I found it was the same in Copenhagen back in the day.

Even though many locals spoke decent English (not always perfect, but fully comprehensible), they would always speak Danish between themselves: family and social; settings, shopping, everyday life, etc.

If you want to feel properly included, it is important to make an effort to learn the lingo. They'll help you along the way and respect you for your efforts.



 

I found Danish to be VERY different to Swedish. Some of my Swedish mates said it was easier to speak English to the Danes.

Yeah, I bet! Danish and Swedish share the same linguistic roots and probably derived from the same proto-language, but with different dialects.
But these days, generalising and simplifying, it's really the pronunciation that sets them so apart.

The Danish glottal stops, many sounds being swallowed and only half pronounced - to me it sounded a bit like raw Geordie but with half swallowed pronunciation ..... I found it really hard to penetrate at first. Though easy enough to read if you speak English and a bit of German, providing you understand that their written word and it's pronunciation are 2 completely different animals!

Great rivalry between the Swedes and Danes - the butt of each other's jokes and always taking the piss.

ElfsborgAddick said:

Oggy Red said:

ElfsborgAddick said:

Oggy Red said:

ElfsborgAddick said:

Valleysarr said:

I wouldn’t worry they speak perfect English. 

What strikes me why you didn’t get lessons off your wife ( or kids ) over the last 10 years ? 

From experience, it is still VERY important to speak Swedish over there, regardless of the flawless English the majority speak.

Agree. I found it was the same in Copenhagen back in the day.

Even though many locals spoke decent English (not always perfect, but fully comprehensible), they would always speak Danish between themselves: family and social; settings, shopping, everyday life, etc.

If you want to feel properly included, it is important to make an effort to learn the lingo. They'll help you along the way and respect you for your efforts.



 

I found Danish to be VERY different to Swedish. Some of my Swedish mates said it was easier to speak English to the Danes.

Yeah, I bet! Danish and Swedish share the same linguistic roots and probably derived from the same proto-language, but with different dialects.
But these days, generalising and simplifying, it's really the pronunciation that sets them so apart.

The Danish glottal stops, many sounds being swallowed and only half pronounced - to me it sounded a bit like raw Geordie but with half swallowed pronunciation ..... I found it really hard to penetrate at first. Though easy enough to read if you speak English and a bit of German, providing you understand that their written word and it's pronunciation are 2 completely different animals!

Great rivalry between the Swedes and Danes - the butt of each other's jokes and always taking the piss.

I found the Danes a more relaxed breed, less serious than the Swedes.
Copenhagen is one of the best capital cities in Europe, a shame it's so bloody expensive.
The reading of Danish is okay.

Yeah, I found the Danes pretty chilled, fun loving and very sociable.

I haven't been back to Copenhagen for a number of years but it was a very compact capital city of just half a million people (about the size of Bristol, Liverpool or Cardiff), good transport links and culture. Many people live in flats and they loved to get out sunbathing on warm sunny days - the local parks would be rammed with sun worshippers! Min gammle kaereste (ex-GF) lived at Frederiksberg, a pleasant mature district just a mile from the city cente and near the big park at Frederikshave. Nice place to live.

I remember if you wanted to, you could pick up Swedish TV channels on your telly in Copenhagen.

In those days it was cheaper to live in Denmark, than in Sweden.
At the weekends, the Swedes in their hordes would come over on the ferry, later the bridge, from Malmo to buy beer or a night on the lash, because it was much cheaper than in Sweden.

Occasionally I'd go to watch Brondby with the ex-GF's cousin. Remember seeing a EUFA cup tie, where they beat Dundee United 2-0.

follett said:

Have been learning Cantonese. Have had a few lessons and bought some textbooks to go through on my own, sadly not really a duolingo or equivalent as the language is not too common. As tedious as it is the best way I have found is flashcards to memorise words. I'll also speak Cantonese instead of English in conversation to my wife if I am able to and as I have progressed have attempted to have 1 day a week not speaking English to each other

My understanding is that Cantonese is harder than Mandarin, due to the more complex tone system, so yeah, good luck . 

Daarrzzetbum said:

1 Great thread this, we have a gaff in France as a 2nd home, just over a year now,  

2 Have to say the French numbering system is bloody weird to say the very least &

3 boy do they talk fast.

1. Whereabouts? @Daarrzzetbum

2. Why? Do you mean for the 70s & 90s?

3. Actually, not really. Check out the link to The Economist that I posted further back .

Min bamse spiste skildpadden...

Whilst learning a language is very hard, I have also found it very interesting.  It is very rewarding once you have grasped it.

ElfsborgAddick said:

jimmymelrose said:

The Prince-e-Paul said:

Valleysarr said:

I wouldn’t worry they speak perfect English. 

What strikes me why you didn’t get lessons off your wife ( or kids ) over the last 10 years ? 

As for why I didn't ask my wife to teach me, well she has tried, but we always revert to English hence no improvement. 

Ha ha, proves my earlier point. 
I have still to meet a couple who manage to do this effectively over any decent period.
It's quite extraordinary. It is one of life's mysteries.
I recently gave my wife a few English lessons (again). I teach people English for my work, but I just don't like teaching my wife. It just feels weird. She is now my GP and that feels weird too. Teacher - Student / Doctor - Patient  v Husband - Wife is complicated. The relationships are just too difficult to mix. Someone should base a thesis on it.

A late friend of mine was fluent in Swedish, his girlfriend's English was flawless.  They spoke to each other in English(they lived in Sweden).

? I don't see your point here. Are you saying that she was Swedish and her English got that good because he spoke to her in English when her level was low, despite he being able to speak good Swedish?

I’m kicking myself for not speaking Danish to my kids (now 9 and 11). If I’d just done it from when they were born, it would’ve been easy for them to learn it and I would’ve done them a big favour. Sure, most people speak English in Denmark, but no harm in learning another language.