3 ms·

The Swedes and Danes I have met all had excellent English so I suppose it should be possible. But the real question is: Why would you spend years somewhere with

The Swedes and Danes I have met all had excellent English so I suppose it should be possible. But the real question is: Why would you spend years somewhere without learning the local language? Your life will always be limited and learning a language is not that hard.

Symbiote 8y ago
In my case, because it's too easy to speak English all the time. By policy and practicality, we speak English at work, including at lunchtime. My group of friends includes several people who aren't learning sufficient Danish (e.g. only here for a PhD and that takes all their spare energy). That means I don't hear much Danish, and don't have so much opportunity to practise. The language is unusually difficult to pronounce, so although my reading/writing improves, I'm rarely understood if I speak. But you did say "years" — after years, most people do speak some Danish. The motivation is different depending on having a Danish partner, children, a well-paid technical job, security of residence (e.g. being from the EU vs elsewhere), and future career plans.
PunchTornado 8y ago
why learn a new language that you are going to forget in a year after moving out of the country? If you only spend a couple of years in the country I don't see the point. I worked in many European countries as a software engineer: France, Germany, Italy. Forgot everything about those languages. Now I'm in Singapore for 3 years, I don't even bother.
- emj 8y ago
  You will forever be a complete stranger if you don't even try to learn the local language. If you live in Singapore learning Malay is recommended it is an very easy and forgiving language. Being one of the most spoken languages in the region I think there are over 100 million speakers of different variants, and probably a lot more that can communicate with it.
YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
No, that's right- I'd definitely try to learn the language (and I hope I'd make it eventually). I'm just wondering if it's possible to move there before I'm fluent in Danish, or Swedish. To clarify, I moved in the UK 13 years ago when my English was still pretty bad and I had a lot of trouble for the first couple of years. It didn't help that British people don't speak other languages and are very proud about their accents -which I love, btw, but they make it real hard for people with only a serviceable level of international English to get by, over here. So I wanted to know if I'd have the same problem in Denmark or Sweden. From the rest of the thread, it sounds that, no, I'll be fine with English for a couple of years until I'm proficient in the local language. That should be all I need :)

Symbiote 8y ago

In my case, because it's too easy to speak English all the time. By policy and practicality, we speak English at work, including at lunchtime. My group of friends includes several people who aren't learning sufficient Danish (e.g. only here for a PhD and that takes all their spare energy). That means I don't hear much Danish, and don't have so much opportunity to practise. The language is unusually difficult to pronounce, so although my reading/writing improves, I'm rarely understood if I speak. But you did say "years" — after years, most people do speak some Danish. The motivation is different depending on having a Danish partner, children, a well-paid technical job, security of residence (e.g. being from the EU vs elsewhere), and future career plans.

PunchTornado 8y ago

why learn a new language that you are going to forget in a year after moving out of the country? If you only spend a couple of years in the country I don't see the point. I worked in many European countries as a software engineer: France, Germany, Italy. Forgot everything about those languages. Now I'm in Singapore for 3 years, I don't even bother.

emj 8y ago
You will forever be a complete stranger if you don't even try to learn the local language. If you live in Singapore learning Malay is recommended it is an very easy and forgiving language. Being one of the most spoken languages in the region I think there are over 100 million speakers of different variants, and probably a lot more that can communicate with it.

YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago

No, that's right- I'd definitely try to learn the language (and I hope I'd make it eventually). I'm just wondering if it's possible to move there before I'm fluent in Danish, or Swedish. To clarify, I moved in the UK 13 years ago when my English was still pretty bad and I had a lot of trouble for the first couple of years. It didn't help that British people don't speak other languages and are very proud about their accents -which I love, btw, but they make it real hard for people with only a serviceable level of international English to get by, over here. So I wanted to know if I'd have the same problem in Denmark or Sweden. From the rest of the thread, it sounds that, no, I'll be fine with English for a couple of years until I'm proficient in the local language. That should be all I need :)