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Not OP but my partner lived in Copenhagen for two years. As with all of Scandinavia fluency in English is very common, practically universal in cities so you ca
by gchadwick 2y ago
Not OP but my partner lived in Copenhagen for two years. As with all of Scandinavia fluency in English is very common, practically universal in cities so you can happily live there without speaking a word of the local language. Also unlike most of Europe it's a lot more acceptable to just assume English is spoken and lead with that rather than stumbling through in the native language to start with.
That said it's still polite to learn some basics, e.g. thank you to mix in. If you're planning on living there long term you will want to learn Danish for social purposes unless you're planning to mix exclusively with immigrant communities. It's a very international place so English can often be the default language that any given group will all speak.
Edit: oh and an interesting quirk English is often spoken with an American accent! I think because they watch a lot of American TV shows and movies.
- fredrikholm 2y ago> Edit: oh and an interesting quirk English is often spoken with an American accent! I think because they watch a lot of American TV shows and movies. We (mostly) ditched received pronunciation / transatlantic accents in school in the late 20th century. IME, the (taught) accent is now primarily a construct of what Swedes perceive to be how English sounds. American culture has a strong influence here. In the population aged over ~50, it's not uncommon to hear RP / Transatlantic mixed with a heavy and thick local accent, with/without Scandinavian words thrown in. "I would gilla to order one glass tack" (I would like to order an ice cream please)
- AdamN 2y ago> you will want to learn Danish for social purposes Are non-Danish speakers really going up to B2+ Danish, even if they live in Copenhagen for a decade? It seems like Danish people would still speak better English and non-Danish people would almost certainly speak better English.
- yurishimo 2y agoI live next door in the Netherlands in a city in the south. You don't learn the language because it's required to survive but to be polite and assimilate and make local friends. All of the Dutch friends I currently have are other expats, but now that my language skills are better, I'm trying to make more friends that I only speak with in Dutch. Also, once you get to B2, you will naturally get to C level if you interact with the language every day. It might take years, but you'll get there!
- coreyh14444 2y agoYeah, exactly. I have said before that I think as an American it is easier to fit in culturally in Denmark than it would have been if we moved to the UK.