In this episode of the How to Live in Denmark podcast, host Speaker A and guest Kay Xander Mellish discuss the role of English in Danish society and whether it is sufficient for making a living. They explain that English is widely taught from age six, pervasive in media, higher‑education textbooks, and everyday life, making it a common commodity and not a competitive advantage in the job market. The conversation then shifts to Danish language attitudes: while many Danes view Danish as somewhat provincial, there is pride in proper usage, exemplified by the official language authority (Danske Sprognavn) and the popularity of adult courses on the Danish comma. Unlike some countries, Denmark does not aggressively protect Danish from English loanwords, and complaints about Anglicisation are limited to letters columns of local newspapers. The hosts argue that learning Danish is still valuable for social integration, enjoying jokes, and even as a “secret language” when traveling. The episode is peppered with humorous anecdotes about language misunderstandings on a Copenhagen boat ride and in Chicago, illustrating both the friendliness and occasional confusion that arise when English speakers interact with Danes.
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Hello and welcome to the How to Live in Denmark podcast.
I'm Kay Zander Mellish. I get a lot of mail at the How to Live in Denmark podcast, and some.
Some of it is from people who want to move to Denmark, but they're not sure what to do to make money once they get here. But I do speak English, they say. Can I make money in Denmark just by speaking English? Generally, no. No, you can't. I mean, I do, but I was an experienced journalist before I got here. But English is not a rare commodity in Denmark. Danish children start learning English when they're 6 years old, and because British and American TV shows and movies are not dubbed, Children are constantly hearing English, even earlier. Danish adults often read novels in English, and by the time you get to university, pretty much all the high-level textbooks are in English. There's just no economic case for translating textbooks into a language that only 5.6 million people know how to speak. So English is everywhere in Denmark, and Danes love English. When you come to Denmark, you'll find that shops and youth programs and rock bands have English names because the Danes think it sounds cool. Danes also like to tack bits of English onto their Danish speech, like, Du fik et nyt job? Nice! Or, Er det her det billigste togbillet til Roskilde?
I don't know.
For some Danes, particularly young Danes, the Danish language is seen as provincial, old-fashioned, kind of like those dusty little porcelain knickknacks your grandparents keep around the house. Someone had to give me a form to fill out the other day, and she said, It's in Danish, unfortunately. I mean, you would never have a French civil servant say, oh, it's in French, unfortunately, or a British civil servant say, oh, I'm terribly sorry, it's in English. Wouldn't happen. That said, I wouldn't say there's no pride in the Danish language. I have a friend who works for Danske Sprognavn. That is the official government department which sets the rules of Danish language usage, and there's a particular passion in Denmark for the Danish comma. I got a recent folder for adult education classes in my mailbox, and there's not one, not two, but 3 courses for adults in how to use the Danish comma. Come in Comma Form, it's called, Parts 1, 2, and 3. Now, here's the description for Part 2, which is 3 3-hour classes all by itself: We'll go through the comma rules with follow-up exercises. The focus will mostly be on the grammatical comma. But we'll also have time for the new comma. This is an evening course, you guys! People do this in their free time! So people do care about proper Danish. But unlike other languages, the Danes don't protect the Danish language from foreign words, which are usually English words. Computer, for example, is just computer in Danish. Smartphone is just en smartphone. The only complaints I ever see about the Anglicization of Danish are in the letters columns of neighborhood newspapers. And they're usually signed by people with various old-fashioned old-people names, like Knut or Bente. Probably the only people who read the letters columns in neighborhood newspapers are elderly people. And me, I guess. So another question I get a lot is, if you already speak English, is it worth learning Danish at all? Yes, it is. Parties are more fun if you can speak Danish. There's nothing worse than everyone laughing uproariously at some very funny joke, and you having to sit there like a piece of furniture until someone takes the time to explain it to you. Another good reason to learn Danish is that it's a great secret language. When you're out traveling, you can speak to your friends in Danish, and hardly anyone else can understand you. Now, of course, this doesn't always work. I was on a boat ride in Copenhagen a few years ago, and I was speaking American English to my daughter, and the Danish guy behind me said to his buddy, In Danish, they're Americans, but they're not fat.
I turned around. I said to him, Tak skal du have. Vi taler ostansk. He was pretty unhappy after that.
I think we spoiled his boat trip.
Something similar happened to a colleague of mine in Chicago. He was in the airport, and he got off the plane, and he was on an escalator to baggage claim.
The lady in front of him on the escalator had a relatively large backside. So he said in Danish to his traveling companion, looks like we've arrived in the US, the land of the big butts.
And the lady turned around and said to him in Danish, this big butt is from Denmark. That's the How to Live in Denmark podcast this week. Don't forget our new book, How to Live in Denmark, is available on amazon.com and Axo.com, and hopefully soon the iBook store. Apple is still reviewing it for dangerous ideas. It's only 49 crowns or six euros or eight bucks, so it's reasonably priced, and you can read it on any tablet or smartphone with the free Kindle app. You can contact us via our Facebook page, How to Live in Denmark, on Twitter at How to Live in DK, and visit our website at www.howtoliveindenmark.com. See you next week.
