Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

What language is Christmas in?

 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages Post Reply
26 messages over 4 pages: 1 2 3


Iversen
Super Polyglot
Moderator
Denmark
berejst.dk
Joined 6706 days ago

9078 posts - 16473 votes 
Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan
Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 25 of 26
10 December 2011 at 8:19pm | IP Logged 
In Denmark the old Christmas songs in Danish from the 1800s are still alive, and many people sing them while walking around the Christmas tree. Some are old translations (such as "Glade jul" from German "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht"), while others are original Danish (such as Peter Faber's "Højt fra træets grønne top"). Although we have dropped the obligatory singing of charols in my own family I have a special relationship with one song text (Grundtvig's "Dejlig er den himmel blå" - 'Pretty is the sky blue'), on which I long ago wrote a ultradark travesty which actually was performed as a rock anthem at a 'julefrokost' at a local cultural institution. I won't quote the text here because it is in Danish, but let me just say that they are somewhat less polyanna-happy than the original sugary version.


Edited by Iversen on 10 December 2011 at 8:23pm

1 person has voted this message useful



ember
Triglot
Groupie
CyprusRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5406 days ago

63 posts - 101 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, English, German
Studies: Spanish, French, Greek, Polish

 
 Message 26 of 26
10 December 2011 at 9:07pm | IP Logged 
In Cyprus (and I guess, in Greece, too) most of the traditional Christmas songs have been
translated into Greek. So, you would rarely here "Jingle Bells" here (unless you go to a
British store, like Hamleys), but rather "Τρίγωνα κάλαντα...". There's a whole lot of
original Greek songs as well.

Edited by ember on 10 December 2011 at 9:16pm

1 person has voted this message useful



This discussion contains 26 messages over 4 pages: << Prev 1 2 3

If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 0.1570 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.