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English in Scandinavia

  Tags: Scandinavia | English
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages Post Reply
36 messages over 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5  Next >>
Medulin
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Croatia
Joined 4669 days ago
1199 posts - 2192 votes 
Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali

 
 Message 9 of 36
17 June 2012 at 12:56pm | IP Logged 
I really don't understand this. Many Eastern Norwegians don't like Nynorsk. And many Fins don't like the Swedish language.

Edited by Medulin on 17 June 2012 at 12:57pm
1 person has voted this message useful



Haldor
Triglot
Senior Member
France
Joined 5616 days ago
103 posts - 122 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Swedish
Studies: French, Spanish

 
 Message 10 of 36
17 June 2012 at 1:38pm | IP Logged 
Well, there are a lot of immigrants here that only speak English. I guess they don't see the point in learning Norwegian, since it's not a very useful language and since we all speak English. Of course I don't know for long they're going to be in Norway, but I still think that's a pity, they live here and they don't bother to learn our language. When I'm in Norway, I want to speak my own language, our own language.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Pisces
Bilingual Pentaglot
Senior Member
Finland
Joined 4623 days ago
143 posts - 284 votes 
Speaks: English*, Finnish*, French, SwedishC1, Esperanto
Studies: German, Spanish, Russian

 
 Message 11 of 36
17 June 2012 at 4:07pm | IP Logged 
Finland is not really part of Scandinavia, but Finland is one of the Nordic countries, which is a more important political and cultural concept in the Nordic countries than Scandinavia is. People talk more about "de nordiska länderna" than they talk about "Skandinavien". However in English the phrase "the Nordic countries" seems awkward and hardly exists, so in English "Scandinavia" generally includes Finland.

Except for engineers/researchers in academia and large companies, there are not a lot of English speaking immigrants in Scandinavia.
1 person has voted this message useful



Haldor
Triglot
Senior Member
France
Joined 5616 days ago
103 posts - 122 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Swedish
Studies: French, Spanish

 
 Message 12 of 36
17 June 2012 at 4:15pm | IP Logged 
Well, a lot of immigrants sepeak English, although not as a frist language. All og the Lithanian and polish immigrants usualy speak English, with varying proficiency. Same goes for the African community, I guess. But if you are only interested in those who speak it as a first language, then the number is quite lower.
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montmorency
Diglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4829 days ago
2371 posts - 3676 votes 
Speaks: English*, German
Studies: Danish, Welsh

 
 Message 13 of 36
18 June 2012 at 4:15am | IP Logged 
davidwelsh wrote:
Enlish isn't that far off becoming an official language in Norway.
When I did my teacher training at Oslo University,
one of the points we discussed was that it had recently been decided English was no
longer to be designated as a
"foreign language" but as a "second language" in schools.  English is a compulsary
subject for all school pupils
from the ages of 6 to 17, and the level that's expected is quite high. A 17/18-year-
old student for example is
expected to be able to "express himself/herself in writing and orally with subtleness,
proper register, fluency,
precision and coherence", and to analyze and discuss a range of different kinds of
literature.

Also, whenever I need to interact with Norwegian officialdom (applying for a marriage
license, registering to vote,
doing my taxes etc.) I always have the option of doing so in English. If I'm
downloading official forms for example
there are always three options - Bokmål, Nynorsk and English.

I don't think English will ever replace Norwegian, but I think its status as a well-
established quasi-official second
language is only likely to get stronger.



And I think I read in the Guardian that (at least some) Norwegian universities were
actively attracting British undergraduates to study there (on courses taught in
English). I think tuition costs were less than those in England, but of course living
costs would be substantial, so it's not for everyone, but likely to attract some.



1 person has voted this message useful



jazzboy.bebop
Senior Member
Norway
norwegianthroughnove
Joined 5419 days ago
439 posts - 800 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Norwegian

 
 Message 14 of 36
18 June 2012 at 5:30am | IP Logged 
Haldor wrote:
Well, there are a lot of immigrants here that only speak English. I guess they don't see the point in learning Norwegian, since it's not a very useful language and since we all speak English. Of course I don't know for long they're going to be in Norway, but I still think that's a pity, they live here and they don't bother to learn our language. When I'm in Norway, I want to speak my own language, our own language.


One thing's for certain when I emigrate to Norway in August, I'll be making sure to become comfortably fluent and be able to pass the Bergenstest in April/May of next year. If you are someone actually looking to make good friends and be able to join in properly with most conversations, Norwegian is a must. After a few drinks it becomes easy for people to lapse into whatever language is most comfortable for them and quite frankly it seems rude to not bother to put in the effort to learn the language of the place you live in.
6 persons have voted this message useful



Haldor
Triglot
Senior Member
France
Joined 5616 days ago
103 posts - 122 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Swedish
Studies: French, Spanish

 
 Message 15 of 36
18 June 2012 at 1:22pm | IP Logged 
jazzboy.bebop wrote:
Haldor wrote:
Well, there are a lot of immigrants here that only speak English. I guess they don't see the point in learning Norwegian, since it's not a very useful language and since we all speak English. Of course I don't know for long they're going to be in Norway, but I still think that's a pity, they live here and they don't bother to learn our language. When I'm in Norway, I want to speak my own language, our own language.


One thing's for certain when I emigrate to Norway in August, I'll be making sure to become comfortably fluent and be able to pass the Bergenstest in April/May of next year. If you are someone actually looking to make good friends and be able to join in properly with most conversations, Norwegian is a must. After a few drinks it becomes easy for people to lapse into whatever language is most comfortable for them and quite frankly it seems rude to not bother to put in the effort to learn the language of the place you live in.


I absolutely agree
1 person has voted this message useful



schoenewaelder
Diglot
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 5561 days ago
759 posts - 1197 votes 
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch

 
 Message 16 of 36
18 June 2012 at 4:37pm | IP Logged 
hernanday wrote:
Probably wouldn't be made an official language for nationalist reasons. I mean Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are all the same language but for political reasons they are called different languages.


So they could speak English, but just call it Danish, Swedish or Norwegian. Or for the Norwegians, it would be just another dialect, Bokmal, Nynorsk or Engelsk ?

Actually, I just used google translate to find the Norwegian for "English" and it said "English". So we're getting there.


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