Ask a Dane.

[Andvare]

What is your opinion of the comic referenced in Joakim's avatar.

Haven't seen it really.

What other countries have you been to?

All of Europe save Finland. Plus Egypt, Morocco and Indonesia.
I really want to travel beyond Europe, but my friends usually have different priorities.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

What are the most popular beers in Denmark ?

Gypsies: Same as immigrants. Not a big issue untill recently. We didn't have that many romas untill recently. Not untill we opened bordes for the new EU-citizens from the old east block coutries.

Don't send them back tho.

 

[Angst]

Yes! Now, kinda more serious-y question.

As a (degreeless for now) translator, I have to ask:
Is learning Danish easy/medium/difficulty/nightmare for foreigners?

It's a horribly hard language. There are so many unwritten rules, mute d's, pronounciation issues - Much like French at times; we mumble away through the words and don't annonciate many of our letter fx. Sagde, meaning said, looks very Scandinavic and was probably pronounced Sak-déy once, but currently it's pronounced sae. We just skip the consonants. It would be easier to learn by mouth if only Danes didn't mumble that much.

How different is the official version of the language from what people speak in their daily lives/informal speech?

The official version is the queen's, and she sounds ridiculously silly and snobby to some Danes. The very fewest actually speak the way she does.

Are there differentiated dialects/sociolects? It's a small country, but you have a lot of islands.

We actually have a ridiculous lot. Some of the Jute farmland dialects are incomprehensible to anyone but themselves. No, really. It's like they speak something completely different. In Bornholm, people kinda sing Swedishly when they speak. The dialect is dying, though, because it's a tourist island.

Are all the characters for Danish script available for keyboards? (Sometimes I have trouble finding the Ñ when writing in Spanish, never mind the Dutch ij or the Cyrillic and Latin scripts for Slavic languages, etc.)

Is it mutually intelligible with Swedish and/or Norwegian?

If you have a gist of the phonetics and patterns when reading either of the languages, you can read all of them. Swedish is a little different than the other two. When speaking, Norwegians and Swedes are best at understanding each other. The general rule of thumb is that Danes and Norwegians have a similar written language, but Norwegians sound like Swedes like Danes sound like... Dutch people, at times.

For society:
How are immigrants treated/viewed?

There is a racist tendency at the moment that is supported by a quite nationalist party. There is also a quite heavy cultural counterweight with remnants from our more "long-haired" traditions of the 70s in the cultural left which, I think, redeems us quite a bit.

How are Gypsies treated/viewed?

People think of them as can collectors, drunks and thieves. This is not something I'm proud of.

How do you get on with your neighbours?

(the more that answer on either batch from different POVs in Denmark the better)

All our neighbours love us, and we love them.

Wirtemberg?! You... one of your merchants threw up on my ancestor's good pitchfork when he passed through Småland!

Teaches you for bringing a pitchfork to my mountain castle.

What is your opinion of the comic referenced in Joakim's avatar.

I like it and I like that it's not that inaccurate to what I've experienced.

What other countries have you been to?

Plenty, haven't been outside Europe though. From the top of my head; England, France, Spain, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia and Greece.

What are the most popular beers in Denmark ?

Carlsberg & Tuborg, no question. We're very proud of the DANISH brands. Wow, DANISH.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

Tuborg is very popular around here too. I love it !
Carlsberg is more expensive, but i love the taste.
Yay danish beer

 

[holy king]

But whatever... is there a single country in Europe where people doesn't whine about the glorious past?

germany.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=11520588&postcount=973

Why Denmark ???

 

[Terxpahseyton]

This graph is great. "Falling of a ladder...." Wouldn't have that in Africa or America

It was said the Danish loved all their neighbors. May that be so, but what can you tell me about Danish fears of German Anschluss (Annexation) by financial total war?
At least, apparently, had their been a European constitution, Denmark would have made it illegal for Germans to buy and own Danish soil.

 

[Silurian]

I have watched Borgen and The Bridge on the BBC.

I am looking forward to the next series of both.

But until then what other Danish TV series that are likely to be sold abroad should we look forward too.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

How common are great danes ?

 

[Andvare]

This graph is great. "Falling of a ladder...." Wouldn't have that in Africa or America

It was said the Danish loved all their neighbors. May that be so, but what can you tell me about Danish fears of German Anschluss (Annexation) by financial total war?
At least, apparently, had their been a European constitution, Denmark would have made it illegal for Germans to buy and own Danish soil.

Emm, what?

How common are great danes ?

They have nothing to do with Denmark.

 

[Leoreth]

I hope for any of the others to watch the show, because I haven't. I wouldn't expect it to be like that though. But I know next to nothing about the show, so I'll shut up.

I haven't seen it myself. But at least one danish politician felt it was too close to comfort. He was certain the far right populist was modeled after him.

I think it's a fairly realistic insight into politics in a system with lots of parties, compromises and coalitions.

Okay, thanks. I can only recommend it - high quality TV shows from outside of the Anglosphere are rare these days after all.

And yes, I too had the feeling that the far right guy was modeled after a real person so maybe he was right

 

[Terxpahseyton]

Emm, what?

I read so in a news magazine at the time the constitution was still hot. You know how many nations pushed for national exceptions to be incorporated into the constitution? That was apparently one of them.
Something about German people buying off the Danish coast or something.

 

[GenMarshall]

Heh, I've met people that think we have polar bears running around.

What? O_o Now that's just crazy.

Anyway, what Are the popular sights, venues, and entertainment where you live at? Would a tourist need to know some Danish to get around? (e.g. Basic words for locations like bathrooms and hotels). Hopefully this would help expand more on the question .

 

[Andvare]

I read so in a news magazine at the time the constitution was still hot. You know how many nations pushed for national exceptions to be incorporated into the constitution? That was apparently one of them.
Something about German people buying off the Danish coast or something.

That had nothing to do with the EU. The Germans like the clean Danish beaches in the summer, so much so that some politicians apparently thought that the Germans would buy all the summer houses (houses not meant for year-long residence) and passed some law against it. This was early 1990s IIRC, but in any case, it had nothing to do with the EU, though the EU did object IIRC.

What? O_o Now that's just crazy.

Anyway, what Are the popular sights, venues, and entertainment where you live at? Would a tourist need to know some Danish to get around? (e.g. Basic words for locations like bathrooms and hotels). Hopefully this would help expand more on the question .

Well, in Copenhagen, I would probably avoid the classic tourist sights. The little Mermaid is bloody boring, though the area around it is good for a romantic evening stroll. Copenhagen is best experience via a local, because the most interesting/entertaining parts are not something you'll find in a tourist brochure, and in any case, what people find entertaining is quite varied.

Very few Danes don't understand English, I can't think of any I know that can't speak at least basic English, though the pronunciation is often horrid. Danish is certainly not required.

 

[Oruc]

Nope!

 

[W|M]

Do you eat a lot of Danishes?

 

[Tycho Brahe]

How common are great danes ?

Very uncommon. Chihuahuas and french bulldog are the most fashionable.

Do you eat a lot of Danishes?

Three times a day. But ironicaly, we call it viennese bread (wienerbrød)

germany.

Touché

 

[raketooy]

It's a horribly hard language. There are so many unwritten rules, mute d's, pronounciation issues - Much like French at times; we mumble away through the words and don't annonciate many of our letter fx. Sagde, meaning said, looks very Scandinavic and was probably pronounced Sak-déy once, but currently it's pronounced sae. We just skip the consonants. It would be easier to learn by mouth if only Danes didn't mumble that much.

Haha, I love the Danish language. Last time I was in Denmark, at a restaurant, I thought "well I can speak Swedish and these Danes can probably speak it as well, so why not order in Swedish?". Then I proceed to order my food, and everything goes well, until the waiter asks me something utterly incomprehensible in Danish (presumably how I want my steak done or something like that). I reply with "vad?", and he just repeats the incomprehensible mumble. I didn't feel like admitting I didn't understand a word, and just nodded and said "ja". At least I got a decent medium steak. So speaking Swedish or general Scandinavian with Danes is kind of a one-way communication.

Also, a fun activity to try in Denmark is trying not to burst into laughter when someone tells you the price of something. 50 = halvtreds, what?

 

[Takhisis]

So, socially relatively backwards, language not that terribly hard except it's mumbled so it's pronounced any which way…

The official version is the queen's, and she sounds ridiculously silly and snobby to some Danes. The very fewest actually speak the way she does.

I asked about Denmark, not England

@raketooy: you're a Perkelian, every other non-tonal language must be easy by comparison.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

That had nothing to do with the EU. The Germans like the clean Danish beaches in the summer, so much so that some politicians apparently thought that the Germans would buy all the summer houses (houses not meant for year-long residence) and passed some law against it. This was early 1990s IIRC, but in any case, it had nothing to do with the EU, though the EU did object IIRC.

Interesting, well enjoy your clean beaches.