Warning: This is a long post.
Lesson #1: Counting to 10
1 = en
2 = to
3 = tre
4 = fire
5 = fem
6 = seks
7 = syv
8 = otte
9 = ni
10 = ti
Congratulations! You now know some Danish. Of course, reading Danish and speaking Danish are completely different chores...
Danish ranks 16th in terms of most written languages in the world (according to our language instructor at AAU)...and 121st on the spoken languages list (with about 5.6 mill speakers worldwide - #103 according to wikipedia). This is not by coincidence. Here is a link to a video that will illustrate my point : ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-mOy8VUEBk - or just search "youtube danish language" on google.
The Saturday after the first week of classes all international students were given the opportunity to attend a Danish "lanuage bath" (I think this is "sprogbad" when translated). I don't want to miss any opportunities for learning while here (especially if the opportunity is free!), so I went. From this experience, I can tell you that learning Danish will be a slow process - not like picking up Spanish. No, trying to learning dansk is, I imagine, comparable to leading a petulant child through a toy store while Christmas shopping for the kid's cousins. When you finally make it back to the parking lot you are utterly exhausted and you swear you'll never enter another Toys-R-Us in your lifetime.
Ha - okay, so I exaggerate, but after each two-hour class (Mondays and Wednesdays for the next five weeks), which comes typically after six hours of classes for my program, my brain is begging for a break. At least I'm in good company in class. My typical expression melds with others' in one collective blank stare directed at the Dane standing in front of the class. Danish is what comes out of her mouth the moment she steps into the classroom. Oh, how I admire her optimism. As the clock's hands near 6:30pm, our stamina wanes.
While sitting in class, a friend tells me of a man who moved to Denmark several years ago. Upon arrival, he went to a bar and proceeded to spend the better part of five days there, soaking up the language along with the beer. Given a few months, he was speaking Danish fluently. Several of my classmates and I debated whether this was argument enough for holding class at the bar...
It is almost time to leave class and there is now less Danish being spoken than there is English, German, French and Polish. But still I try - we try, and somehow a little Danish sticks. Even so, I wonder: if speaking the language is the key to understanding the culture, will I always be standing outside, looking in?
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When I ride the bus or stroll down the streets of Aalborg, I generally exist in a world of my own. I am a walking mute, smiling and nodding, and hoping to pass through the grocery store without detection of my secret: Jeg taler ikke dansk og jeg forstår ikke dansk (I don't speak Danish and I don't understand Danish). Yes, I came to your country without learning your language (Do you really blame me?), and yes, I feel guilty. What's more, I only speak one language (well, I'll give myself one and a half for the limited Spanish language skills I possess). The only other students I've met here who speak one language exclusively are from, not surprisingly, America. The Germans, the French, the Vietnamese, the Brazilians, and even the Canadians, speak two languages. Some speak three or four. When groups of international students from the same country gather, they slip back into their native tongue and inadvertantly (or not) create their own little society. These are exclusive clubs - as in, those who don't speak the language are excluded. I stand politely as my friends converse, waiting for the scraps in English. Too often, meaning is lost in translation. The joke is never quite as funny when told in English...
Despite this, I love being surrounded by so many different languages. I relish the subtle differences in pronounciation and the way foreign and familiar sounds alike roll around in someone else's mouth. It is one of many things I already know I will miss when I return.
Last night, I started to incorporate dansk (Danish) words into a written conversation online. My sentence composition still needs work, I have the vocabulary of a three-year old (when I'm lucky : ) ), and I am certain I didn't correctly pronounce (speaking aloud as I typed) half of the words I was using - but it has to start somewhere!
Today, during the bus ride to school and back, I listened intently to the bits of conversation falling around me - straining to pick up just one word I could comprehend. The effort was rewarding as I recognized several words and a number! Given time, perhaps I will converse with my Danish friends in their language instead of making them use mine. I'll keep you posted... : )
And before I go, I have a few more photos. No afternoon class i dag (today) - so I decided to take a walk around the city center. My camera liked the blue skies - hope you do as well!
