Education

The Danish language is one of the North-Germanic languages, and a sub-group of the Indo-European languages. It is also classified as a language of Scandinavia and an official language of the European Union. Danish is spoken primarily in Denmark, although there are also small Danish speaking communities in a number of other countries around the world. While not nearly as popular to learn as English, Spanish, or French, there are still many non-native speakers who choose to learn the Danish tongue. Many of the people who decide to invest time and energy into learning Danish are either moving to Denmark or one of its territories, or have ancestral ties to Denmark. There is no better place to learn a language than in its home territory, and many people stay in holiday homes Denmark while they are learning the language. Whether you are travelling to Turkey (Türkei Reisen) or France, a working knowledge of the local language goes a long way with the locals.

Danish is spoken mostly in Denmark, although it is also spoken in the Danish territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Iceland also has a sizable Danish speaking population, as does the North-German area of Schleswig-Holstein. Some of the more far flung countries that have sizable Danish speaking populations include the U.S.A, Argentina, and Canada. While it is always possible to learn a language from books and DVDs, it is always best to surround yourself with native speakers in order to fast track the process. Many serious Danish students find themselves cheap holiday homes in Denmark and choose to learn the language from the inside out, with native speakers or a translation agency (Übersetzungsbüro) by their side to help them out and tell them where they are going wrong. Denmark can be a very cold country in winter, so if you are one of the truely dedicated, it is probably a good idea to spend at least three months in Denmark during the summer months.

Danish is classified together with Swedish as one of the East Norse dialect group of languages, slightly different from Norwegian, Faroese and Icelandic – which are from the West Norse group. The Danish language has about 6 million speakers, most of whom reside in Denmark or its territories on a full time basis. For people who want to add themselves to this list, learning Danish in Denmark is always recommended, and for those people who have the resources to do so, a stint of about three months is the minimum. What might take years with books and language courses can often be learned in months when a student has full time access to local speakers on a daily basis, and a holiday home can be a great base for any serious student while they learn. Owning a second home in Europe has become very popular over the latter few years, as well as Denmark, holiday homes and finca on Mallorca (Finca auf Mallorca) have also become very popular with tourists. A great place to look for these homes is on the internet.