Do you think it is important to learn the local language when you live abroad?

What the Danish girl said about our language is true. The Danish grammar is difficult. The nouns are difficult for foreigners, because there are no rules, sometimes you have to use "en" and sometimes you have to use "et". A Japanese girl who was living in Denmark once asked me if I could explain the rules about nouns, but I had to tell her that there are no rules, you simply have to memorize the different categories. The pronounciation is also quite difficult because we have 3 letters that don't exist in other languages. Many foreigners find our language hard to learn, but it is possible to learn it and I have met many foreigners who have learned our language. They make grammar mistakes when they speak, but they are able to express themselves. I even met one woman who learned Danish in 2 months. I am was really impressed, because most foreginers aren't able to do that.

Learning a language from being in the country is largely down to interpersonal skills, and this must be particularly true of Danish, where every rule is an exception. What are you Aussie friend's interpersonal skills like?

I agree with that. I know that some people find it hard to learn a new language, but I think that they should at least try to learn some of the common expressions. I always do that. Even when I am just going to visit the country for a short time I like to learn some of the greetings and things like that.

I will try. These days I see it going this way, I'll say it in their language and they will answer in English!

That is true, if you have internet access and satellite tv can you stick to the things that you already know. My friend is happy that way, but I am like you, I would definately make an effort to learn the local language. I always do that when I travel, and I few of the basic words like hello or thank you are very useful. I also try to learn the names of the common signs like open, closed or no trespassing. It makes travelling much easier and the locals usually appreciate it.

Actually, why is he in Denmark at all and not Oz? It may not be just Danish locals that he has no desire to connect with (or, more likely, a deep-seated fear of connecting with - I don't think, Porcospino, that you, as a medic, can help knowing what I'm talking about).

btw, mylot seems to not be delivering my notifiers again. this is a day old and never saw it till i came here.

In my country most of the foreigners aren't here illegally, but quite a few of the foreigners don't want to learn our language. Their children learn the language because they go to school here, but some of the parents only speak their own language so the children have to translate for them for instanse when they visit the doctor or when they have read some papers in Danish. I find it hard to understand why some adults choose to stick to their own language. I know that I would find it hard to live in a country where I didn't speak the local language, and I would make an effort to learn the language.

Bunnybon, this happens to me every now and then. I go to my preferences, cancel all my requests, and then reinstate them, and the service comes back. Porcospino, I was "brilliant" at languages when I was at school, but my interpersonal skills, such as they are, are nowhere near my book-learning skills, so when it comes to learning Turkish my progress in the language compared with the exposure I have had to it has been abysmal (It, like Uzbek, is a very regular, straightforward language, though all the rules are the reverse of ours - If you know anything about the "Reverse Polish" computer language, it's like that). Is your Aussie friend worse, perhaps?

That is not a french word. The french word is spelled with c and cedille.

I personally have learned other languages. I had Deutsch when I was in high school and took few classes in college. I learned Espanol and Francais as well. Problem is I don't use them. I just need to practice them. If I travel to Europe and visit countries like France, Germany, and Spain, I would love to be able to converse comfortably in those languages.

Are you really working as a waiter, Garson?

I don't like to depend on other people all the time. It is natural that you need someone to translate in the beginning, but I prefer to learn the local language as fast as possible, because I think that it is the best way to become independent and the best way to get the most out of my stay in that country. I find it frustrating to be unable to understand the conversations and everything else. When I was living in another country I had two goals: I wanted to be able understand the language and I wanted to be able to express myself in a way that other people were able to understand. It wasn't my goal to speak the language perfectly and the grammar was very difficult, but I think it is essential to understand what people are saying and make yourself understood.

I also find it hard to understand why he has chosen to live in my country for 20 years without learning the language, but it probably because it is easier than learning the language. He knows that he will be able to find someone who speaks English, so he doesn't think that it is neccesary to learn Danish. You are right, he wants to be understood but he doesn't care if he understands other people. I would be willing to help him if he wanted to learn our language, but he is not interested.

How does he get on with other English, Australians, etc?

Some people would consider that as sarcasm, stating something which is actually the opposite to which one really wants to imply in their statement, like 'Students always look forward in bringing home a lot of homework from school.' (^_^") Of course, other cultures would probably have different scenarios for different sarcasms. Yes, it is really good to have someone who knows the language you want to learn teach it to us, especially if it's someone we can really depend on. Though it is rather funny that there would be times that those who we depend on could play a prank on us by teaching us something which we thought would really help us. An example that I could give would be of my sister who went to the hometown of my father. My father speaks a different dialect so going back to their hometown with my sister would have it's challenges. One time, my sister asked my father how to say, 'Good Morning!' since she gets to wake up early and see other relatives. My father told her a phrase in their dialect which my sister really gave effort to memorize. The following morning, when my sister woke up and saw a relative, she recited her memorized phrase, intending to greet 'good morning' Oddly enough, after my sister said the phrase, our relatives immediately brought her to the kitchen table and served her breakfast. My sister being confused with the sudden treatment went to my father to ask what he really taught her. There she found out that my father didn't teach her how to say 'Good Morning' in their dialect, but rather 'I am Hungry!'

Yes, understanding the language also involves understanding the culture. Sometimes it not enough to understand the words you also have to understand the meaning behind the words. In my country we use a lot of irony and that is one of the things that foreigners often find difficult or confusing in the beginning. They understand the words and they don't always understand the irony that we wanted to express. Sometimes the literal translation of a sentence is positive, but the acutual meaning is negative. We might say: "That's beautiful" but we actually mean that it is extremely ugly. It is definately s good thing to talk to a local who knows the language. That person can help us translate th words that we don't understand and he or she can correct our grammar and our pronounciation. When I was living abroad my local friends helped me a lot and I always asked them to translate for me when someone said a word that I didn't understand. I learned a lot of new words that way.

Some people find it relatively easy to learn a new language and other people need more time. It sounds like your family friend is one of the people who is able to learn a new language easily, and that is a big advantage when you live abroad. When you spend the time among people who speak your own language it can be harder to find the motivation to learn a new language, that is true. Quite a few foreigners in my country only speak their own language. The children learn Danish at school, but some of the adults only speak their own language, and they ask their children to translate for them when they visit the doctor and things like that.

Porcospino, Yes, some have it much easier. Language is one of teh barriers I wish we didn't have. I often wish I could speak much more with friends and relatives or even local people here who do not speak English, and I can not speak theirs, though we are fond of each other. Here, the main immigrant language is Spanish. Many of them at work do not learn English, but the population both at work and in neighborhoods are filled with other Spanish speaking, so it is easier for them, but for others it is much harder. Have a good day.

I was only a tourist and my comment was made because I was so amazed of how many Danish residents spoke english and spoke it very well. I am not good at languages and spent a long time learning french only to have my daughter move to Spain so I am now struggling with spanish as my daughter-in-law is mexican so also uses spanish. I agree speaking the local language is the best way

It is interesting to hear that you have spent some time in Denmark. Did you work in my country or did you visit Denmark as a tourist? In which city did you do stay? I also think that learning the language would be the most obvious thing to do. Many things are a lot easier when you are able to speak the local language and you don't have to ask people to translate for you all the time.

The two people that you mentioned are a good example of importance of learning the local language. You are vulnerable if you don't learn the language in the country where you live and people can cheat you. I think that it is important to learn to understand the local language. You don't have to speak perfectly as long as you are able to make yourself understood, but many things are difficult if you are unable to understand the things that people say or unable to read letters or instructions in the local language. I think that your Korean boss has a very good attitude towards the language. It is a great idea to ask people to translate the words that he doesn't know yet, because the the best way to learn new words.

Japanese and Korean are closely related as languages, so it must come down to personality.

6-8 languages that is quite impressive. I only speak 3 languages (Danish, English and Italian) It is little hard for me to imagine what it is like to live in country like India where there are so many different languages, because I am from a small country where we only have one language. I agree with the last thing that you wrote. I also think that it it is a help to learn the local language when we visit on stay in another place. It makes it much easier to find new friends and it is also useful in other situations for instanse if we need to solve some practical problems.

Though I have learned the other languages in school and when it come pratical, I found it it difficult to manage. But, when we used to talk and listen to other languages, we will pic-up slowly. I think to learn a new language, the best way is to mingle with small children who speak the same languge. When we mingle with them, we can easily improve, through we wont realise. In fact, most of the additional languages I learned in this way and I think this is one best simple technique to learn any language. Thanks for your response. Regards

I also think that we should learn the local language when we live abroad. It makes things a lot easier for us. When we know the local language we are able to communicate with the people we meet and it is eaiser to find new friends among the locals. It is also much easier to handle all the daily things like instructions in the local language and shopping. When you don't speak the local language it is easy to misunderstand things. I am a language teacher for a family from Burma, and they find it very difficult to read the letters that they receive, because they don't speak much Danish yet. One day they misunderstood a letter about a meeting with the authorities and they missed the meeting. To avoid situations like that it is important to learn the local language.

You are right, we may get troubles or misunderstanding when we can't speak local language We are more intelligent when we can speak one more language. i like this sentence.

I can understand from your response that you live in another country at the moment. Where do you live? The language sounds like a challenge since the spoken language is different from the written language, but I understand why you want to learn it as soon as possible. Many things are easier when you are able to communicate with the locals. I have lived abroad myself and I also wanted to learn the language as fast as possible. That was the best way to become indepedent and make the most of my stay in another country. I found it relatively easy to learn to understand the spoken language, but the grammar was difficult and it was hard to learn to speak it fluently.

No I am in the same country, India. My native is in South India and now I have moved to North India. Here language is different from our place. I learned Hindi but in books. Speaking is different and now I am learning a little from my hubby.

I think that it is true that it isn't so easy for adults to learn a new language. It is possible to learn a new language as an adult, but it is easier for children and they usually learn a new language faster than adults. I know a Japenese man who has lived in Denmark for many years. When he arrived in Denmark he only spoke Japanese and he says that he learned Danish like a small child. He listened, listened and listened and little by little he learned the Danish language. He didn't speak English and that made it harder for him, but eventually he managed to learn the Danish language. I think it is easier to learn a new language if you speak English because you are able to translate from English to the local language.

That is true, it is not easy to communicate with the locals if you are unable to speak the local language. Most Danes understand English, but I still think that it is a really good idea to learn the language, because if you don't understand the Danish you won't be able to understand people's conversations and you won't be able to read letters, instructions and many other things. It is also easier for people to cheat you if you don't understand the language and that is another reason why it is a good idea to learn the local language in the country where you live.

My husband and I visited Greece in 2010 and we were totally lost because we couldn't read the signs. If I lived in Greece I would definately learn the alphabet and learn to read some of the basic words, because I would find it too frustrating to live there without a basic knowledge of the language. I read your description of the Greek language, it sounds like a very challenging language to learn, but I would still try.

First of all I am greek. It is true we are full of foreign people here.:P The only thing I am proud about my country is our language, as all the rest is going pretty much awfully wrong.:) It is a lot harder than most languages out there, and if you are not a native speaker it is going to be really hard to be able to talk like one. The grammatical rules are a lot more than most of the other languages. There are actually so many grammatical rules, that I can't explain because they don't exist in english language and I can't find any words:P. Unless you are talking with really uneducated greeks who speak in a slang way, the sentence construction is very strict. I know 1 dialect only, however, I can speak with all the greeks and cypriots. The dielects are not really 4. Only in crete you'll find people speaking differently and then in cyprus, which is kinda an independed country anyway. Of course each place has a few words different, but i wouldn't consider it a different dialect. And as for the last part, greeks were considered civilized not for the language, but because when they were building great towns, studying sciences and philosophy, music and gymnastics etc, the rest of europe couldn't even speak.:) I am not trying to be rude, I am young but well-travelled and the truth is I hate my country and I want out of here as soon as possible, because apparently, modern Greece hasn't evolved since the ancient times:P However, I still am proud of my roots, as every man should be, no matter where he is from.

I also find that a little a strange, I thought that he would at least recognize some of the common words after such a long period of time. Our grammar and our pronounciation are quite difficult for foreigners, but I still think that you automatically learn some of the words after a while especially the words that you hear very often. On the other hand if you aren't interested at all you probably don't pay attention to the words that you hear.

Indeed. Scandinabian languages tend to be pretty different. However if you don't learn the language in the place you live in for 20 years, you must be really stubborn. To think, I am playing a videogame with a fellow from Denmark, and if it goes on like this, even I am about to learn your language! (exaggeration). I learned about the Dansk Pølser already. :P

What's he doing his PhD in? For understanding research literature, I believe German is second in importance only to English (unless, of course, you're researching someone like Molière, when it would be ridiculous to depend on just Richard Strauss's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme suite).

That is a good point. I think it is easier to avoid people who cheat if we are able to understand the local language. As I a tourist I have been cheated many times. The sellers knew that I wasn't familiar with the local prices or the language and they took advantage of that. I think that many tourists experience the same thing when they visit a foreign country, but if you are going to live in another country, it is important to learn the local language. A lot of situations will be easier to handle when you speak the locals languages, people are less likely to scam you and you are more independent because you don't have to ask other people to translate for you all the time.

I agree. Learning the local language is like you are preparing yourself for a battle. I believe you can dwell effortlessly to that place when you are armed with reasonable understanding and practice of the local langauage. Also, having a knowledge to that local language is like having a light to your path - you can easily connect to people , make friends and able to find a better job.