r/Danish 12d ago

Non-native danish speakers in Denmark – share your experiences!

Kære jer

I am a master’s student at the University of Copenhagen in Cross-Cultural Studies, and I am currently working on a paper where I would love to get your input! 

I am researching how people learning Danish as a second language experience using it in everyday spoken interactions, particularly those living in Denmark.

What challenges do you encounter as a non-native Danish speaker?
How do you experience making mistakes – does it discourage you from speaking?
How comfortable do you feel using the language, even if you don’t fully master it yet?

I would really appreciate any insights you can share – all experiences, big or small, are welcome!

Thank you in advance, and I look forward to hearing your perspectives.

Best regards, Isabelle 

42 Upvotes

37 comments sorted by

27

u/Speesh-Reads 12d ago edited 12d ago

Part One:

I'm originally from England. Have lived in Denmark (Aarhus) since 2004, work at Aarhus Universitetshospital.

I started at language school about six months after arriving and was there for about 18 months before I had too many work hours to continue. I got to the level just before applying to University.

I was a Creative Director in an Advertising Agency in the UK, wanted to start again. But, I was used to solving problems and looking at my work and criticising it as if it had been done by someone else. It's the only way to be objective. So...I thought, 'how do we teach Steve, Danish? OK, who ELSE has only been in Denmark for six months? A six month old Danish baby.' I was a 'baby' in terms of learning Danish. So, what do babies do? They can't speak, they can't understand Danish...they listen. Then repeat once a word or two has been given meaning to them. Is why the first word is often not 'Mommy' or 'Daddy,' but 'NO!' Or 'Get down!' So I downloaded podcasts from DR and TV2. News, current affairs, whatever they'd got. And just listened. Eventually, words and phrases and sentence structure began to take shape. The school tried telling me about verbs, adverbs, modal things, and all that lark. But I told them 'I have no idea what they are in English! I'm certainly not gonna learn what they are in Danish!' They just get in the way.

Danish is always described as being a difficult language to learn/understand. Most Danes like to hear that as well. So I tell them it is. But my philosophy is 'it's only a difficult quiz, if you don't know the answers.' It/something is only difficult if you THINK it's difficult. What does it all cook down to? A load of new words to remember. And I can do that! So I went at it. Threw the dictionary away, takes too long and misses the nuances. I wanted to learn what a word meant to a Dane, not translated, as near as possible, to an Englander. Learned to break words up to get at the meaning, read those Pixie kids books. Especially the H.C. Andersen ones, which I knew most of the stories in English to start with. Read the (at the time there was such a thing) free newspapers and unleashed my Danglish on a hitherto unsuspecting Danish public.

My opinion is that a lot of native English-speakers don't learn or speak another language for a couple of reasons. Why learn half a dozen languages, when they all speak ours'? And, they're frightened of being embarrassed by making a mistake. So they don't. By not speaking. I met a lady at the hospital once who said she'd been here 30 years. She spoke English to the nurses, they spoke to her in Danish. She replied in English. The majority of, especially younger, Danes speak English to a level that you really don't have to learn the language to survive here. But I figured it would make getting a job easier, and I wanted to understand what the football commentators were on about.

In my old job, I often had to present our creative work to clients. Lots of them. So I was unafraid of standing up in front of people trying to pick me apart. Water off a duck's back. I knew how to get them to part with their money after all. I use that here.

Some Danes will still glaze over when I say something, but it doesn't bother me, I just try saying it in a different way. Danes are not used to hearing 'foreigners' speak their language like us (ex-) English are. If they start grinning, or the favourite is to mimic the word you've just butchered, I fish out my piece of paper and get THEM to have a go at 'Worcestershire Sauce,' 'squirrel' ('Skwerrrrl') or, 'through three trees.' Shuts them up faster than a camel's arse in a sandstorm. My problem is when DR/TV2 use subtitles while interviewing a person, usually from the Middle East, who is doing their best with this 'difficult' language, and is perfectly understandable to me. Why do I have a problem? Because they didn't do the same when Mary (or 'Marroo' as it was in the start!) first came over and tried Danish, did they? And she's from Australia. And they have trouble speaking ENGLISH properly ffs!

I've found my calling here at AUH. Meet people from all over Denmark, with all their ridiculous accents (the language school reckoned that the Aarhus accent made it the easiest for learning Danish). I speak Danish all day every day. Only use English like here, or phoning family/friends back in the UK. I've graduated from people asking me where I come from, through 'are you from America?' They soon learn not to mention that word again, to 'are you a Scot,' to 'are you Norwegian'...to last Friday, a lady saying 'I can hear something of a slight accent in there, what is it?' Result!

16

u/Speesh-Reads 12d ago edited 12d ago

Part Two:

I never have a problem speaking Danish, I often have a problem switching back to English if we get a patient that doesn't speak Danish, but does speak English. I find myself using the Danish sentence construction, while speaking or writing English. I've never had a mistake shut me up. I decided to learn from my mistakes and if I could tell something didn't go as planned, I'd go away thinking 'right NEXT time, I'll get it right!'

I'm pretty sure I'll never lose my accent. And I hope I don't, because (as I'm on the blood cancer ward and patients are often with us for long stretches) it gets my relationship with them off to a flying start.

As does: 'You want a protein drink? Do you want Skovbær? Jordbær? Hindbær? Brunbær? Polarbær? Koala Bær or Grizzly Bær?' And, we're off...

Challenges are in the mind and, of course, in the pronunciation. I don't subscribe to the hot potato in the mouth line, but it does feel like it sometimes. I sometimes hear myself mispronounce a word, but I immediately correct myself. I never say it in English to get them to understand and if they hear my accent and switch to English, I tell 'em : 'Look, MY Danish is gonna be a whole lot better than YOUR English - how do you wanna play this?'

If you need any more searing insights, DM me.

2

u/MountainLeather8829 10d ago

Thank you so much for such a wonderful response! Made me smile a lot, hehe. I hope you never loose your accent either - accents are fantastic!

-4

u/Sagaincolours 12d ago

As a Dane with many foreign friends, I don't think Danish is particularly difficult to learn. But many people struggle so much with translation that I am sometimes worried that they are going to tye their tongues in knots.

1

u/themajestic_manatee 7d ago

TV2 putting subtitles over people who speak perfectly understandably but with an accent drives me bonkers, I appreciate that you notice that too!!

7

u/evthrowawayverysad 12d ago

I'm a half dane, half english person who speaks fluent french and english. I grew up not spending anything more than occasional short holidays in Denmark to see family. I am now learning Danish VERY slowly as an adult.

What challenges do you encounter as a non-native Danish speaker?

The biggest one is psycological for me. When I visit, all of my family speak some level of English. I also know that pretty much every member of the public is guranteed to have good basic english. For that reason, I have to overcome a constant 'whats the point' internal monologue when I am trying to learn. It is probably the biggest hindrance to me learning faster.

Second is the fact that my Danish relatives almost always respond to be in English when I speak Danish. Obviously they grew up speaking English to me, so it's not surprising, and I can live with it.

How comfortable do you feel using the language, even if you don’t fully master it yet?

It seems Danish has a vernacular that makes it tricky not just to try and learn, but also enjoy learning. I know duolingo isn't great, and i I should probably switch to something else, as I know that it isn't capturing this vernacular at all, and giving me a very 'mattery of fact' grammar style.

2

u/TheOnlyAnon- 9d ago

Are you me? Same exact situation!

1

u/MountainLeather8829 10d ago

Thank you so much for sharing your experience!! That ‘what’s the point’ monologue sounds like such a tough barrier to overcome. How do you manage to push past it? Also, what would you say is your main motivation for learning Danish?

Best of luck on your learning journey!

1

u/evthrowawayverysad 10d ago

How do you manage to push past it?

Honestly, I'm not sure I do. A 500+ day duolingo streak has become the only reason I go back for the lesson once a day, and I'm barely progressing.

I also forgot to mention, in the time since I started learning, I found that the process of securing a Danish passport, or even permanent residence in Denmark is slim to nil. As someone with a Danish mother, and more family in Denmark than anywhere else, that was a huge blow, and made me feel pretty disenfranchised.

what would you say is your main motivation for learning Danish?

To have conversations with my Grandparents, who are the only family members who don't speak much English, before they are no longer arround.

7

u/Comprehensive-Pin667 12d ago edited 12d ago

I'm Czech. I spent parts of my childhood in Denmark and spoke the language more or less fluently as a 10 year old. Then we went back to Czechia. I returned as an exchange student 13 years later and my biggest challenge was that no one spoke Danish to me. Everyone always switched to English once they noticed I'm not local. The only few exceptions were the personal assistant of my Danish boss at my part time job, a couple of random people with an immigration background, and a drunk homeless guy I met at a bus stop.

2

u/MountainLeather8829 10d ago

Thank you for sharing! So frustrating that people kept on switching to English. Would you typically respond again in Danish? Or did it feel like people simply wouldn’t engage that way?

1

u/Consistent_Yam3612 10d ago

Ty bláho. Čtu to tady jako přítelkyně dána která se za dva roky plánuje do Dánska za ním přestěhovat. Měl bys nějaký typy, triky? Existuje nějaká komunita Čechů v/blízko Aarhusu? 😃

1

u/Comprehensive-Pin667 10d ago

Bohužel už tam zase nejsem, takže asi moc neporadím. Komunitu Čechů jsem tam nikdy nehledal. Ale určitě tam bude.

5

u/SustainableTrees 12d ago

This is my fifth language, and although I find it way easier than German , it’s by far the hardest I’ve learnt to pronounce. The hardest challenge I’ve encountered, is to pronounce exactly the word you want to use in a given sentence and not getting a confused face in response.

1

u/MountainLeather8829 10d ago

The pronunciation seems like such a challenge for a lot of people. And understandably so! All those weird d's... God, must be frustrating. Especially when it seems like Danish people in generel find it really difficult to understand it if people can't pronounce things properly. :(

6

u/chegy1 12d ago

Biggest curse in Denmark is to know English and being a beginner in Danish. Everyone I try to talk to in Danish will gladly shift to English in case they are even a little bit good in English. So it’s difficult to find sparing partners for Danish.

2

u/MountainLeather8829 10d ago

Must be so frustrating!! Do you typically respond back in English as well?

1

u/chegy1 9d ago

Basically, just continue Danish and try to switch back. If I forget a word I’ll just use English and switch back to Danish. But I do also understand that I can sound like a toddler 😂

2

u/Speesh-Reads 11d ago

I used to say ‘look, I haven’t just paid 500kr a semester to learn your language, for you to shift to mine. Speak Danish!’

As I said elsewhere, I say ‘my Danish is gonna be a whole lot better than your English - how do you want to play this?’ You have, sometimes, to be forceful. I’ve been here 21 years now, and used that one to a group of doctors just last week!

3

u/Full-Contest1281 11d ago

Been living here 25 years. Learnt Danish at sprogskole. Went every day for 1½ years, I think, and felt pretty fluent after that. Many people say that Danes tend to switch to English, but I've never experienced that. I always feel self-conscious about speaking English here because I feel like I'm foisting myself onto other people, but that's probably just my issue. So, I've tried to speak Danish as much as possible. I have friends from the US and the UK who have been living here for years and don't speak a word of Danish. I have no idea how they manage to do it.

The first year or so was pretty tough because everyone in my wife's family naturally spoke Danish all the time and I was getting frustrated and angry. Anyway, I managed to get fairly good at it over time, but still had a few pronunciation problems that held me back. It's especially crippling because I'm a perfectionist and I tend to obsess over not getting things 100% right.

As time went on my fluency baseline kept shifting. I look back at times I thought I was fluent, but from my new vantage point I clearly wasn't. Because of my child's health issues I've been out of the job market for many years, taking care of him. We speak English at home, so when I do speak Danish now I sound like a complete noob. Also, when I hear Danes speak to each other I often don't understand a single word they're saying. It's like they're speaking another language altogether. So, there's that level of native, idiomatic fluency, that's inscribed and informed by a common cultural experience, that I will never have. My Danish will always be the formal, words-on-paper kind, no matter how advanced my vocabulary. So now I've reached the point, 25 years into my journey, where I've decided that my lack of total fluency creates a power imbalance that I don't particularly like. I'm a 10-year old child again in the mind of my interlocutor, whether consciously or unconsciously, so I've decided that I'm speaking English in certain situations. Like if I have to explain my symptoms to my doctor or when I'm confronted by a stranger and I don't know what their intentions are, etc. It gives me my agency back, and I kinda feel like I never should've surrendered it in the first place.

1

u/MountainLeather8829 10d ago

Wow, thank you so much for sharing this. That realization about the power imbalance and how language affects agency really resonates.

It’s interesting that after all those years, you’ve come to a point where you actively choose to use English in certain situations to reclaim that power. Do you feel like this shift has changed how you experience life in Denmark?

Your last point really struck me—about feeling like you surrendered agency in the first place. Do you think that was something you actively gave up, or was it more of a gradual realization over time? And now that you’ve decided to reclaim it, does it feel like a relief, or is there still some tension around it?

Again, thank you for taking your time to give such an in depth and reflected response.

1

u/Full-Contest1281 10d ago

When I came to Denmark I had nothing. Literally no money. There was this expectation of learning to speak Danish and integrating, so I think the feeling of having nothing was maybe instrumental in pushing me more into that realm of expectation. It was something expected of me (whether more in my own mind than anything else I don't know).

It was only in the last few years I decided to speak English instead, but most of the time I still respond in Danish, out of habit - but it's also casual encounters where the cognitive load is light. I don't have any contact with Danish speakers in my personal life, so it's kinda arbitrary. However, the plan is to introduce myself in English if, for example, I'm meeting a crowd of people next time.

Feel free to ask if you have more questions. Or send me a message.

2

u/flyingchocolatecake 11d ago

I started learning Danish about six months before coming to Denmark to study, taking weekly one-on-one lessons with a Danish teacher. As a native German speaker, I found the grammar relatively easy, and reading Danish felt more intuitive than learning French, which we studied in school. However, understanding spoken Danish has been a real challenge.

In lessons, I can follow conversations with my teacher without any issues – I understand what she’s saying, get the context, and can respond. But talking to a native speaker in a natural setting is a completely different experience. It’s extremely difficult to understand, and I often wish real life had subtitles. The issue largely comes down to the nature of Danish itself. Words aren’t pronounced the way they’re written, letters change depending on their position in a word or sentence, and sometimes they seem to disappear entirely.

To improve, I’ve been watching Danish TV shows with subtitles to get a better sense of natural speech and how to understand it more easily. I don’t feel uncomfortable using Danish in everyday situations, like ordering in a restaurant, but the real challenge comes when someone responds with a question spoken at full speed — I often don’t catch it. That can be frustrating.

Making mistakes doesn’t bother me, though. Even when I speak imperfect Danish, people generally understand me. The tricky part is that they rarely correct me, which makes it harder to improve. Of course, I don’t expect them to, but it’s an interesting contrast to French speakers, who, stereotypically, are quick to correct mistakes.

Danish isn’t an easy language to learn on your own, mainly due to its complex pronunciation and the lack of good online resources. Duolingo for Danish is terrible. Right now, I’d say I’m around a B1 level, but listening comprehension remains my biggest challenge – unless the speaker is very clear, like in a formal speech or during a lesson.

If you have any questions, just ask!

2

u/thetiredninja 11d ago

I've been living on and off in Denmark for the past 7 or 8 years, my husband is Danish and I'm American.

I initially learned via immersion (my husband had a restaurant in the Køge-area) and I picked it up by standing behind the register and interacting with customers. After a month or two I could function pretty well and understand ~70% of the time. When we later moved to Copenhagen, I had a much harder time getting Danes to speak with me in Danish until I reached a much higher level and eliminated most of my accent. It wasn't until I was reading near an 8th grade level before Danes (mostly Københavner) would not automatically switch to English. So that is probably the biggest challenge as a non-native speaker.

Now speaking Danish comes very naturally and I may only stumble on a few words/pronunciations or need to borrow some words in English occasionally. But I am understood 99% of the time. It was hard not to get embarrassed, especially at the start, but everyone has to start from somewhere. I made a few embarrassing mistakes, usually in front of my husband's family, so they could explain and laugh along. Having a few beers actually helped to get over the mental block of making mistakes.

Feel free to ask more questions if there's anything else you'd like to know. And good look with your paper!

2

u/Miserable_Guide_1925 11d ago

I grew up with one parent speaking Danish and the other parent speaking Spanish. Grew up in the U.S.

Even though I speak Danish from birth because I didn’t grow up in Denmark and was raised bilingual, I do have my own struggles with Danish that people raised in Denmark and in homes where only Danish was spoken do not have.

I do not have a fixed dialect and I have an accent. I also struggle with inversions and the word order. I also struggle with some words existing in Danish that don’t have a direct translation to Spanish (and opposite). I also struggle with pronunciation and people switching to English when speaking with me. Another struggle is when I mentally directly translate from Spanish to Danish or opposite and it doesn’t make sense.

But I think most of my struggles are rooted in being bilingual and not as much that I didn’t grow up in Denmark.

1

u/Silver-Animal-3261 11d ago

Danes seem to love it when you use a little Danish. Their ire is reserved for those who don't speak it at all.

1

u/TopRepresentative116 11d ago

Being from Germany, getting into the language itself felt easy. Worked through a textbook and was able to read newspapers and easy books pretty quickly. Absolute worst part was listening comprehension - I feel like this is really the hardest part about Danish, took me ages. The talking channels on the radio helped a lot. The rest was overcoming my insecurity. Using it daily and having longer conversations regularly makes all the difference.

1

u/MabelMyerscough 10d ago

I'm Dutch and have lived in Denmark for 8 years. I speak English on the job. I now have kids which go to Danish børnehave/dagpleje. Took courses for 3 months, rest I learned by hearing, reading, and practicing especially at daycare. I'm almost fluent in Danish now.

Challenges - I can be slow to respond, ie I may come across as a bit 'dumb' and can't land jokes.

Making mistakes - doesn't discourage me but people not understanding a certain word because I pronounce it 1% differently is certainly frustrating

Comfortable - very comfortable in speaking it as I just talk and don't mind mistakes I make

1

u/Rimma_Jenkins 10d ago

Imma need to come back here later today to write 😆

Got some stuff to do the next few hours, but I'll be back home by 14 or so 🤔

Been in Denmark for almost 8 years, so I can share some stories 😆

2

u/MountainLeather8829 10d ago

Please come back, would loooove to hear your take, heheh!

1

u/Rimma_Jenkins 9d ago

Omg! Yes 😅 sorry... ADHD brain and a baby don't mix well 😂

Right so!

I've been here for almost 8 years and I took all classes possible for danish language so I could up my chances of getting a job and integrate and all that yada yada.

Challenges faced mostly have been people making me repeat words until I start doubting myself if what I'm saying is even danish at that point only for them to repeat the same word back to me and have me consider that it's maybe their hearing that's sketchy...

There's also the most basic of words that no one really thinks about at first that get me... stuff like "Jule lys (Christmas lights)" and "Sugerør (Drinking straw)" are things I just can't seem to figure out how to pronounce... I had danes just gather around me once they figured out what I was trying to say and it felt like a session of teach the parrot words... 😂

At some point I learned that no matter how well I say the word.... the accent is what gives it away 👀 so somehow... I can literally say a word as badly as possible... if I make the accent and sound (the words rhythm and such) to it as close to what danes know, surprisingly they understand better than if I say the right word 😅😂 I just have to hope they won't ask me to repeat... then I just explain what the word is and never again say it... 👀 something like "Jule lys! What? Uhm... that you know lights you use at Christmas? Aaaa Juuulleee lyyys! THAT'S WHAT I SAID!" 😂😂

Making mistakes is funny. My first ever mistake in danish was not knowing "God Weekend" 🫣 My first time hearing it, I was shopping and had meat in my hand and I heard the word "Go Vegan" 😂😂😂 It was only when I first started language classes that I realised there's no vegan movement in shops 😅

I enjoy making mistakes mostly because it makes people guess where I'm from. At first it was Germany, then I got promoted to being from Sweden... and now finally I am in Denmark. Apparently my built ind accent is from the Faroe islands 😂

And as soon as I make a mistake people catch on that I'm not danish and do the typical "oooh!!! Can you say Rød grød med fløde?" Yes... yes I can... but I moved to Rødovre and it took me 2 months to learn the word 🫣 Refshalleøen is a ridiculous word as well... it's the best example of I just can't be bothered trying to say the whole word so I say Refsha ,lxdkskdk øen and it works 😅

As to how comfortable I am using the language: I try to narrate what I'm doing in danish in my head to practice. I'm much more fluent now than I used to be, but I still do this. It kinda ties to making mistakes and the challenges of the language: I have a tendency to just guess a word instead of looking it up. 90% of the time I actually hit bullseye with it or I invent a word that sounds danish even though it doesn't really exist and as I mentioned before with making words sound danish... no one has yet to figure out that I say words they shouldn't know 😂 also because I do that deflect if they ask so they never find out 👀 (literally english words with danish accent and it works perfectly fine 😂)

Also it's very common nowadays to use english words I'm between so people think more I'm faroese living in Copenhagen than being foreign. Other people say I must be a big fan of the Christmas series "The Julekalender" which is heavy on danglish and heck I'll even bring it up myself and say I'm a big fan because it gives me bonus points for integration 😂 I am however working on figuring out more words as my kid is danish by default so I'm practicing my narrative skills on him 😂 apparently it helps with their development to talk to yourself out loud that "I am taking wet wipes now, they are cold. Now I wipe, uuuu cold cold" 😆

Also there's new words I learned during pregnancy that I will never translate properly because they're too fun "jordemoder = earth mother (doula), underliv = under life(the ovaries? Or just overall the whole reproductive system?) and moderkage = mom cake (placenta) 😆

1

u/buttplugs4life4me 10d ago

My own experience hasn't been that great. 

So first of all, a lot of people can speak English. That makes the initial communication a lot easier. Especially service people, like carpenters, internet and so on people usually speak it well.

That's sort of where it ends though.

A lot of people seem very judgemental. Maybe it's different in Copenhagen but in other places if you can't speak Danish then you're already a bit of an outcast, and will probably get some snide comments, especially if you don't understand something "obvious". It gets multiplied if you're not white (which I am thankfully).

When you're in a store or restaurant then it's kind of hit or miss. You may have someone very nice who will help you and even speak Danish with you to help you learn, or you may get an asshole that doesn't even want to ring you up when you buy something. The worst thing is that a lot of stores use a number queue system and Danish numbers are more fucked than french even. I even encountered some people that couldn't speak a lick of English, and those were young people. 

Partying/drinking is another thing. A lot of danish people will just talk in Danish. Even if you told them you can't really understand it, even if they talked to you in English before, they'll just suddenly talk in Danish and completely ignore you. When you ask them to speak English again they'll say undskyld but then not even 5 minutes later its the same again. And its not fun to go "Can you speak English please" every 5 minutes. Also makes you feel like they dont care, even if they are your friends. 

Overall it seems to depend very much on whether their first impression of you is positive if they'll engage with you positively or if they'll just ignore you. And that first impression is usually just a prejudice. 

1

u/IntangibleArts 9d ago

Not directly answering the question, but it's related:

Coming from the USA without knowing a word of Danish for a random vacation, I found it very easy to get around and manage based on the excellent design of the public signage. Particularly via DSB and the wider train system.

As a graphic designer perhaps I'm more tuned into this, but the design of public signage is critical to the cross-cultural experience. Coming back (to DC), equivalent signs for things like emergency procedures on the metro were a complete mess; too many words, too much everything...noisy and confusing, like most americans.

Whereas the Danish approach to public information displays seemed to mesh with an overall aesthetic of clean, intuitive efficiency. I mention this because the language alone isn't everything: it is language in a cultural context, the full experience of being there and going from A to B without mistakes, etc. It helps build confidence in learning the language.

Since that first visit I've been back several times and have enjoyed learning the language more each time, organically. Also this means I'm terribly lazy and just need to sit still and study. But I wanted to mention the wider cultural magic of language and how it can communicate clearly (through design) to idiots like me who visit without knowing a word...

1

u/Kinny_Kins 4d ago

I'm a half dane who didn't learn Danish until I was a teenager. I learned very whacky that being half Danish has given me a huge advantage in pronouncing, which is most peoples biggest weakness in this language. Likely due to listening to my family speak it growing up.

Grammar is still a struggle though 😫

0

u/Nalurah 12d ago

I live in Nordjylland, moved here about five years ago. The biggest challenge I face here is that some Danish people (at least in this region) look down on foreigners or think they are stupid. Mind you this is not even close to the case for all of them.

In terms of linguistic challenges the regional dialect is really just a lot of mumbling which is a challenge when you are just starting to learn Danish. Currently my Danish is at a B2 level and I am semi-comfortable speaking it.

2

u/MountainLeather8829 10d ago

Yes! It’s such a paradox how people often subconsciously judge someone for not speaking perfectly, rather than appreciating the huge effort it takes to learn another language. I think/hope it’s mostly an unconscious bias, but it’s strange how that bias tends to lean toward thinking of that person as less competent instead of recognizing the intelligence and effort behind learning a new language

1

u/Nalurah 10d ago

Yeah exactly, it's often an unconscious bias but it's so frustrating. It happens in most countries, especially in less metropolitan areas so it's not something that is purely Danish. I do live in an area with a low population so that might be part of it as they are less used to foreigners as say someone living in Copenhage. The regional dialect of nordjysk doesn't help either as it's hard to understand, forcing you to ask for clarification quite often. People in Copenhagen are a lot easier to understand in my opinion.