Interviews in two languages with no translation used?

[jeff_lindqvist]

I think I saw the opposite case during the UEFA when a Swedish reporter asked a Danish player in English, and the Dane replied in Danish.

[Uncle Roger]

It's not uncommon for speakers of DA/NO/SE to just go for English among themselves. What I was told is that they'd rather speak English freely and fluently than having to speak their native language slowly, overly clearly, constantly skipping slang or trying to straighten any local accents.
At least in business situations.

[Tillumadoguenirurm]

It's not uncommon for speakers of DA/NO/SE to just go for English among themselves. What I was told is that they'd rather speak English freely and fluently than having to speak their native language slowly, overly clearly, constantly skipping slang or trying to straighten any local accents.
At least in business situations.

In my experience it's more that they want other people than just scandinavians to understand what they are talking about (aka being international). The only times I've heard scandinavians speak English among themselves are when there are Danes around simply because that Danish pronounciation can be difficult to some people. Between Swedes and Norwegians only I've never heard English at all? Maybe that's because I'm starting to get old, I've no idea what the norm is for generations younger than mine.

[Uncle Roger]

Surely Danish would throw a spanner in the works of the others, Swedes especially, as some southwest coast Norwegian accents/dialects are quite close to Danish. What I was reporting was business situations with the three of them. Chances are it doubled as a contest to see who had the best English

[jeff_lindqvist]

Really? I've spoken English with Danes in situations where English was the only common language for many people present (from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Italy and the US). I've also spoken English to Norwegians in a similar context (once!). We didn't want any of the English speakers feel excluded. But as a bridge language in a pure Scandinavian context?

[Uncle Roger]

Yes, just that. From my experience, Swedes' understanding of Danish is far from ideal (and I don't blame them!) unless they are from Skåne. Norwegians are probably the better ones because of south-western dialects and nynorsk.
I wouldn't say it's the norm, but in the generation that had mandatory Erasmus at uni, in top tier business environment, it can happen.

[jeff_lindqvist]

It's not that any of us "other" Scandinavians couldn't understand Danish (nor wanted to show who had the best English ). We used English to include our friends from the other countries. In one-on-one situations, any language was used. I remember speaking Spanish to the Spaniard, whereas he spoke Spanish to the Italian guy who replied in Italian - another example of what this topic is about.

[Stefan]

Thought about this thread today when I listened to SR P3 (39:40) and the Swedish host interviewed his Norwegian counterpart (NRK P3) about the election. I guess this combination (NO/SWE) is a bit of a cheat though because it's basically the same language and you could include every episode of Skavlan.

[Uncle Roger]

It's not that any of us "other" Scandinavians couldn't understand Danish (nor wanted to show who had the best English ). We used English to include our friends from the other countries. In one-on-one situations, any language was used. I remember speaking Spanish to the Spaniard, whereas he spoke Spanish to the Italian guy who replied in Italian - another example of what this topic is about.

I'm not denying what happened in the situation you described, but you'll have to trust me that the one I describe has happened too. There were only Norwegian, Danish and Swedish people in the room, so to speak. Plus I have Swedish friends that would certainly prefer that a dane spoke English rather than Danish to them. Especially if it's a situation such as a formal business meeting in a white collar environment, and not just chit chat...