AlOlaf's Log (Danish/German/Norwegian)

[Axon]

Wow. I do speak German, and I once convinced a Dane that I was German, but I freely admit that you are worlds better than me. You are not only accurate but pleasant to listen to. I'm inspired to improve my accent now.

[AlOlaf]

...and I once convinced a Dane that I was German...

That's quite an accomplishment. Perhaps you underestimate your abilities. The best I've ever done was to make a German think I was Dutch.

You might find this amusing: One time a bubbly young woman with a microphone approached me in Copenhagen's main train station and blurted out something I couldn't understand. It sounded like Danish, and I could tell by the intonation that it was a question, but that was about it. Like a knee-jerk reflex, "Wie bitte?" came flying out of my mouth, which I think surprised us both. She looked embarrassed and said "Oh, sorry!", which left it open as to what nationality she thought I was. About a minute later, I realized she'd asked me "Må jeg spørge dig om noget?" (May I ask you something?").

[AlOlaf]

Panic's setting in. I farted around with German way too long, and now it's only a few weeks before I'll be in Denmark. To make matters worse, the Danish Italki teacher I was planning on having a bunch of sessions with has suddenly disappeared from the radar. Out of desperation, I just scheduled trial sessions with a couple of Danes who are brand new teachers on Italki and have virtually no track record. I hope at least one of them works out, because I imagine it would behoove me to get in some Danish conversation practice pronto.

In the meantime, I'm repeating commonly-used Danish chunks and hoping I can get them to go automatic. And I'm trying to wean myself off German documentaries, but it's hard to do because I just bought some really good ones. Crap. I need to be bombarding myself with Danish right now. I've got intensive private Danish lessons lined up in Copenhagen, and I want to be prepared for them, but I'm not exactly sure how to go about it. I wonder what they'll be like. I wonder if I'll ever be able to really speak Danish. I wonder if I'll make a complete fool of myself over there.

[Iversen]

I don't think there is any reason to be terrified. I have heard your recordings, and your pronunciation is not a problem. I guess you also know enough of the rest of the language to get by. Your biggest problem will be to keep the Danes from speaking English to you, and there it is just a question about being polite, but firm. Tell them that they can use their English on other tourists who need it more.

Maybe you should totally avoid studying Danish the day before you arrive here - last minute studies motivated by panic are no good.

[AlOlaf]

Thanks for the reassurance and advice, Iversen, and for supporting my efforts in Danish all along. Your presence on this forum is one of the main reasons I'm here.

I suppose I need to lower my self-expectations to something more closely mirroring reality. What I expect myself to do is go over there and move unobtrusively among your countrymen, easily doing what they do and going where they go, albeit with slow speech and a non-specific foreign accent. I can see right now that's not going to happen. There will be gaffes, and I will stick out like a sore thumb. Perhaps if I'd worked harder on Danish and spent less time writing poetry in German la la la, I'd be closer to my objective. Or maybe not. It could be that Danish is a gigantic rock I can only push so far by myself. Dare I hope that this tutor will show me a way to push it further?

All I know is that this trip wouldn't mean so much to me and I wouldn't get so worked up about it if your country and language weren't so darned appealing.

[AlOlaf]

Gode nyheder: På DRs Bonanza kan jeg lige pludseligt spille videoer, der altid tidligere var gået i stå. Det betyder, at jeg nu kan se spændende dokumentarer om Falckreddere og broarbejdere i Danmark. Jeg er utrolig glad for endelige at kunne se dem, for jeg kan godt lide dokumentarer, og det er ikke særlig nemt at finde den slags på dansk. Falckredderne og broarbejderne i videoerne taler ret hurtigt, og der er også tit larm i baggrunden, så det er en god udfordring for mig at forstå alt, hvad der bliver sagt. Men hovedsagen er, at jeg synes, handlingen er spændende. Jeg har lavede cd'er af videoernes lyd, og jeg lytter til cd'erne hele tiden, når jeg kører bil.

Det er vigtigt for mig at kunne forstå danskerne, for jeg skal snart være blandt dem. Jeg ved godt, at hvis jeg ikke kan forstå dem, vil de gerne vise mig, hvor gode de er til engelsk. Og det er de fleste udmærket gode til. Men jeg må også kunne udtale dansk ordenligt, ellers kan jeg regne med at få det samme resultat.

Jeg tror, vokallydene er nøglen til dansk, men det er rigtig svært for mig at efterligne dem. Det er fordi, de fleste danske vokallyde ligger meget tæt på deres engelske modstykker, men bare en lille bitte irreterende smule ved siden af. Og danskere kan godt høre forskellen, hvis man ikke laver en fuldtræffer. Engang sagde jeg kun syv ord: "En ristet hotdog med det hele, tak." og alle ved pølsevognen vidste med det samme, at jeg var amerikaner. Jeg er overbevist om, at det skyldtes, at jeg udtalte den første vokal e i "hele" forkert. Eller måske vidste de det fordi, jeg udtalte hver eneste ord forkert. Det kunne selvfølgelig også godt være.

Men jeg gør mit bedste. I nat drømte jeg på dansk igen, måske på grund af Italki-timerne. Jeg bliver bare ved og ved, for om ganske få uger tager jeg til Danmark. Jeg er meget spændt på at se, hvordan det går.

[Iversen]

Kunst002.JPG

Har du planlagt hvad du vil lave heroppe?

[AlOlaf]

Har du planlagt hvad du vil lave heroppe?

Jeg har tænkt mig at besøge Trelleborg ved Slagelse, Frederiksborg Slot, Roskilde Domkirke og Mosegaard Museum, hvor Grauballemanden ligger. Hvis der er tid, måske også Jelling, Vikingeskibs Museet og Kronborg Slot, selv om jeg har været der før.

[Iversen]

Jeg ser frem til at læse om dine besøg på de steder. Jeg har kender dem naturligvis (fordi jeg bor her og er interesseret i historie), og hvis der er noget jeg kan bidrage med så er du velkommen til at kontakte mig.

[AlOlaf]

Mange tak, Iversen!