# Danish, Swedish or Norwegian??? Asking from an Asian



## bkhbilly

Hi everyone, I come from Hong Kong (A small place in China)
I speak fluent Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese and Japanese, and I have been learning Russian and Korean for around 2 years. I also speak English (but really bad, I think around high school level in USA)

Anyway, I know most of people here compare these three languages with German or Spanish learners. But I come from Asia and of course our mother language are totally different that most of the information here cannot be taken as my reference.

My point is, I am interested in Scandinavian languages and I want to learn them. But which one should be the easiest? I am looking for suggestions. Thank you. And sorry for my poor English.


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## sjiraff

The languages which are the easiest to learn are the ones you are the most interested in, regardless of how technically-difficult they are you will be more motivated to overcome any difficulties.

So chose the country and language you are most interested in, check this thread out too:

http://forum.wordreference.com/thre...siest-to-learn-as-mothertongue-dutch.3045100/


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## MattiasNYC

First of all I agree with sjiraff that whatever is most interesting to you is probably the one you'll learn the best.

But to answer your question though, I say that Danish would probably be the hardest, and Swedish the easiest. I say that because to me Swedish seems to deviate the least in how it sounds compared to how it's written, and Danish arguably the most. Even as a Swedish guy I have big problems actually hearing what a Danish person is saying. To me a lot of it just sounds "slurred" whereas both Norwegian and Swedish sounds more clear. And, of course, if you can't hear what people say it'll be hard figuring out what it means. 

Very broadly speaking I'm guessing that the sounds you can already comfortably form in Asian languages + Russian will be closer to Swedish than Danish.


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## applefarm

I guess there is no difference which Scandinavian language anyone would choose. They all have the same grammatical ideas behind. So just master one of them in beginner/intermediate level and you have got most those all languages have.

Same goes for computer programming languages- people ask which one to chose to learn. All those languages differ a little but again the they all have the same "grammatical" ideas behind. Therefore people tend to suggest that pick the most complex one, because after mastering it you have overview and understanding of "everything" and you can easily move to any other new language. Some others don't suggest to pick up the most complex one, but suggest to pick what one likes most (web programming, database programming etc). Some suggests to pick at first a language that is most easy to learn and teaches some important aspects and then move methodically over to litlle more complex language to get understanding some more additional consepts on programming language world. Some suggest to not start learning a programming language if there is no resonable goal. All such suggestions are correct.

I chosed to learn Swedish because i have been working in a Swedish company and thought it would be beneficial to speak swedish beside english.
I have russian skill on B2-C1 level and this skill didn't help at all when learning Swedish. English B2 skill have helped a lot, native Estonian language skill has helped little.
I guess your asian languages doesn't help you att all when learning a Scandinavian language.
But you seems to have B2 skill in english, so this will help you quite lot i guess.

For Swedish languages there is tons of study materials in english in internet, specially in pirate/Torrent version. I'm not sure if those other languages also have lot of materials.

If you can't decide then just flip a coin.


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## Sepia

bhkbilly,
why don't you just listen to some comtemporary music, watch a few TV-shows etc. in all three languages. Then you decide what sounds cooler to you and which of the people you see seem cooler. That is the language you choose and I assure you that will be the language that will be easier for you to learn.


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## danmra

As a foreigner using Norwegian-bokmaal (there are two varieties of written language in Norway, bokmaal and nynorsk) I would definitely recommand Norwegian for practical reasons. You'll be able to read Danish, the written form of bokmaal is very very similar, and after some time you'll also understand spoken Swedish. There's just one tricky thing with Norwegian. There are about 200 dialects in Norway, spoken very frequently and they differ a lot from the written language. So, it depends a lot on what is the purpose of your learning... Anyway, that's Swedish that is the "biggest" of those three, with approx. 9 mil. speakers.


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## bkhbilly

Thank you for all of you here. Actually I just decided to learn Norwegian and started 2 chapters already. But can anyone tell me what is the difference between Bokmal and Nynorsk? (How big different they are? And which one will the Norwegian official use? Which one is more popular?) 

And is spoken Norwegian difficult??


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## Cagey

Please see this previous thread:  Norwegian dialects.
It should be helpful.

*Added*: See also: 
Norwegian dialects
Norwegian: "Bergensk" Dialect
Norwegian: Bokmål
Norwegian: Difference between written and spoken
Norwegian: Best dialect for a beginner?​You can find more threads discussing various aspects of Norwegian by using the search box at the top right corner of the page to search for 'Norwegian'.


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## raumar

There are many interesting discussions in these threads, but I am not sure if they answer bkhbilly's questions. Let me try: 

- The difference between the two forms of written Norwegian is small, in my opinion. The general structure and grammar is the same, with just a very few exeptions. The main difference is that many words have different spellings in Bokmål and Nynorsk (but there are also alternative spellings within each of the two forms, so the variation within each form can be almost as great as the difference between them). If you learn one of the forms of Norwegian, it should not be difficult to read the other. 

- Both forms are official standards, and they have the same official status.

- Bokmål is used by the majority. About 10-15 % use Nynorsk. There is a regional division here: Nynorsk is mainly used in Western Norway. 

As a native speaker, I will not try to answer the question about whether spoken Norwegian is difficult. Maybe some of the Asian users of this forum can share their experiences?


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## amiramir

I'm American and have studied some Swedish. For me, it made sense, as I was particularly interested in Sweden, the language, etc, plus it has the greatest number of speakers.

If you are indifferent to all three, I think Norwegian is a good choice, just as someone else has posted, because you'll be able to understand Danish and Swedish if you try. For a Swedish learner, Norwegian isn't a big deal, but spoken Danish is very difficult (though written is not so bad). 

Not an Asian, but I have studied lots of languages-- I think you will find Norwegian/Swedish rather easy. Much more regular in spelling and grammar than English, and much easier than Russian/Chinese (both of which I have studied). I will say, though, that learning Scandinavian was easier for me, since I already spoke German, and that helps a lot with vocab (particularly with Swedish, but helpful for all three). Hope that's helpful.


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## Mark163_

I'm Dutch and attatched to Swedish, I love the sound of the language and the country.
For your question: I think its the best when you start with Swedish or Norwegian (not really a difference). But when you begin learning Norwegian, you have to notice that the Norwegian writing really differs in place. For me (I also speak German and English), Swedish looked so much alike these languages (german english dutch), this wont be a problem.
Note: you could also learn Dutch, its a bigger language.


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