Marie's Danish Lessons

[MARG]

Originally Posted by ricarda

. . . .I can already see the critical articles about her language skills 14 months from now.

And she will still have only just reached the point that Mary had when her engagement was announced, meanwhile Marie will have had the added advantage of "full immersion" language study.

[ricarda]

Originally Posted by MARG

And she will still have only just reached the point that Mary had when her engagement was announced,

Actually she will not, you have to add the 8 engagement months which Marie obviously did not use to full advantage.

[MARG]

Originally Posted by ricarda

Actually she will not, you have to add the 8 engagement months which Marie obviously did not use to full advantage.

Those months were not spent living in Denmark? Or were they?

[ricarda]

Well, you said she will have reached the point that Mary had at her engagement.
14 months from now Marie will have had 14 months spent in DK plus 8 months she could have used for extensive Danish lessons (although only living in DK every second week) - which Mary had not.

But I don't want to start a fight. Hopefully 14 months from now - after Marie had the advantage of "full immersion" language study in DK - her Danish will be so satisfying that there won't be any critical articles.

[Xeara]

I think clever Marie is playing a very smart game...I think she is being coy and downplaying how much work she has actually done in learning Danish, so when we finally hear her give her first speech in Danish listening with our low expectation ears...we are going to fall of our chairs at just how brilliant she actually is...I think she has an aptitude for languages, being European and already knowing 3-4...whereas Mary being Australian (like me) is only exposed to one language, English and so making it difficult to learn a second...

Because if Marie was saying things like, yes I have had lots of lessons and am doing quite well and I think I am fabulous at speaking Danish...we would have slashed her down like the tall poppy she is and her language skills would become secondary to her arrogance and over-confidence and cockiness...

So really the poor girl can't win either way and we will just have to wait and see how Princess Marie Agathe of Denmark surprises us all :)

[GlitteringTiaras]

I think clever Marie is playing a very smart game...I think she is being coy and downplaying how much work she has actually done in learning Danish, so when we finally hear her give her first speech in Danish listening with our low expectation ears...we are going to fall of our chairs at just how brilliant she actually is...I think she has an aptitude for languages, being European and already knowing 3-4...whereas Mary being Australian (like me) is only exposed to one language, English and so making it difficult to learn a second...

Because if Marie was saying things like, yes I have had lots of lessons and am doing quite well and I think I am fabulous at speaking Danish...we would have slashed her down like the tall poppy she is and her language skills would become secondary to her arrogance and over-confidence and cockiness...

So really the poor girl can't win either way and we will just have to wait and see how Princess Marie Agathe of Denmark surprises us all :)

Soooo, when shall I start holding my breath?

[Madame Royale]

whereas Mary being Australian

I'm Australian and I know two languages fluently and one not so fluently..haha..What's your point, sweetheart? And your only around two and a half hours from me...

[Amelia]

Which made that for the moment because of spending only about 6 hours per month on learning the language, I have just mastered the basics. It's a very difficult language, it has a very special pronounciation. But it doesn't worry me too much: once I will get immersed in the country; everything will go very fast then, I think.

Marie saying that she has only 6 hours of lessons a month makes it come across as though she is uninterested in learning the language, it probably would of been better for her to say that she was taking lessons but it is a difficult language and once she is living in Denmark she thinks it will come faster.

[norwegianne]

Recent interview in Billedbladet about preparations for the wedding, and the quote from her about learning Danish:
"I've laughed a lot with my Danish teachers, and it is a funny language to learn. It's much more different than the other languages I speak. Most Danes think it is very difficult to learn the language, but so far I'm very hopeful. It's a very soft language, and the grammar is luckily not very difficult. Unfortunately the pronunciation can be a bit difficult.

It is always easier to learn a new language when you're living in the country. I can notice that when I've been in Denmark for a few weeks, it is much easier. Then I begin to watch television and listen to the radio. But when I get to Geneva, I forget it quickly again. It is like that with all languages.

But I hope the Danes will be patient with me.

To learn Danish is going to be one of my biggest tasks. The least you can do is to learn the language of the country you're moving to."

[GlitteringTiaras]

Aw, how lovely. Good for you, Marie.

[Al_bina]

Ms. Cavallier has got a very peculiar attitude toward the language she has to speak during official engagements and other engagements she may undertakes with alone or with Prince Joachim. I hope that she will master Danish much faster living in Denmark full time.

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by Al_bina

Ms. Cavallier has got a very peculiar attitude toward the language she has to speak during official engagements and other engagements she may undertakes with alone or with Prince Joachim. I hope that she will master Danish much faster living in Denmark full time.

I wonder if you ever heard French people trying to speak German? It sounds definately peculiar because there is such a huge difference between the way sounds are formed in German and in French plus the melody of the language is so different. I've heard Danish is even more difficult to pronounce than German, so I doubt she will succeed in tuning into her new language.

[Al_bina]

I have never heard French people speaking German, but I have seen my cousin mastering Swedish. In addition to the above, my cousin and me have learnt the English language, which is totally different from the Russian one. We did go through endless tedium to acquire some coveted knowledge as well as our parents paid for private tutors. So I do know how challenging it can be to learn a foreign language from my personal experience.
I believe that it takes determination to succeed in attaining goals and objectives set. Thus, Prince Joachim's support and Ms.Cavalleir's determination may help her with learning Danish.

[BurberryBrit]

Originally Posted by Xeara

I think clever Marie is playing a very smart game...I think she is being coy and downplaying how much work she has actually done in learning Danish, so when we finally hear her give her first speech in Danish listening with our low expectation ears...we are going to fall of our chairs at just how brilliant she actually is...

I doubt it.

[Martha]

She has a difficult task, because to learn Danish is not easy.I think so.

[lyndaW]

I would guess French is spoken with Joachim,the Queen,Prince Henrik & Frederick with Marie.
After the wedding I would hope that Joachim & other family members, friends and servants go out of their way to speak Danish to Marie and in that way she will learn so much faster (if she wants to know what is going on). If everyone continues to speak French to her they will hinder her ability to learn Danish.

[missjane]

Originally Posted by GlitteringTiaras

Aw, how lovely. Good for you, Marie.

You are a funny one.

Originally Posted by lyndaW

I would guess French is spoken with Joachim,the Queen,Prince Henrik & Frederick with Marie.
After the wedding I would hope that Joachim & other family members, friends and servants go out of their way to speak Danish to Marie and in that way she will learn so much faster (if she wants to know what is going on). If everyone continues to speak French to her they will hinder her ability to learn Danish.

I agree with you, in the pre wedding documentary, she dosen't appear to even attempt to speak danish that much. But maybe the pressure for her to learn the language is not as intense as it was for Mary, what with her being the future Crown Princess.

[MargreteI]

Originally Posted by Al_bina

I have never heard French people speaking German, but I have seen my cousin mastering Swedish. In addition to the above, my cousin and me have learnt the English language, which is totally different from the Russian one. We did go through endless tedium to acquire some coveted knowledge as well as our parents paid for private tutors. So I do know how challenging it can be to learn a foreign language from my personal experience.
I believe that it takes determination to succeed in attaining goals and objectives set. Thus, Prince Joachim's support and Ms.Cavalleir's determination may help her with learning Danish.

Swedish is quite different from danish in terms of pronounciation and it is the pronounciation that cause problems for many foreigners. Not the grammer. Pronounciation is even more difficult for a french. As is french for a dane.

Another issue is the distance between spoken danish and written danish. How it is written is not what you will be hearing. Endings are being swallowed or altered, letters are ignored or pronauciated like another letter then it actually is. Words written differently are spoken as were they the same and words written the same are pronounced differently and so the list goes on.

Add to that the multible meanings af the same word. We are very economic with words, which create interesting pittfalls for foreigners.

It is not impossible, but it takes more time then other languages require.
.

[Al_bina]

It has been most kind of you to inform me of specifics of the Danish language. A host of reasons prompts to people to learn various foreign languages. People master the Chinese language, which is one of the most difficult in the world. I am sure foreigners living in Denmark master the language and acquire acceptable pronunciation without complaining about difficulties. The bottom line is that it takes determination to succeed in polishing pronunciation.

[pamk]

It may be a good thing that Joachim and Marie will be living far away from Copenhagen - the temptations of the city might hinder Marie's learning of Danish.
Couldn't she have purchased a Berlitz Danis language program - used tapes or CDs?
Pop those into a tape or CD player and listen to them night and day - that would help!