Crown Prince Frederik's 50th Birthday Celebrations: May 2018

[maria-olivia]

Mr Muhler,
The Crown Princess speach was a highlight but what are the danes thinking about her accent ?

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by maria-olivia

Mr Muhler,
The Crown Princess speach was a highlight but what are the danes thinking about her accent ?

Well, I won't speak for other Danes here on TRF, only for myself and from the word on the street around where I am.

She has a marked and distinct accent, which I now think she is unlikely to lose. I think this is the level which she will pretty much retain for the rest of her life.
Her accent BTW is typical for English speakers, in the same was as Danes speaking English have a distinct "sound".
She is still easy to understand. - It does happen that her accent is very thick though, when she is (or has been) thinking in English.
This however, has nothing to do with her mastery of Danish, which is on an lower academic/advanced high school level.

Mary may be criticized from time to time, but very rarely for her Danish.

[JR76]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Well, I won't speak for other Danes here on TRF, only for myself and from the word on the street around where I am.

She has a marked and distinct accent, which I now think she is unlikely to lose. I think this is the level which she will pretty much retain for the rest of her life.
Her accent BTW is typical for English speakers, in the same was as Danes speaking English have a distinct "sound".
She is still easy to understand. - It does happen that her accent is very thick though, when she is (or has been) thinking in English.
This however, has nothing to do with her mastery of Danish, which is on an lower academic/advanced high school level.

Mary may be criticized from time to time, but very rarely for her Danish.

Judging from what my Danish relatives are saying (keep in mind they're mostly middle class royalists... You know the type that watch Matador everytime it's on tv even though they have the dvd) both Mary and Marie had a tough act to follow in Alexandra but that both have done really well with Marie maybe a little better which might have something to do with French sharing some of the sounds of Danish.

[iceflower]

Billedbladet has a short video of the family leaving the birthday event on Sunday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PSaZz_QCsA

[Kataryn]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

I apologize if this has been asked before but do we have a picture of the white lycra outfit that Mary was referring to in her speech as To be brutally honest… it simply didn’t work ?

Here are some links to him in Lycra:
https://www.billedbladet.dk/sites/bi.../frede-top.jpg


https://bt.bmcdn.dk/media/cache/reso...-kronprins.jpg


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a0/7c...c96a3632ef.jpg


And here in white:
https://www.billedbladet.dk/sites/bi...a/ironman7.jpg


And here a front pic:
https://asset.dr.dk/ImageScaler/?ser...bgColor=000000


Enjoy!

[Kataryn]

Originally Posted by JR76

Judging from what my Danish relatives are saying (keep in mind they're mostly middle class royalists... You know the type that watch Matador everytime it's on tv even though they have the dvd) both Mary and Marie had a tough act to follow in Alexandra but that both have done really well with Marie maybe a little better which might have something to do with French sharing some of the sounds of Danish.

I think it is similar to actors like eg Mads Mikkelsen or Nikolaj Coster-Waldau sounding in English. I have the movie "The Door" with Mikkelsen in the German original version where he spoke his lines in German to make dubbing easier and you can clearly hear the sounds that are so uncommon for a Danish native speaker, though the languages are quite related.
There are a lot of words in German and Danish that obviously come from the same sources, like eg that infamous "Hygge" - which is a variation of the German "Hege", which means to take care of something, so "Hygge" is taking care of yourself and those who live around you in a positive, lovely manner. Think of "wellness" for yourself and others. In this case the words are even spoken similarly.




English is even more difficult. I absolutely agree that French and Danish share certain sounds that makes it easier for Marie than it has been for Mary. What I found fascinating with Danish is that the written and the spoken language can be so different. While I get a bit of an idea on reading Danish texts what it is about, I have no idea when I hear spoken Danish.

[Roskilde]

Originally Posted by iceflower

Billedbladet has a short video of the family leaving the birthday event on Sunday:

How sweet Mary is. The reason people laugh in the end is because everyone get into the car while Mary is the last one to say holdbar so the door close right in front her and she is joking: “Don’t forget me..”

[Archduchess Zelia]

On the topic of Mary's accent, I think most Danes just think it's sweet. There's clearly nothing wrong with her vocabulary, it's just the accent that sticks. She's teased a bit about it every now and then but it's teasing that comes from a place of love rather than it is mocking her, if that makes sense.

[wartenberg7]

Originally Posted by Iolanthe

the kids' clips are on youtube!

https://youtu.be/MAAK8nf9tlc

(well at least this one and their congratulations https://youtu.be/wA0vfTeTdjE. and I think it's highly likely that the other ones will be added too.)

They already deleted it....

[CrownPrincePingo]

Originally Posted by Muhler

This book costs 199 DKK, under normal circumstances I'll estimate a book like this to cost at least 450 DKK, probably as much as 600 DKK.

So now all you have to do is to be patient for some time, until I've gotten around to scanning it. - Unless of course you can't wait and order one for yourself.

Thank you for the insight/review. I've gone ahead and purchased it from ArnoldBusck.dk. So for anyone international who's considering purchasing: the book itself cost 159.96 DKK. The tax that would've bumped it up to 199 DKK wasn't applied. I guess they waived it because I'm purchasing from the States? I obviously have no clue how it works. But anyway, the shipping cost 208.88 DKK. So the total was 368.84 DKK ($58.10).

Originally Posted by Kataryn

Here are some links to him in Lycra:

This post is so delightful. Thank you for gathering those links.

Originally Posted by Archduchess Zelia

On the topic of Mary's accent, I think most Danes just think it's sweet. There's clearly nothing wrong with her vocabulary, it's just the accent that sticks. She's teased a bit about it every now and then but it's teasing that comes from a place of love rather than it is mocking her, if that makes sense.

Makes sense and is really sweet. Seems like it's become an endearing quality.

Originally Posted by wartenberg7

They already deleted it....

DR were on top of things! They had the videos blocked and sent the uploader an email, so she just deleted them. Huge bummer.

[Iolanthe]

Originally Posted by wartenberg7

They already deleted it....

Yes, unfortunately
DR seems to block the videos the user uploads. (Her twitter feed:https://twitter.com/crownprincely/st...409734144?s=09)
I don't really get it. I totally understand that you don't want your content free for everyone uploaded by other persons as a network - but then make your content available by yourself. The music songs may have special copyright restrictions, but why on earth can't the children's videos be shown? Don't they want them to be watched? Why not put them online and don't geoblock them on their own site or channel?
And while private networks may have to make money with descriptions and advertisement - the public networks don't have to (Maybe I even would be willing to pay for the content, but they don't offer that either...).
I would like to understand why they do what they do. I am a huge copyright supporter - when you offer legal ways (free or not) to get your content. Otherways it makes no sense to block content IMO - because the whole point of the videos is to be watched IMO. I really hope they plan to publish the videos on their own homepage. Otherways I'm really frustated - and not because I won't see the videos (I already watched them), but because I want you all to be able to see it too and because I don't think it makes any sense to not let them be seen.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by CrownPrincePingo

Thank you for the insight/review. I've gone ahead and purchased it from ArnoldBusck.dk. So for anyone international who's considering purchasing: the book itself cost 159.96 DKK. The tax that would've bumped it up to 199 DKK wasn't applied. I guess they waived it because I'm purchasing from the States? I obviously have no clue how it works. But anyway, the shipping cost 208.88 DKK. So the total was 368.84 DKK ($58.10).

You are welcome.

You are almost certain to pay American vat plus customs tax. In contrast to EU citizens who are exempt from customs tax.

ADDED: Daily Mail is here again: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...riks-50th.html

Originally Posted by Iolanthe

Yes, unfortunately
DR seems to block the videos the user uploads. (Her twitter feed:https://twitter.com/crownprincely/st...409734144?s=09)
I don't really get it. I totally understand that you don't want your content free for everyone uploaded by other persons as a network - but then make your content available by yourself. The music songs may have special copyright restrictions, but why on earth can't the children's videos be shown? Don't they want them to be watched? Why not put them online and don't geoblock them on their own site or channel?
And while private networks may have to make money with descriptions and advertisement - the public networks don't have to (Maybe I even would be willing to pay for the content, but they don't offer that either...).
I would like to understand why they do what they do. I am a huge copyright supporter - when you offer legal ways (free or not) to get your content. Otherways it makes no sense to block content IMO - because the whole point of the videos is to be watched IMO. I really hope they plan to publish the videos on their own homepage. Otherways I'm really frustated - and not because I won't see the videos (I already watched them), but because I want you all to be able to see it too and because I don't think it makes any sense to not let them be seen.

It is indeed annoying. It is a copyright issue, and there have been instances in the past where Danish media have come down like a ton of brick on identifiable Danish nationals who have uploaded something on their accounts.
While foreign nationals having uploaded the same material on foreign or anonymous accounts are pretty much out of reach. Especially if it's outside EU.

Of course I will not and I cannot encourage Danes to download these clips and share them with foreigners, who then upload these clips elsewhere on foreign accounts...

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Well, I won't speak for other Danes here on TRF, only for myself and from the word on the street around where I am.

She has a marked and distinct accent, which I now think she is unlikely to lose. I think this is the level which she will pretty much retain for the rest of her life.
Her accent BTW is typical for English speakers, in the same was as Danes speaking English have a distinct "sound".
She is still easy to understand. - It does happen that her accent is very thick though, when she is (or has been) thinking in English.
This however, has nothing to do with her mastery of Danish, which is on an lower academic/advanced high school level.

Mary may be criticized from time to time, but very rarely for her Danish.

I don't speak Danish of course, but, just listening to her speech, I can tell she has an English accent. Native English speakers have a similar accent when speaking other languages I am more familiar with like Spanish or French.


What really surpised me was your statement that her mastery of Danish is only on "an advanced high school level". I would imagine that, after 14 years in the Danish royal family, she would have progressed beyond that. Mary was reading from a written speech though, which sounded quite elaborate (judging from the English translation) in terms of syntatic structure and use of figures of speech. I am not sure if a high school student could have written it. Should we assume she had help with the text ?

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

I don't speak Danish of course, but, just listening to her speech, I can tell she has an English accent.Native English speakers have a similar accent when speaking other languages I am more familiar with like Spanish, French or German.


What really surpised me was your statement that her mastery of Danish is only on "an advanced high school level". I would imagine that, after 14 years in the Danish royal family, she would have progressed beyond that. Mary was reading from a written speech though, which sounded quite elaborate (judging from the English translation) in terms of syntatic structure and use of figures of speech. I am not sure if a high school student could have written it. Should we assume she had help with the text ?

High school in USA and high school in DK (gymnasium) is the not the same.
Before going to high school here in DK, you have to go to school for at least ten years, some go for eleven years. High school here is a three year preparation for the university.
So a high-scoring highschooler here in DK in the last year, must be assumed to master Danish on a very high level.
And I also wrote lover academic level, that is people with a university degree that does not require Danish on a specialist or even expert level, like literature and linguist experts who must be considered to master Danish to perfection.

Mary's Danish is on par with a university student, a journalist (at a serious media(!)) or an engineer. - But hardly on a civil-layer level, and certainly not on the level of a literature professor, a high-school Danish teacher or someone with a high politico degree.

[wartenberg7]

Originally Posted by Muhler

High school in USA and high school in DK (gymnasium) is the not the same.
Before going to high school here in DK, you have to go to school for at least ten years, some go for eleven years. High school here is a three year preparation for the university.
So a high-scoring highschooler here in DK in the last year, must be assumed to master Danish on a very high level.
And I also wrote lover academic level, that is people with a university degree that does not require Danish on a specialist or even expert level, like literature and linguist experts who must be considered to master Danish to perfection.

Mary's Danish is on par with a university student, a journalist (at a serious media(!)) or an engineer. - But hardly on a civil-layer level, and certainly not on the level of a literature professor, a high-school Danish teacher or someone with a high politico degree.

That reminds me of a charming story from Queen Silvia and the swed. roy. family. When the children of the Royal couple have been really "children" indeed, the Queen told in an interview what Carl Philip, I think it was, thought about her language skills: "Mama is very good at swedish - she just can´t get it right sometimes"

[Nordic]

Originally Posted by wartenberg7

That reminds me of a charming story from Queen Silvia and the swed. roy. family. When the children of the Royal couple have been really "children" indeed, the Queen told in an interview what Carl Philip, I think it was, thought about her language skills: "Mama is very good at swedish - she just can´t get it right sometimes"

Silvia has been in Sweden for about 40 years. She is considered good with languages, is a trained interpreter and Swedish is her 6th (?) language, and she still has a heavy German accent and makes the occasional mistake.



Perhaps we should just congratulate these women who do their best in learning Danish, Swedish or whatever.

[Archduchess Zelia]

Originally Posted by Nordic

Silvia has been in Sweden for about 40 years. She is considered good with languages, is a trained interpreter and Swedish is her 6th (?) language, and she still has a heavy German accent and makes the occasional mistake.



Perhaps we should just congratulate these women who do their best in learning Danish, Swedish or whatever.

I love hearing Silvia speak Swedish. Somehow it's easier for me to understand it when she speaks Swedish than when I hear the rest of the royal family speak Swedish. Probably has something to do with her speaking relatively slow which gives me time to process the words a bit better

[Muhler]

Can't agree more!

Mary (and our Marie) actually has had to learn two languages here in DK! Written Danish, which I understand is fairly straight forward, once you master the basic rules. And get used to the absence of an equivalent to "the".
However, spoken Danish...
It's one thing to understand it, that's hard enough for any foreigner, but having to speak it as well - fluently!
And Mary has not learned any other languages before, making it even harder.

Oh, and did I mention we have quite a few dialects?

So Mary is doing very well.
She has an accent, which I doubt she will ever lose. But she speaks Danish fluently, fast and on an advanced level. Not bad for a language-rookie, eh?

It's different for those of us who do not have English as our first language. We are subjected to English from when we are born and learn it through sheer necessity. And those of us who live on the Continent pick up bits and pieces of several other languages as a matter of course, simply through exposure.

But Mary, she has learned to master Danish on her level through sheer hard work and determination. And then being on level with a high-scoring highschooler and/or a university student is not bad IMO. Not bad at all!
I admire talent, but I admire hard work even more.

[Bryce]

Can anyone provide a list / summary of the medals worn by Prince Nikolia at his uncle's birthday gala.

Thanks in advance!

[polyesco]

frederik and Mary with their dancing shoes. What a beautiful photo
https://scontent.faep11-1.fna.fbcdn....13&oe=5BBDBBA6

gift from Greenland
Kronprinsen: Grønlandsk gave blandt de bedste | Sermitsiaq.AG