Native Languages vs. Second Languages

[Noelle9982]

Being that many members of the royal family come from outside Denmark (Prince Henrick, Alexandra, CP Mary, etc.) what languages do they all speak to each other? For example, do CP Mary and CP Frederick speak English to each other? Does Prince Henrick speak French to anyone within the royal family?

Etc...etc...

 

[Australian]

Good question. I heard from somewhere, not sure where, that the neutral language they speak to each other is English. I wish i could remember where i read that from. Please correct me if i am wrong

 

[norwegianne]

Margrethe and Henrik spoke French or English together when they first were married, and Margrethe said later in a book that she regretted doing that, because it didn't help improve Henrik's Danish, even if it made them understand each other.

Frederik and Mary spoke English together. At least until she was supposed to get intensive training in Danish.

 

[Margrethe II]

The Crown Princess did recieve intensive training in Danish and from what I gather, still does. We mus'nt forget that Danish is one of (if not the) hardest European language to learn, and the fact that Mary has become quite articulate in Danish (in what is really a rather short space of time compared to many) is a very grand achievement. Of course, the Crown Princess shall continue to learn and progress forward but like many of you I think her fluency of the language is something to be comended.


Upwards and onwards

"MII"

 

[Aussie Princess]

I heard Frederick and Mary mainly speak English, but it would make Danish a lot easier for her if they practised it together at home I think.
Margrethe and Henrik...mainly French I believe. I've heard his Danish is not so good, but I certainly don't understand Danish so I wouldn't know!

 

[bct88]

I could be mistaken, but I once heard that Henrik is often critisized due to his bad abilities at speaking Danish.

 

[Aussie Princess]

I heard that too, but I don't really know if it's true, since some people criticise Crown Princess Mary's Danish, and others praise it! I guess it depends on how high your expectations are. I would expect Prince Henrik to be able to speak Danish fluently by now. Not that I wouldn't struggle with it too!

 

[bct88]

I heard that too, but I don't really know if it's true, since some people criticise Crown Princess Mary's Danish, and others praise it! I guess it depends on how high your expectations are. I would expect Prince Henrik to be able to speak Danish fluently by now. Not that I wouldn't struggle with it too!

I would expect that Mary's Danish would be criticized more only because she just started speaking the language, whereas Henrik has lived in Denmark since the 1960s, and has been the Prince Consort since the 1970s!

 

[Layla1971]

I would expect that Mary's Danish would be criticized more only because she just started speaking the language, whereas Henrik has lived in Denmark since the 1960s, and has been the Prince Consort since the 1970s!

Actually, Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik married on June 10, 1967 so he's had many years to practice, and when Queen Margrethe said in an interview that she regretted not having spoken in Danish with her husband at home, she could see that he needed a great deal of practice.

I'm learning French and Russian, and believe me, they are both difficult languages, and the Scandinavian languages are much more difficult, especially Danish.
I think that we should give CP Mary a few more years to perfect her Danish, and realize that she is only human after all, and does have many other things to concentrate on, without counting the added pressure of learning further linguistic skills.

 

[Roshanah]

I'm glad that those whom have married into the Danish Royal Family have made efforts to master the Danish language. It's important for their sake as much as the Danish people to feel at ease with one another and have the national language in common.

Having said that its also nice to see that Danes making the linguistic transition easier by speaking other languages with them. I've learnt to speak many languages and it's necessary to have a little help in the beginning although as one gradually increases one's proficientcy the greater the need to only speak the target language.

 

[MargreteI]

Being that many members of the royal family come from outside Denmark (Prince Henrick, Alexandra, CP Mary, etc.) what languages do they all speak to each other? For example, do CP Mary and CP Frederick speak English to each other? Does Prince Henrick speak French to anyone within the royal family?

Etc...etc...

The languages in the Royal Danish family is danish, english and french. Whatever is used depends on the family members present.

 

[jordana2]

I'm really proud of Mary for picking up a new language so quickly, she's a very beautiful and intelligent young woman.

 

[Muhler]

Not sure where to post something like this, so it ends up here.

Translation of a Q&A in Billed Bladet #36, 2012.
Where a Simone Sandberg would like to know in what languages M&F and M&J speak with their children.

Jon Bloch Skipper replies:
Both couple primarily speak Danish (*) with their children but the CP couple's children also hear a good deal of English on a day-to-day basis.
Even though the Crown Prince speaks fluent French Prince Christian and Isabella, only know the most basic words, as their mother doesn't master the language.
Apart from Danish Prince Henrik also learns to speak French, because that is the mothertongue of Princess Marie and because Prince Joachim is Danish-French bilingual. That will probably also happen to Princess Athena.
Prince Nikolai and Prince Felix primarily speak Danish but as far as it is known also a good deal of English and French. The English is first and foremost from their mother Countess Alexandra.

(*) Actually bette Henrik and his sister may be brought up bilingually. Our Marie said not that long ago that she speaks French to him, while Joachim speaks Danish.

 

[Biri]

Does Prince Henrik speak French with his sons (Frederik and Joachim)?

 

[Muhler]

Does Prince Henrik speak French with his sons (Frederik and Joachim)?

Not in public.

 

[fandesacs2003]

Does Prince Henrik speak French with his sons (Frederik and Joachim)?

I'm sure he does. Both Princes speek very well french, but the Queen also does. Do not forget that the family has a domaine in France (Chateau de Caix), and they spend every summer there, since many years. The whole family has a full immersion into French culture.
I wonder if Mary has learned french, and if Frederic speaks french to his 4.
For Joachim, at least for the 2 youngers, i believe yes, because Marie is also French.

 

[polyesco]

Where a Simone Sandberg would like to know in what languages M&F and M&J speak with their children.

Jon Bloch Skipper replies:
Both couple primarily speak Danish (*) with their children but the CP couple's children also hear a good deal of English on a day-to-day basis.
Even though the Crown Prince speaks fluent French Prince Christian and Isabella, only know the most basic words, as their mother doesn't master the language.

thank you Muhler
i thought Mary and Frederik said in an interview recently (in NY i think) that they spoke danish at home.
its great that the 4 kids are learning English as well, as Im sure it will help them with their Aussie relatives.
I wonder if Mary will learn French, i think learning & mastering one foreign language (danish for her ) as an adult is difficult enough

 

[Muhler]

thank you Muhler
i thought Mary and Frederik said in an interview recently (in NY i think) that they spoke danish at home.
its great that the 4 kids are learning English as well, as Im sure it will help them with their Aussie relatives.
I wonder if Mary will learn French, i think learning & mastering one foreign language (danish for her ) as an adult is difficult enough

You are welcome, Polyesco

Apart from Mary being occupied with her job, she also have four small children and a husband to look after, even with nannies that still takes up a lot of time.
So I think she has put her French lessons on stand-by.

Even though she has been immersed in Danish for ten years now, many of the articles, reports and papers she goes through in the office, (that are tedious and difficult enough for a native to read), must still by tiring for Mary.
And when she is out on the job there will still be expressions, idioms, accents and dialects that needs a few microseconds of processing.
Not so much with children and young people, I'm sure, - her own children are her best teachers in that respect.

 

[NGalitzine]

Didn't Mary study French in school and did she not do a bit of teaching Business English while living in Paris? While I am sure she is far from fluent in French she must have picked up a bit of the language along the way.

 

[Nordic]

Didn't Mary study French in school and did she not do a bit of teaching Business English while living in Paris? While I am sure she is far from fluent in French she must have picked up a bit of the language along the way.

I remember reading this too but can't remember where.
Does anyone know how long she would have studied it?

 

[Lady Rosie]

Hello Nordic,
I can't find anything about Mary and extending her French whilst in Paris. Her study of french at school I would expect to be of a basic standard. I went through the school system at the same time (different state) and I did five years of french which allows me to understand basic conversation and can write/read in a fairly easy manner.

 

[Furienna]

I'm learning French and Russian, and believe me, they are both difficult languages, and the Scandinavian languages are much more difficult, especially Danish.

I believe Russian is much harder to learn than the Scandinavian languages. French shouldn't be that hard to learn.

 

[NGalitzine]

French shouldn't be that hard to learn.

It is though if your first language, like English, doesnt have the same basic language rules like masculine and feminine and adjectives before nouns etc. Learning any second language becomes more difficult the older you are.