Table of Contents
Scandinavians speak English well because it’s very similar to their native languages. The similarity includes not only related vocabulary, but also grammatical structures.
Is English similar to Scandinavian?
Researchers now believe they can prove that English is in reality a Scandinavian language, which means that it belongs to the Northern Germanic language group, just like Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic and Faroese.
How similar is Norwegian to English?
A: Yes, in linguistic terms, Norwegian is very similar to English. They are both Germanic languages and there are even extant shared isoglosses, i.e. in some dialects of Norwegian, linguistic phenomena in English are present, too. The two languages are not very mutually intelligible, though.
How common is English in Scandinavia?
Although more than 80 percent of people in Sweden do speak English, you might still come across people who don’t, so it’s best to learn some basic Swedish phrases for common niceties.
Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland have English proficiency rates in the 85-90\% range. Finland is a little behind at around 70\% proficiency, but this is still higher than most other countries in the world where English is not the first language.
Are Scandinavian languages similar?
The languages spoken in Scandinavia are called North Germanic languages and include Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese. Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are all very similar, and it is common for people from all three countries to be able to read the two other without too much difficulty.
Why is English and Norwegian so similar?
Norwegian and English both descended from the now-extinct Proto-Germanic language, so they have a common ancestor somewhere down the line. Likewise, French and Spanish are descended from the now-extinct Vulgar Latin, so they are basically sister languages to each other as well.
Is English a Viking language?
Modern English has been influenced by Old Norse, the language of the Vikings who left a number of words that reflected their lifestyle and way of life. Read Babbel’s 139 words inherited from Norse.