Difficulty for Scandinavians

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Sandberg
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Difficulty for Scandinavians

Postby Sandberg » 2009-08-21, 18:59

Hi there,

I'm a Norwegian 20-year-old who last year learned Dutch (Flemish) during a 10-month stay in Belgium. My Dutch is pretty much ok, and I passed the C1-level at the University of Antwerp. For a sample of my current level, you can click here. My English is at a decent level. Other than that I understand Swedish, Danish and to some degree Icelandic and Faroese. I'm also starting out in German, which seems very easy to understand.

Judging by my experience with these Germanic languages, just how easy would it be to pick up Frisian? And how easy is it in general for Scandinavians to learn Frisian? Since Danish to some degree has influenced Frisian (correct me if I'm wrong), would Danes have an advantage over Norwegians in learning this language? (I speak a dialect which somewhat ressembles Nynorsk more than Bokmål)

Thank you.

Boes
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Re: Difficulty for Scandinavians

Postby Boes » 2009-08-21, 19:42

Sandberg wrote:Hi there,

I'm a Norwegian 20-year-old who last year learned Dutch during a 10-month stay in Belgium. My Dutch is pretty much ok, and I passed the C1-level at the University of Antwerp. For a sample of my current level, you can click here. My English is at a decent level. Other than that I understand Swedish, Danish and to some degree Icelandic and Faroese. I'm also starting out in German, which seems very easy to understand.

Judging by my experience with these Germanic languages, just how easy would it be to pick up Frisian? And how easy is it in general for Scandinavians to learn Frisian? Since Danish to some degree has influenced Frisian (correct me if I'm wrong), would Danes have an advantage over Norwegians in learning this language? (I speak a dialect which somewhat ressembles Nynorsk more than Bokmål)


First of, what variety of Frisian do you want to learn? If you're planning on learning East or North Frisian, I'd have to say you're looking at a near imposiblity as both those varieties are moribunt and very little learning material exists. That said, West Frisian is very much alive and has quite an amount of learning materials.

West Frisian has little to none Danish influence. Its grammar structure and vocabulary are very akin to Dutch, and seeing that you already have an advanced knowledge of it, the grammar will most likely not be an obstacle. Soundwise of course, Frisian is (one shouldn't say this about languages, but okay) a mix between Northern Dutch and English, but again given your extensive knowledge this shouldn't be much of a problem.

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Re: Difficulty for Scandinavians

Postby Sandberg » 2009-09-11, 11:17

Boes wrote:First of, what variety of Frisian do you want to learn? If you're planning on learning East or North Frisian, I'd have to say you're looking at a near imposiblity as both those varieties are moribunt and very little learning material exists. That said, West Frisian is very much alive and has quite an amount of learning materials.

West Frisian has little to none Danish influence. Its grammar structure and vocabulary are very akin to Dutch, and seeing that you already have an advanced knowledge of it, the grammar will most likely not be an obstacle. Soundwise of course, Frisian is (one shouldn't say this about languages, but okay) a mix between Northern Dutch and English, but again given your extensive knowledge this shouldn't be much of a problem.


I'm planning to learn West Frisian, although I'm a little bit more interested in North Frisian. I thought there might have been some mutual influence between Danish and Frisian considering that there was extensive contact between Scandinavia and Frisia during the early Middles Ages. There are even words of Frisian origin in my own native language, Norwegian. Is North Frisian much closer to Danish/Scandinavia than West Frisian?

henkw
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Re: Difficulty for Scandinavians

Postby henkw » 2009-11-24, 12:06

Kære Sandberg,

You might be interested in visiting our site http://www.edufrysk.nl, which allows you to learn West Frisian in a number of ways. The first month is free of charge. The interface language is currently Dutch and an English version is under construction. We are currently also developing a version for North Frisian.

For the absolute beginner the materials on our site http://www.volangteers.nl might be of use too. For more information you can contact us via the phone numbers or mail addresses on http://www.afuk.nl.

Mei freonlike groetnissen / Ma wanlike gröötnise,
Henk Wolf

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Dminor
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Re: Difficulty for Scandinavians

Postby Dminor » 2009-11-24, 22:14

henkw wrote:We are currently also developing a version for North Frisian.


Dat is geweldich nijs! :D

That is fantastic news! :D
काव्यशास्त्रविनोदेन कालो गच्छति धीमताम् । व्यसनेन च मूर्खाणां निद्रया कलहेन वा

henkw
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Re: Difficulty for Scandinavians

Postby henkw » 2009-11-27, 14:45

Foar wa't (Westerlauwersk) Frysk ferstiet: der stiet ek in minykursus Noardfrysk op myn site www.skriuwsels.net, ûnder it kopke 'lytsguod'. Leo van der Lei en ik ha him tegearre opnaam.


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