Easiest Scandinavian Language To Learn

Before we delve in, it is important to note that the terms Scandinavian and Nordic are often used interchangeably but actually refer to different groups of countries. Scandinavia refers to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, while Nordic countries are the three Scandinavian countries, in addition to Finland and Iceland. That being said, many people refer to all five Nordic countries when discussing Scandinavia. To make things more confusing, Finland is a Nordic country, but Finnish is not considered a Nordic language as it bears little to no similarities to the mother tongue of other Nordic countries.

Let’s get into ranking the Nordic languages from easiest to hardest. It is worth remembering that what is deemed the easiest for one person may be different for someone else, as it is dependent on your prior understanding of languages and your learning style.

1. Norwegian
2. Swedish
3. Danish
4. Icelandic
5. Finnish

Norwegian tends to be the most simple Nordic language to learn for a number of reasons.

• Origins: Norwegian is a Northern Germanic language, meaning it has relatively close roots to Western Germanic languages like German, English, and Dutch.
• Pronunciation: Most Norwegian words are pronounced phonetically, which takes away a lot of the confusion associated with learning new languages. This makes it easier to communicate when you are new to Norwegian, as you generally won’t have to worry about saying the completely wrong thing.
• Grammar: Trying to understand the grammar rules of a new language can make learners feel uneasy. Thankfully, Norwegian is more straightforward than most languages and does not have a huge number of verb conjugations.
• Resources: With a wide selection of online courses, textbooks, and language apps, Norwegian has never been easier to learn. Norwegian movies and television shows have become increasingly popular, providing additional exposure for language learners.

Next, we will get into the easiest Scandinavian languages to learn, specifically from the perspective of an English speaker, ranked from easiest to hardest.

1. Norwegian
2. Swedish
3. Danish

You might notice that the order from the previous list remains the same, which can be broken down into a few reasons.

• Origins: Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish bear numerous similarities, and much of their grammar and sentence structure are linked. As they all have commonalities with English, Norwegian is the easiest to learn overall, but even more so for English speakers, as many of the language patterns are familiar to learners.
• Vocabulary And Cognates: Cognates are words that share roots, often having a similar spelling and pronunciation that is easy to understand when you understand one of the words. Norwegian and English have a lot of cognates. For example, the English word grass is gress in Norwegian, or rain and regn.
• Norwegians Are Proficient In English: Most Norwegians are fluent in or have a high level of English, making communication between locals and native English speakers easy and giving students plenty of opportunities to practise with people who can explain different aspects of Norwegian to them.
• Standardising Norwegian: The Norwegian government has standardised the written language into two standards, Bokmål and Nynorsk, ensuring consistency amongst language resources as each will follow one of the standards. There is currently no official standard for spoken Norwegian, though many students and teachers follow the standard for Bokmål.

Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish are considered by many to be sister languages, bearing a lot of similarities to one another. Icelandic is quite different, as it is much closer to the Old Norse that the Vikings spoke. Finnish is entirely unrelated to the other four languages and is not a North Germanic language.

Let’s compare Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish first.

Similarities

Sentence structure: Each language follows the subject-verb-object word order.

Gender agreement: All three languages use definite and indefinite articles based on the gender of the following noun.

Vocabulary: Many identical or very similar words between each language.

Differences

Pronunciation: There are often distinct pronunciation differences for many letter sounds in each language.

Spelling: Similarly, spelling patterns can vary to different degrees.

Tone: Danish has noticeable differences in tone during speech, setting it apart from Norwegian and Swedish.

Grammar: The three languages differ regarding verb conjugations and adjective agreement.

Icelandic is best described as a more traditional language than the Scandinavian languages. Here is how it differs from the previous three languages.

Vocabulary: Though they have some shared vocabulary, most words in Icelandic are closer to Old Norse.

Pronunciation: Letter sounds are also more traditional and are quite distinct.

Grammar: Icelandic has much more complicated grammar rules.

Inflection: There is a greater focus on tone and pitch in Icelandic.

Spelling: Spelling patterns in Icelandic are more traditional.

Finally, we have Finnish, which bears no similarities to the other Nordic languages and is a Finno-Ugric language with entirely different origins. As a result, Finnish has unique vocabulary, complex grammar and gender agreement rules, follows a different sentence structure order, and has different phonetic patterns. The only similarity between Finnish and the other Nordic languages is that they all use Latin script.

English has had a noticeable influence on Nordic languages, which can make acquiring new vocabulary significantly easier for English speakers. There are a few reasons for this:

• Many modern words are introduced in English, which are sometimes kept in their original form in Scandinavian languages, such as the word internet. Other times, new vocabulary is slightly adapted to fit the local language.
• Many sectors like business, technology, and education often adapt English terminology.
• Due to the popularity of English media, some English phrases and slang have become widely spoken amongst young people.

Evaluating the difficulty of a language is challenging, as a range of factors can affect how hard languages are to pick up. For example, Nordic languages may be complex for learners unfamiliar with the Latin script, while English, German, and Dutch speakers may find it easier because of the shared language origins.

The difficulty of a language are individual and will depend largely on the following:

• The language roots or the language family.
• Grammar rules and intricacies.
• The writing script or alphabet used.
• Pronunciation and phonetics.
• Learning opportunities.
• Motivation and reasoning.
• The number of languages you already speak.
• Learning style.

Each of these language components can vary between each Scandinavian language.

Pronunciation: Norwegian tends to be the easiest Scandinavian language for learners to pronounce, as many of their sounds are pronounced the same as in English. Words are also pronounced in line with their spelling for the most part.

Reading: Thanks to its relatively simple grammatical rules and phonetic spelling, Swedish is considered one of the easiest Scandinavian languages to learn. English speakers will find their sentence structure familiar and notice some vocabulary closely resembling English words.

Vocabulary: Scandinavian languages have many words that are considerably different from other languages, but they also have many cognates with other Germanic languages and have borrowed or slightly altered modern English words, which can make learning vocabulary more straightforward at times. Many words may be pronounced differently but can still be easily read.

There are a range of cultural elements that can have an effect on the process of learning a language.

• Learning a language is easier if you are interested in a country’s history, culture, music, and media.
• Immersion in a language makes it easier to understand certain expressions and norms used in everyday speech.
• Interacting with native speakers helps to make learners aware of language nuances, such as differences in formal and informal communication.

The Scandinavian language that is the most useful to learn may be different depending on the person.

Swedish: Often thought to be the most useful Scandinavian language to learn, as it is more widely spoken than the other and can be helpful for professional situations if you work in the business field.

Norwegian: With pronunciation similar to Swedish and writing linked to Danish, Norwegian can be a good starting point when studying Scandinavian languages, making additional languages easier to learn.

Danish: Denmark has a thriving expat scene and an excellent job market, which can be a great incentive to learn Danish. It is also spoken in Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Norwegian is widely considered the simplest of the Scandinavian languages for non-native speakers to understand, though Swedish is thought to be only marginally more difficult.

There are several reasons why Norwegian is the most understandable Scandinavian language:

• Norwegian vocabulary is slightly closer to English than the other languages.
• Most words are pronounced as they are spelled, and Norwegian tends to have more simplistic phonetics and sound patterns.
• Norwegian spelling is generally straightforward.

Icelandic is the most challenging to learn out of the Old Norse-rooted languages, while Finnish is considered the most complex of all five main Nordic languages.
Icelandic has not been simplified in the same way that Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish have been and has preserved the complex grammar, spelling patterns, inflections, and pronunciation of Old Norse.

Finnish is complicated to learn for different reasons. It belongs to another language family, has distinct sounds that are difficult to pronounce, and has an elaborate set of grammar rules.

• Immerse yourself in the language as much as possible through music, films, and news articles if you are not in the country.
• Converse with native speakers, if possible, either in person or online.
• Take advantage of cognates to build a foundation for your vocabulary.
• Start learning the sentence structure to help you to use your new vocabulary correctly.
• Work on your pronunciation early to avoid confusion when spelling and phonetics differ.
• Some useful resources include language apps like Mondly, italki and Mango Languages or YouTube channels like Learn Norwegian Naturally.