I will be going to Denmark for a week, maybe a day trip to Sweden and a week in France. I was in Paris last year so I know the language barrier (but the French do speak english). I do not know about Denmark and Sweden, how hard is it to learn the language or do they speak english (I heard that english is somewhat of a second language there) And I will be there in later October early November, what kind of climate and weather can I expect?
Thank you,
Daniel
You should have no issues with language as a lot of Scandanavians speak very good English. In fact even in places further East such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithunia you will not have too many problems with English.
For weather, please check out weatherunderground and use the trip planner tab. Better than relying on word of mouth.
In both Denmark and Sweden, learning English is required in the schools. You'll have no problems there. Learn the basics...hello...goodbye....please....thank you--just to be polite.
Not only is English regularly taught, in Sweden a lot of TV is in English and then subtitled in Swedish. As such you get Swedish kids talking with American accents and slang.
Bottom line you should have no issues whatsoever.
Not only do they speak English, but they are more than happy to speak English with you (not always the case in other countries).
A little language study is still a good thing, if only so a restaurant menu, street sign or ticket window doesn't look completely unreadable. You never go wrong using please and thank you, hello and goodbye in the local language.
When visiting Kopenhagen, I was surprised how much English language material was in stores and book shops. But seeing how close Britain is to Denmark, it's understandable - at least in a big city setting.
Not to beat this subject to death...but in general the Dutch, the Scandinavians, and the Finns all speak better English than the average American...ok I"m guilty of a little hyperbole...but it does seem that way sometimes.
You will not have problems with English in demark and Sweden. English is part of their curiculum.
I had some problems in France with English, not much in Paris, but in Nice many people didn't speak English at all.
The weather in Northern Europe in October might not be that good. It's autumn there, like here, but colder than in Eastern regions of the US.
Just to go back to Daniel's original post, he says "but the French do speak English". Some of the French speak some English, some of the French speak English well, but, people, not all the population of France speaks English. A good many French people speak no English at all. To go to France expecting otherwise will lead to frustration & misunderstanding.
I should rephrase what I said about the French speaking english. When I was in Paris last year I found that some of the Parisians did speak English, but I also can speak some French so it wasn't all English. Also, is there any Computer language or CD that is best for learning some Swedish, Danish and French? I have tried some but have not found anything that I really like.
