Myself in Danish

The unbelievable happened... I have finished my danish studies! I managed to go through all the levels without flunking, and im done after a record time of 8 months. Impressive eh?

Funnily enough i became sort of 'the nerd' of the class, you know, the person that knows the answers in class, that others call to ask about homework, grammar questions, yada yada... now that was very interesting cause i think i had never had that role in a classroom.. actually i hated that kind of people! But hey, obviously i was not as annoying as those know-it-alls in high school or university... i kept humble and cool :p

Anyways...

Do i speak fluent danish now? .... Thats a good question.

I think it depends on a couple of factors:

- The topic of the conversation
- The level of noise involved
- The amount of danes in the discussion
- The number of alcohol units consumed by the danes
- The number of alcohol units consumed by me

It is impossible to keep up with my danish at a party together with 5 native danish speakers. They will start mumbling, mixing a lot of slang, old references and jokes... and ill have a question mark for a face the rest of the evening. However, if i have a one on one conversation, like in a dinner for example with max 5 danes, i can follow what its being said and i can throw in some comments from time to time!

I have to admit though, that i have not been the best at practicing my danish. I feel so limited with my vocabulary that i have found it hard to switch language, especially with my lovely boyfriend.

The other day i was thinking how different a person can be in different languages. Im quite sure i am somewhat different in spanish, english and danish. Already with english i feel some kind of limitation that hinders me to be myself.. I cant say the same things, i cant play with the language in the same way, im not as quick to throw in sharp comments.. now go figure in danish! Isnt it a little sad that we lose a bit of our identity in other languages?

I know this is about time and practice, after all Rome was not built in one day -or 8 months for that matter-, but in the meantime im 'suffering' with the switch!