I moved to Sweden recently and am discovering just how embarrassing this is for me. People will be chattering in Swedish and I don't know if there's a good time for me to jump in if I have to ask someone about something and I feel like an asshole just wandering in possibly mid sentence. Or someone sees me trying to pay attention and they all switch to English. I'm trying to learn Swedish but I've only ever known English and it's difficult getting my brain to hold on to all the new words
this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2026
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We swedes do have that annoying habit of just switching to English because its easier. Feel free to remind people that you're trying to learn Swedish and most people will understand and be helpful.
No worries it also happens to us while speaking our third language in another country.
Hi! I moved to Denmark in 2024, and have some similar experience with this as Danes are quick to switch to English too. I'm hard at work language learning as I'm sure you are. Scandinavians have great English and also like to have even social ground rather than the high ground of being better in their language. Good recipe for them switching to English.
I guess what little advice I have is try all the time in Swedish, tell friends and coworkers and such that you wanna practice. be comfy failing :) good luck!
Finn here: just because Danes switch to English, doesn't mean they're easier to understand /j
I'm swedish and the danes switch to English with me too 😖
That's just cause they forgot how to say kamelåså
Norwegian in Denmark here, I mostly understand Danish and they mostly understand me but my impression is that even the Danes appreciate getting a break from Danish now and then.
The most common expression you'll hear on the streets of Denmark is "hva sier du?" - "what are you saying". Because they don't even understand each other.
Hey, that's understandable. Language learning, like all learning, is a skill that is best acquired in your early years and starting as an adult is a daunting task. Not getting it on your first try isn't something to be embarrassed about. The good news is that you're in the ideal environment to learn, fully immersed in the target language, and all these uncomfortable experiences can even help broaden your comfort zone. Plus, you'll end up speaking another language, and that's always cool.
Or commonly "we're speaking English because it's the only language we have in common"
I speak english, because it's the only other language we both know.
Lowest common denominator.
So many people are genuinely excited to learn a second language in school and then the lesson is just the dullest textbook session directed by someone who does speak the language but has zero actual teaching qualifications.
Nha it’s mostly because of culture. Music, books, movies later in my life… they taste better in OG. Much more appealing than Dutch for me. Japanese and Korean would have been equally good options but the additional alphabets were too much for me back then.
But English was 100% for content. Communication needs came much later.
I mean, let's level our euro pride here -- we were pretty much forced to learn it with the gun of dropping out of school pressed against our heads.
One might say that pressing the gun against of students is mainly an U.S. thing with all those school massacres though..
That's why they speak English (kind of) over there. Q.E.D.
Can also be known as Canadian bilingualism.
You speak English because the Brits dreamed big and didn't mind taking what wasn't theirs.
That and close to no conjugating. IMO anyways!
Also a way to see it 😅
I also know Japanese and Spanish.
Nihongo no kata ga yoidesu ka?
I’d like to say that I appreciate it, even though they have no obligation to.
I don't need to speak yuro. Why would I bother learning your mostly valueless languages? They don't help me travel in Western nations. They won't get me paid more at my job.
I don't NEED your silly languages. We are not the same.
You forgot the /s