Max's Danish Proficiency

Max's ability to speak Danish has been growing by leaps and bounds during the past nine months. He can now hold his own in a Danish conversation and several Danes have told us that he speaks with no American accent (unlike his papa who still can't pronounce “gade” correctly). Indeed, just the other day, Max spent about ten minutes talking to our friend Klaus, who is the father of Eva, one of Max's schoolmates, about Star Wars. Klaus had not seen Max for awhile and was completely stunned by Max's ability. About halfway through Max's speech, which included all sorts of references to Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Obi Wan Kenobi, and the like, Klaus turned to me with wide eyes and said "This is incredible!" while being careful not to interrupt Max.

Max has now gotten to the point that he can translate spoken Danish for us, albeit at the level of a five year old, and when he's speaking Danish in front of us, he has no problem switching back and forth between Danish and English to let mama and papa know what he's saying.

However, this wasn't always the case. It used to be that he would speak Danish only to Danes and was uncomfortable speaking Danish when Leysia and I were present. So, back then, we had to get sneaky and invite friends from Max's pre-school over to our house for play dates. He and his friend would sit and play Lego Star Wars on my laptop and speak to each other in Danish while Leysia was a few feet away recording Max's speaking ability for posterity! :-)

Here are three videos that are rather uneventful except for the fact that Max is speaking only in Danish in each of them! I've always “known” that kids can pick up new languages easier than adults, but now I can truly believe it.

Note: it may take awhile for these videos to load once you have clicked the play button. Be patient! You can also try viewing them directly on YouTube by clicking directly on the headings located above each movie.

Max and Axel on Feb. 21, 2006:



Max and Lucas on March 12, 2006:



Max and Kristian on April 6, 2006:



I should note that Lilja has picked up quite a bit of the Danish language as well, and regularly speaks short Danish phrases, especially during the week when she hears Danish all day at her pre-school. But she is only two, and so her ability to speak Danish is like her ability to speak English, just in very short sentences. She's up to about 5 word sentences in English now, with her Danish just behind that at about two to three word sentences. She's very much into personal property right now (as are all two year olds) and so, oddly enough, her favorite phrase in both languages is "That's mine!" :-)

Enjoy!

Ken