Bilingual people are impressive

English is a language that is used in most of the world. Only 5.8 million people speak Danish like I do. It is therefore essential to be able to communicate in another language such as English. 

Learning English was a challenge in the beginning. It is mandatory to learn English in all schools in Denmark. I do not think I learned a whole lot in the beginning, because I only had a few classes a week. Being a nine-year-old and still being confused by Danish grammar did not help trying to learn an entirely new language.

My teachers would always focus on grammar, but I feel like getting to learn the basics and practicing speaking a little bit helps more. Something that helped me a lot was watching English shows and movies with Danish subtitles. I learned more words and the correct pronunciation while I was entertained. 

Once I went to 9th grade, things changed. I started speaking English a lot more in classes and being graded for it. When I had my first oral exam, I was very nervous because I had to speak for about five minutes. Ever since that I have improved my English a lot. 

I did different things to prepare myself to go on my exchange like starting to try to think in English, watch shows and movies, and speak English with my family. I will say that after only a couple of weeks here in the States I felt a lot more comfortable speaking English. 

English has some difficult grammar rules that are hard to understand, but other than that, in general it has been easy to learn. It simply takes time and practice. On the other hand, the Danish language is difficult and different, which is why it is quite fun to have Americans pronounce Danish words.

Languages are cool, and people get easily impressed. It is so funny to speak Danish in front of them because they have no idea of what I am saying. If you want to travel, the locals will be so impressed if you speak their language. 

Something that is difficult to explain is when I speak to someone in Danish and then switch to English. It is like I am using a totally different part of my brain.

People have asked me if I am fluent. It depends on the definition of being fluent in a language. Dictionary.com says fluency is “being able to speak and write quickly or easily in a given language.” I can definitely do that. Some of the tricky things are understanding specific brands, sayings, and reading difficult articles.

Living abroad has definitely helped with my English. It might sound scary to move to another country and speak another language, because it kind of is. Even though my English was good from the beginning, I was still challenged sometimes. 

At this point, I think in English a lot and I even started to dream in English after a couple of weeks. 

Moving across the world might bring some challenges, but the impacts it has had on my language and my Danish accent is amazing. It is a great opportunity to see things differently and increase my respect for bilingual people.