A new law for the Danish language? Balancing pride, protection, and practicality

Content creator Brooke Taylor Fossey explores what the Danish language means and how a new law for it can affect internationals and locals.

Photographs: Unsplash

Text: Brooke Taylor Fossey

When Danes wax poetic about Danish culture, you’ll find that in addition to pølsevogne (hot dog carts), smørrebrød (open face sandwiches), and højskole (folk high school), the Danish language also tops their lists.

Danish is more than just a language to Danes -- it is the thread that ties together literature, humour, childhood memories and the nuances of daily life. It's part of national identity. So what happens when another language -- namely English these days -- seeps further into classrooms, workplaces, and research labs?

That - combined with immigration and geopolitical dynamics -- is the backdrop for a Folketinget (Parliament) proposal that was released just before summer break. The proposed 'Danish language law' is designed to strengthen and safeguard the Danish languageacross society.

What is being proposed?

The initiative, advanced by Det Konservative Folkeparti, would ‘strengthen and preserve’ the Danish language as a language that supports society, by:

• Making Danish the official language of Denmark and ensuring its use in public institutions, education and the media

• Establishing language centres at universities

• Emphasising the importance of correct Danish in business and public communications

• Eestricting foreign words

• Establishing a language council to Danefy foreign words and restrict what new words are accepted into the dictionary.

Taken together, these measures would mark a shift toward protecting Danish more actively.

Why now?

This is not the first time the topic of English has been discussed, but it is linked to a deeper cultural current and speaks to the central role language plays in national identity. In fact, as far back as the early 1800s, HC Ørsted focused on creating Danish words for nature- and science-related terms, such as oxygen, which is ilt in Danish. He created over 2.000 new Danish words, many of which we still use today.

Denmark has been teaching English in folkeskole since the mid-1900s, and after World War II, English overtook German as the primary second language. Denmark has slowly decreased the age at which children first receive English lessons down to 1. klasse in 2014.

But critics now argue that if this English trend continues, Danish risks being hollowed out, losing its richness in academic, professional, and civic contexts.

The cases for and against a language law

Language is always evolving. Before English, there was a fear that German was playing too big a role in Danish (brombær, kiosk, kartoffel, tastatur). And after that, French (restaurant, arrangement, miljø, ballet). And once upon a time, many Old Norse words influenced English with the arrival of the Vikings, so some words may be indirectly coming home to Denmark now.

Danish language researchers seem to centre on the fact that there are fewer than 5% loanwords from English in everyday speech, and only about 0.5% of English loanwords in newspapers, and 1% on TV and radio.

Supporters for the proposed law cite social cohesion, cultural continuity and national pride. Danish is a cornerstone of society.

Critics – particularly universities and businesses – have raised concerns about global competitiveness, practical challenges, and concerns about isolation in an increasingly global economy. Attracting world-class researchers and students has functioned because of English as a lingua franca.

More than words

Ultimately, the question of a Danish language law is about more than vocabulary. It is about how Danes perceive themselves in a world that is increasingly interconnected, whether protecting the language requires legal force or renewed cultural effort, and what that all means for international relations.

I would suggest that if language requirements are made more stringent, the government could also offer longer access to language schools to help newcomers acclimate to a more demanding playing field. Without this support, we may find two separately functioning societies forming between fluent Danish speakers and not (including job market, friendships, schooling – all impacting long-term integration and social cohesion).

As the proposal progresses through the political process, the conversation will prove valuable in its own right.