Greenlandic belongs to the group of inuit languages and is spoken in Greenland and by Greenlanders in other countries, primarily in Denmark. There are other Inuit languages in the northernmost parts of Canada and Alaska. These languages are closely related and form a continuum so that the neighboring people can easily understand each other. In the middle of the west coast of Alaska there is a language border. In the south, Yupik languages are spoken, which are related to Inuit languages in the north, but Yupik-speaking and Inuit-speaking people cannot easily understand each other. Yupik languages are also spoken on some of the islands in the Bering Strait and in easternmost Siberia. Inuit and Yupik languages are related to Aleutian languages spoken by fewer than 100 people on the long Aleutian archipelago that stretches from Alaska into the Bering Strait.
Approx. 45,000 people in Greenland speak Greenlandic. In addition, approx. 10,000 Greenlanders in Denmark speak Greenlandic as their mother tongue. It therefore makes good sense to combine the language course with some knowledge of Greenland and Greenlandic society.
Life in Greenland is big and wild and beautiful, but you have to be prepared for the fact that the weather and nature play a big role in everyday life and influence what you can do and when. It is a long way from Copenhagen to Kullorsuaq, and you never know when you will arrive. The unpredictability gives way to impulsiveness, celebration, togetherness, and invitations and make people fall in love with life in the north. Although Danish is a school subject already from the 1st grade, many feel uncomfortable about speaking Danish. You should therefore learn at least a little Greenlandic.
Danish is an Indo-European language and thus belongs to the world’s largest language family. Danish is spoken by approx. 6 million people and is closely related to Swedish and Norwegian, and also to Icelandic and Faroese. The neighboring dialects form an enormous continuum running from the North Cape in Arctic Norway all the way down to the Danish-German border. A little more distant, Danish belongs to the same language family as, among others, English and German.
When you live in Greenland, you will probably meet people speaking Danish every day. Perhaps you have Danish colleagues, Danish-speaking friends, or a Danish-speaking teacher. There can be many reasons for strengthening your language skills.
Some of the things that can be most difficult to learn are the Danish sounds. Danish has many different sounds and many signs for the same sound. Negation, conjugation of verbs, prepositions, and correct word order can also be problematic. These are themes that we can take up during the courses.
If you wish to learn Greenlandic and/or Danish, we can help you. Follow our courses in Nuuk or online, make an agreement with your employer that there must be space for language lessons during or outside working hours, find a good study partner, and get started right away.
Be introduced to Greenlandic and Danish and become ready for life in Greenland
We use extremely many vowel sounds and special vowel characters like æ, ø and å.
In smaller places most people speak Greenlandic exclusively, while people in bigger towns tend to speak more Danish and English.
Ullaakkorsioqatigerusunngilinga means “do you want to eat breakfast with me?”.
If you have further questions or comments, you can contact us here. We will answer within a few days.
We will be happy to hear what you think about the course, so we can learn from it. It is possible to answer anonymously.
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