The language of Belgium

Collette, I came to Norwegian for various reasons as a native English speaker, fluent in German, and with a number of years of Latin in school. On the "r" question, most of Norway, speaking Bokmal, roll the "r." The region around Bergen uses the common German "r,"as does Danish. In both these areas, there is likely German influence. In the case of Denmark, proximity to Schleswig-Holstein, and in Bergen, the centuries-old influence of the Hansa. Knowing German and English, Norwegian is a very easy language to learn and, since it sits mid-way between Danish and Swedish, after you learn it, you will be able to read the other two, after learning Norwegian. I plan on visiting your new forum. I hope you can keep the crazies out...

Earle, thanks for the advice on Norwegian and choosing a Scandinavian language. I have to admit that I am most interested in Norwegian, and I would rather visit Norway than any other Scandinavian country, and Danish least. I guess Swedish is somewhere in the middle. My German grandparents came from Holstein, so we probably have some Danish history going back a bit, but I don't know about it. All of my French people are from Normandy -- I asked someone else this, too: do you know which part of Scandinavia the Normans came from mostly? Isn't it Denmark? But I guess back then the language they spoke was still Old Norse, oder? I really don't think I could trill an R to save my life, by the way. :( Yes, I hope to see you at the new forum... the crazies will have to register, so they can't do drive-by verbal vandalism.

I believe most Normans descend from the Vikings (Norsemen) of Norway.

But yeah, probably when it comes to language it doesn't make much difference where they came from back then, Norway or Denmark...