The head of the Danish Embassy’s office in Mykolaiv gave a lecture on the Danish language

A discussion on the linguistic characteristics of Denmark took place in Mykolaiv. Photo: NikVesti

On 14 July, a meeting was held at the Ukrainian-Danish Youth Centre with Jakob Torild, Head of the Danish Embassy’s office in Mykolaiv, dedicated to a comparative analysis of the Ukrainian and Danish languages.

A correspondent from NikVesti attended the meeting.

Andriy, a staff member at the Ukrainian-Danish Youth Centre, welcomed those present and noted that the organisation was set up to support youth initiatives in the region.

The linguistic features of Denmark were discussed in Mykolaiv. Photo: NikVesti

He explained that the centre has been operating since 2024 and encouraged guests to attend lectures, film screenings and other events, as well as to carry out their own projects at the centre.

Jacob Torild Hansen, Head of the Danish Embassy’s office in Mykolaiv, explained that the Danish language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, alongside Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese.

«I’m delighted to see you all. I really like the fact that we have such a small group here, as it gives us the opportunity to discuss the finer points of translation in greater detail. So today we’ll be talking about the Danish language and a little about Ukrainian,» says Jakob.

According to him, a distinctive feature of these languages is their simplified system of word inflection. The speaker noted that Danish, Swedish and Norwegian have almost identical grammatical structures and vocabularies, but differ in pronunciation.

The linguistic features of Denmark were discussed in Mykolaiv. Photo: NikVesti

He also added that the rules mentioned in the example of Germany apply only to a specific federal state and do not extend to other regions, where different requirements apply.

The main part of the programme was devoted to discussing specific Scandinavian concepts, such as «hygge» (an atmosphere of psychological safety and cosiness) and «arbejdsglæde» (job satisfaction).

Those present also analysed Ukrainian expressions that are difficult to translate, sought Danish equivalents for them and learnt basic Danish vocabulary.

The linguistic features of Denmark were discussed in Mykolaiv. Photo: NikVesti

It is worth noting that over three thousand cultural and educational events have already taken place in Mykolaiv in 2026.