SIGURD, a project funded by the European Commission under the Lingua 1 action of the Socrates Programme, aims at increasing the awareness of the linguistic similarities between the various Germanic languages in Europe.

The SIGURD Portal contains a collection of Germanic fairy-tales and other linguistic and historical texts and provides information on Germanic linguistics. There are discussions on methodology and how to help students become aware of the linguistic similarities between their mother tongues and other Germanic languages.

• How many different ways are there to learn a language?

• Have you ever heard of SIGURD?

• Do Swedes and Norwegians understand each other when they speak Swedish and Norwegian?

• Is it true that a Dutchman can never learn Swedish properly?

Why the SIGURD portal

How many different ways are there to learn a language?

There are a hundred different ways to learn a language: you can take a course, you can read a book or watch a movie, you can visit another country. If you want to learn more about the Germanic languages you can the use SIGURD. The SIGURD-website gives you a great deal of information about the languages spoken in northern Europe. It shows you how similar these languages are and how easy it is to learn another northern European language when you are a northern European yourself.

Have you ever heard of SIGURD?

You probably have. SIGURD is a classical hero in European mythology. He became invulnerable after he had slaughtered the dragon that guarded a golden treasure.
SIGURD is also an acronym for the Socrates Initiative for Germanic Understanding and Recognition of Discourse. The SIGURD-website will show you how closely linked Germanic languages are and how easy it is to understand German or Norwegian when you are Dutch or Swedish. And vice versa of course.

Do Swedes and Norwegians understand each other when they speak Swedish and Norwegian?

You probably think they don't. Well, that is not true. When a Swede and a Norwegian meet they can just go on using their own language when they want to talk about the weather, sports, politics or any other topic you can imagine. The reason for that is that their languages are so similar that they don't really need to learn each other's language in order to understand each other. The similarities and differences between the two languages are highlighted in the Sigurd web page. Here you will find a great deal of information on these languages as well as on many other Germanic languages.

Is it true that a Dutchman can never learn Swedish properly?

Of course not! Dutch and Swedish are both Germanic languages. This means that a long time ago these two languages shared a common ancestry. This language
evolved into many different languages like Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, German, Dutch and English. These languages are still very much alike. The SIGURD-website will help you discover the similarities.