Any Scandinavian language speaking communities left in MN? (Isle: 2013, home)

[laplander]

I found this item in the Chaska paper, i thought you may want to see it.

[belmont22]

Thought this was an interesting topic.

Yeah, when did Scandinavian languages in the upper Midwest die out?

[Beenhere4ever]

My grandfather served several Norwegian-speaking parishes. Mindekirken in Minneapolis conducts services in Norwegian. But mostly this is nostalgia for the past. My father lost NO time in not only mastering English but then went to work on his foreign accent. In those days, what we see today with recent immigrants was not fashionable.

[moving123456]

Originally Posted by belmont22

Thought this was an interesting topic.

Yeah, when did Scandinavian languages in the upper Midwest die out?

My grandparents in their 70's are the last to know much Norwegian in my family, I don't even think they are fluent.

Some of the cooking, canning, and preserving type traditions have been passed down, but there seems to be little interest in the language.

[ocsid]

My grandfather in law speaks Norwegian, but like was mentioned in an earlier post, he speaks a very old dialect (he's 85). Apparently on a visit to Norway, it was a bit of an oddity and people sort of clamored around him because of it. I suspect that it's just a few really old folks in rural areas that still know the language. Keep in mind, that Norway, Sweden and Denmark are fairly low in population, so there aren't really that many people in general that speak Scandinavian languages.

And Finnish isn't a Scandinavian language at all. It's most closely related to Estonian, and distantly related to Hungarian (which is a really isolated language that isn't really similar to anything else).

[glendog]

Not that I know of but Saint Paul and much of Minnesota was actually originally settled by French and French Canadians a fact many people don't know. Look at all the French names for everything! From Pierre Parrant and Father Galtier who settled Saint Paul on down the line... Some names have been anglicized or are pronounced with an English pronunciation but the history is French. Just look at all the French names in Minnesota! From Hennepin (pronounced Ahn Pahn in French) Nicollet, (pr Nee co lay) Frontenac, Pepin (pr Pay pAHn) Lac Superieur, Saint Paul, Cloquet, Saint Croix, Vermillion, Brainerd (pr Breh-nair) Mille Lacs, Duluth (pr Doo-loot) Robert street (pr Row Bear) Groseiller (Gooseberry falls) Radisson, Lac qui Parle, Lake Traverse, Faribault, Roseau, I could on and on and on...Minnesota is chock full of French history and names.
My grandparents spoke French in their house in Saint Paul and taught me when I'd visit.
My great grandparents and great aunts and uncles on both sides were also 100% French and are all buried in the old Catholic cemeteries in and around Saint Paul with headstones totally in French.

[The Old Scowl]

Mindekirken might have a group in their congregation that meets for Norwegian language conversation. I know of 2 people (a couple) that attend the church who are fluent in Norwegian, but they are more recent immigrants, (as in the past 60-70 years). I can check with their daughter, who is a neighbor of mine, as long as she is not overseas.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by belmont22

Thought this was an interesting topic.

Yeah, when did Scandinavian languages in the upper Midwest die out?

My great-grandparents spoke Norwegian, but they didn't speak it to their kids. My grandparents don't know more than a handful of words. I know more, but that's because I studied it, not because it lived on in my family. I think that's fairly typical -- just part of the assimilation thing. Same thing with German, another big language commonly spoken around here in years past.

While you don't find that many third- or fourth-generation people around here speaking Scandinavian languages, I wouldn't say it's died out, or at least interest hasn't died out -- there are a lot of Scandinavian language classes around, the various cultural organizations still sponsor language classes and summer camps for the kids, Concordia Villages are located here in our state and the Scandinavian camps remain very popular, and many of our state's colleges and universities still offer Scandinavian languages. They're teaching modern languages, though, and I assume a quite different dialect than what so many Minnesotans would be speaking if they were speaking the dialects spoken by their relatives who came here 100 or more years ago. So I would say that interest in the Scandinavian languages is still relatively high here compared to most parts of the country, even if the speakers (or would-be speakers) didn't grow up speaking the languages at home.

[Glenfield]

I'd suggest contacting the Sons of Norway.
Sons of Norway

[iNviNciBL3]

The "Scandinavian culture" in Minnesota is long gone,

now we just have people who put a Swedish flag on their front porch but they cant even name one city in Sweden.