What languages ar they speaking, and when?

Very helpful reply, many thanks. This information is at variance with something I was told around 10 years ago in Copenhagen. I was sitting on a seat in Rådhuspladsen reading a street map. A young guy with a briefcase and a business suit asked to look at the map. He was Swedish and on his way to a meeting. Can't remember all the conversation but one thing he said was that if a Swede and a Dane meet abroad, they quickly realize that they don't understand each other and switch to English. I was a bit sceptical about this at the time.

We watch many subtitled Swedish and Danish TV programmes and one thing we observed, having watched Wallender then switching to Borgen, the differences are evident. My wife remarked that in contrast to Swedish, the Danish language has, to our ears, more than a hint of German.

Hi! I have to say as a native Finn that Estonian and Finnish are not even partially mutually intelligible. They are completely different languages and Finns and Estonians do not understand each other if they are trying to have conversation using only their own languages.

Languages are related though and they do sound very similar. But Finnish and Estonian are actually not that closely related, even though belong to same language group. What comes to grammar and vocabulary, it is different. We might have some same words but they mean different things.

It's a bit off-topic but I had to clarify. But I liked your comment otherwise, very interesting! I knew that Swedish, Danish and Norwegian were mutually intelligible but I didn't know they were so similar. And I love how Danish sounds, I would like to learn that language!

Thank you for such a detailed breakdown of the languages used. I have a minor question for you. Every time the main star answered the phone whether official or personal, she would answer "Saga Norén, Malmö County Police". How would that be written? I couldn't make out aurally the individual words used. Thanks.

Sorry, I just thought of another question. Are there any rules in Danish about how some syllables sound totally different from how they appear in writing? Some syllables seem to almost disappear. For instance, the title Forbrydelsen or the city, København (sp?), sound quite different from how they look.

Thanks for your answer Magnus. I've been wondering the same thing for years and your fulsome and well-written post is very enlightening.

Many thanks again on behalf of all confused non-Scandis :)

Thank you for your exceptional explanation. I live in Australia, and until reading your post - I wrongly assumed the cast were all speaking the same language. Reason being that all the English sub-titles looked the same - white block font. Imagine how much more interesting for foreign viewers the shows would have been, had the subtitles been in two separate colours or fonts?

I guess I will just have too watch, read and "listen" again.

Once again thank you for sharing.

Thanks a lot. Your explanation is clear and perfect. I had this question a long time before Bron/Broen. Solved!
This type of response is what makes the imdb worth it.

How can you compare it to a Londoner & a Glaswegian in conversation? Last time I was in the UK they both spoke English.

Thanks, Magnus Petersson I kept wondering about languages on the show too when I watched Bron/Broen in Estonian national broadcast. I understand Swedish a bit cause it´s close to German what I learned to speak as a teen- and from my mom´s side I´ve got also Estonian-Swedish roots (there was settlement of Swedes on the western coast of Estonia until 1940s. Astrid Lindgren´s illustrator Ilon Wikland is one descendant of them if you know her).
About Finnish and Estonian as Finnic languages, what I speak both, Estonian as native for me, though by blood I´ve got more Oeselian (or an Islander)than Estonian in me, I have to say that Southern-Estonian dialects called Võro and Seto are very similar to Finnish, they´re closely related to ancient form of the language spoken by our ancestors (ie the ancestors of now Finns and Estonians).
Modern Estonian is the mix of old Estonian with major influences from German after Germans settled here for a long time starting from 13th century (and left in 1940s), there´s also notable Swedish influence inherited from 16-18th century when Estonia and Livonia (Southern Estonia and Northern Latvia)were under Swedish crown, and the era from 1960s till 1990s brought also Russian influence + now 2000s and 10s and globalization has erected the English as the biggest influence to the throne.
Which is fine- cause the language is alive and needs to evolve along with it´s speakers and no one has to like in real what it looks like.
So in conclusion the modern Finnish is the language that lend from Swedish mostly and has kept a lot ancient finnic vocabulary compared to Estonian cause it was language that lived in seclusion for most parts and that´s the reason why mostly Finns do not understand Estonian very well- while Estonians understand and speak Finnish quite well (the language´s basically hidden in our unconsciousness, so we just upload it and speak it when needed, :))
Hungarian is Ugric language and is related to Estonian and Finnish only as your hand or leg is related to you, there´s same structure as in Estonian and Finnish, but it´s not intelligible for Estonians or Finns, no common vocabulary, so linguists should find some more appropriate approach to this paradigm. It´s like involuntary banishment to our languages to be called "a brother and it´s sisters" while we´re in real someone, who met at one point, but didn´t leave nothing behind. Like strangers who passed each other without changing a word and the only mutual thing is that both have a soul, feelings, emotions, thoughts ie are alive. I do agree that this way we´re all related and are brothers and sisters, but when it´s considered as an academic truth while there´s borders that separate us both physically and soul-wise, it is not the case. Cause it´s the case of self-delusion then and academic delusions are not any better than individual ones.
As I mentioned previously also my Oeselian roots, then Oeselian is the language that is as similar to Estonian as they´re one body with two heads, but it has different culture within (so it´s not just the matter of physical, stucture and vocabulary what comes to languages, it´s also matter of soul). Oeselian culture is of brotherhood, pride and wealth, but the course of history made it to retreat to sub- and unconsciousness with few exeptions to that. Estonians are then again a very individualistic nation- just like most of the western world these days. (And back in the days Oeselians were also vikings among others, so it´s not at all the "Scandinavian thing" as the popular understanding goes.) I´m proud of all my roots (which basically makes me a mess, cause I´ve got "a ton" of them)and I feel that all the restraints we have in us and the languages we use while communicating, are there only because they want to be released, or as the Buddha said - "You only lose what you cling to" :).

wow! thank you for all these informations. I'm brazilian, and for me they all speak the same language. Brazil is the only portuguese speaking country in south-america. All the other countries speak spanish (with slight difference between them), wich is completely different from portuguese. Thank you again!