Youth in Denmark
The use of English is frequent among young people under 25. English is the predominant second language and is in the school curriculum from the first grade. Roughly 90% of 15- to 21-year-olds speak English with other Danes at least once per week. Youth code switch from Danish to English with friends and classmates. English phrases or words are spoken in between Danish words. Codeswitching is a marker of youth identity and sign of opposition to adult culture. Youth use their language style to differ from adults.
Peer Gynt
"Peer Gynt" was written in Danish, the common written language of Denmark and Norway since the Dano-Norwegian union and throughout Ibsen's lifetime. The language was usually referred to as Danish in Denmark and as Norwegian in Norway, although it was essentially the same written language, and is therefore often called Dano-Norwegian. Due to its basis in Norwegian folktales, the play uses a few Norwegianisms in its vocabulary and idiom, but is otherwise written in a language identical to standard Danish. "Peer Gynt" was originally published by the Danish publisher Gyldendal in Copenhagen and targeted at both the Danish and the Norwegian market in its original language.