The national language of the Faroe Islands is Faroese. Danish is the official second language and is taught in schools at an early age. English is the also taught in schools and is spoken by most people.

HISTORY OF THE FAROESE LANGUAGE

Faroese derives from Old Norse and is closely related to Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. Speakers of the abovementioned Nordic languages will notice familiar words and grammatical structures in the Faroese language.

Venceslaus Ulricus Hammersheimb, a Faroese Lutheran minister, created a spelling system for the Faroese language in 1846. Up until 1938, schools and churches were generally only permitted to use the Danish language. If anyone wished to use Faroese for church services, they had to ask for permission. School generally used Danish, but in some educational instances, especially when dealing with young children, the Faroese language was allowed. In 1938, the Faroese and Danish languages were made equal in schools and churches. The Faroese language became the main language of the Faroe Islands in 1948.

LEARN FAROESE

When Google wouldn’t listen to our request to include the Faroese language on Google Translate, we went ahead and created our own version, calling it Faroe Islands Translate.

People could type a word or phrase into our translation tool and they would recieve a video translation from a random Faroese volunteer within a few seconds.

With over 1.4 million requested translations from over 190 countries, we have built a large database of translations.

Want to learn how to say “I love you”, or “Do you think I’m hot?” or “I want a beer” in Faroese? We have you covered.

Check out Faroe Islands Translate.

TRANSLATION TOOL

Need to translate a word into Faroese? Use this free translation service provided by Sprotin.

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