In northern Europe, a backlash against English is under way

CALL IT, AS the Danes do, a luksusproblem, a luxury problem. Many citizens of Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden are fluent in English and often impress tourists with their command of the language. This aptitude has also prompted controversy, however, as universities have become excellent, international institutions offering courses taught mostly—or even entirely—in English.

Some citizens of the Netherlands and Nordic countries wonder what space will be left for their national languages if their flagship universities increasingly do not teach in it. Linguists call it “domain loss”. The language does not die out, since new generations of children continue to be brought up with it, but speakers use it in fewer academic contexts.