If you honestly want to learn a Scandinavian language, I suggest first getting a STRONG foundation in a Germanic language. Germanic languages are evolutions of the Scandi languages, as English is an evolution of Germanic languages (mostly), so it makes a GREAT stop-gap.
Danish is a beautiful language, wish I knew how to speak it.
Soft "D" are used in a lot of languages outside of English, think of it as a hard "Z" sort of. Same tongue movement.