Learning Danish
The First year I was in Denmark, I didn’t even bother to think about learning Danish. There are a few main reasons beside the fact that I was kind of lazy 
first, Danish people are pretty good at speaking English. Almost everywhere you go in Denmark, you can ask for help in English. Secondly I found Danish pronunciation really weird, (sometimes it sounds like people are throwing up when they talk) I simply didn’t think it would be possible for me to learn it. besides I am a university student whose lectures are all taught in English, and finally, I didn’t really know how long time I would stay here in Denmark, so I figured what do I need Danish for if i don’t live in Denmark? Hehehe… basically what I ‘m trying to say is that there was no need, and no motivation for me to learn Danish. But in 2007 I ran out of excuses, after 5 years here in Denmark and having a Danish boyfriend, I felt that not speaking Danish is not proper behavior.
Don’t ask me why, this is just how I felt. Sometimes when I was asked by people how long time I’d been living in Denmark, and I told them 5 years, most of the Danes were very surprised, and they usually asked me “why don’t you speak Danish?” I was sick and tired of being asked things like that, so I decided to give it a try.
Honestly, I didn’t find Danish as hard as I had imagined. The pronunciation is very unique, but as long as you discover the technique and train the specific muscle area, you will do just fine. You know what, here is a good start, this is the sentence that I was always asked to repeat by my Danish friends. And if you meet a Dane abroad he’ll probably ask you to do the same. If you can pronounce this one properly, you will be able to speak Danish like a native. J
“rødgrød med fløde”
Anyhow The result isn’t bad, I finished modul 5 last year after one and half year (this is the second highest level in the Danish language test system, the highest one is modul 6, and If you pass that one it means that you can study in Danish at university level). My writing is not as good as my oral, this is because written Danish is very different from oral Danish, Danes “eat” a lot of words when they talk, which makes it really hard for foreigners to figure out the meaning when just listening to it.
Actually the only Dane who actually speaks Danish like it’s written is Margrethe the Queen (and old conservative rich people), whereas her Husband’s pronunciation is so bad that he can make even the novice language students swell with prideJ.
11 Comments
that was interesting ! how would you compare it with chinese ? it’s very interesting for me
Hey Misa, I don’t really think you can compare Chinese with Danish since they are derived from two totally different language systems. But if you really want to compare them, I actually think there are some similarities in terms of pronounciation. for instance, the Chinese “Y” and “U” are pronounced in almost the same way as the Danish “Y” and “U”
and another funny example is that, in Danish funny called “sjov” and funny in Chinese is “Xiao” which is actually pronounced in the same way as sjov.
thank you very much Li Yuan Wu for answer ! hehe interesting =)
Hey, Li!
I must say, I totally understand the learning-Danish drama… I’m from Brazil and I have a Danish friend who’s been trying to teach me and it’s SO complicated to speak! But I guess that written Danish is easy for someone who has an amazing English, isn’t it? The whole grammar-structure is alike, and some words look a lot like each other.
Hi Guys….
I am new to group…so hi to everybody.Infect i recently got work permit for Denmark after completing my studies from Germany.I am interested to learn Danish. What would you suggest that what is the cheap and easy way to learn Danish.As Li Yuan mentioned that she lived in Denmark for 5 years…how did you manage the cost of living? are there enough jobs? since i will be learning danish and at the same time will be searching for job so i need some part time to bear my expenses..your answer will be very helpful for me
Hi..
I’m from Philippines and I am an educator.I’ve been considering moving to Denmark in the future and your blogs have been really helpful. It’s so informative.
Keep on writing. More power and Godbless
Hi Li Yuan Wu
i’m from Cairo,Egypt and i was really thinking about learning danish in denmark and i was wondering how much would it cost and how long it takes to speak danish and if there is any scholarships that i can take from denmark to learn danish ,please advise
thank you
Hey Moo,
I’m not sure how much will it cost for learning danish, when you live here in denmark as a foreigner you have 3 years to learn danish almost for free. I’m not sure about the rules which apply to people only come to denmark to learn danish. you can try to call immigration office of denmark. here is the website http://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/frontpage.htm
good luck
Dear Li Yuan Wu
thank you for your respond on my message , the thing is Li is that i can’t find any rules of applying for Danish Language Scholarships for people who’s out side Denmark , i can’t find these kind of data any where not even on the website that you sent me too, which i’ve been there bofore in this website , all i can find is info about An asylum seeker and refugee and i’m not any of these cases , and they don’t have a culture center here in Egypt so i can ask or get info about that , please advise me where i can find these kind of data for people like me who is out side of Denmark and not citizens EU/EEA and nordic countries .
thank you Li for your concern
mazmy99@yahoo.com is my e-mail add if you want to send me any links, thanks
hey there
there is always chances for people to find a job but the problem with denmark is that most of the jobs demand Danish. so put that in mind when consider to come to denmark. good luck
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