This week, I am very happy to feature yet another expat feedback. Say hi to Yao who is from China!
She completed her Prøve i Dansk 3 exam in June 2018 in Copenhagen, with IA Sprog.

I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading this post, where she shares a lot about her personal experience.

Thank you Yao

About you
Hi, I am Yao from China. I have been in Denmark for nearly 3 years.
I hold a Master’s Degree (English Studies, focus on linguistics).

Danish classes
Which school did you attend?
IA Sprog

How did you find the registering process at the school when you enrolled?
The registering process was easy and effortless. The counselor at IA was helpful and professional in evaluating my ability in terms of language learning. Actually I found another language school in the beginning (cannot remember which one it was) but they were reluctant to offer me online courses and suggested several other schools to me. I contacted IA then. I have been happy at IA and never changed school.

Did you take breaks?
No. Straight from March 2016 to June 2018.

Day classes vs evening classes?
I did online class (1 hour/week) for the first 4 modules and day class (2 4-hour classes/week) for a small repetition of Module 4 and the entire Module 5.

How did you find the various modules at school?
Generally I find them all good, in regard to teachers, teaching materials, teaching arrangements (homework etc.) and teaching styles. The process is well designed.
For example, we get teaching materials that respond to the desired difficulty of different modules. And the teachers are also well-trained and well-arranged (more experienced teachers to more advanced modules)

Prøve i Dansk 3 exam
How was the Prøve i Dansk 3 examination?
I took the May/June 2018 PD3. The written part is easy for me (easier than those in the past years). The oral part is average (neither easy or difficult).

Any suggestions in terms of the preparation to PD3?
It’s always good to have a structure, either for essay, oral presentation, or answers to specific questions.Try writing based on preset structures for several times to estimate the length and the time.

Would you recommend any resources to help others?
Listen to debates on P1 (DR). Even if you don’t understand, you get to develop the familiarity to the Danish language. If you understand it mostly, think about their opinions (whether you agree with them or not) and learn how they organize their thoughts, points and arguments – imagine that you are on the broadcast in air and try to organize some responses to the topic by yourself.

Did you think the exam was difficult?
No

Any comments regarding written exam and oral exam?
The written part is easy for me (easier than those in the past years). The oral part is average (neither easy or difficult).

Any comments, recommendations you would like to share with others?
Try think in the Danish way. The exam is not just about the language – language takes up only a small part actually. It’s more about culture and society, and skills such as logical thinking and discussing.

Study Books
Which study books have you used at school for the various modules?
Skolegade, Puls, I gang, Danske stemmer, Rødebutikken, At skrive

Would you recommend these books?
I recommend Skolegade, I gang, Rødebutikken, At skrive.

Skolegade (Used in Module 1-3, mainly Module 1&2): A very full, thorough textbook that covers most if not all aspects of the Danish language: vocabulary (especially conjugation), example sentences, grammar, exercise, scenarios of everyday life. It’s a bit old but good for starters, especially the vocabulary.

I gang (Used in Module 2-3): Scenarios of everyday life. It introduces many expressions of spoken Danish and the videos are fun to watch.

Rødebutikken (Used in Module 5): Very practical reference for the difficult but subtle words in Danish. Highly recommended for writing practice.

At skrive (Used in Module 4&5, mainly Module 5): Very good summary of writing skills and difficult words (conjunctions and adverbs). For more advanced Danish learners. Among all the books I would recommend this one the most.

Danish practice
Do you think it is easy to apply your Danish (that you learned at school) in the everyday life?
Yes

What do you do outside of school to practice your Danish?
I have a language partner and I listen to broadcast in Danish.

Have you listened to Danish podcasts that you think are worth listening to for other students?
Debates on P1 (DR) and Mads & Monopolet.

Have you listened to Danish music that you think is worth listening to for other students?
I listen to Rasmus Seebach sometimes. I would recommend him.

Tips/Suggestions
Do you have any tips about how to improve your Danish while studying and being in Denmark?
Make the best of the opportunities offered at the language schools, such as practicing oral Danish and help for homework.
Your schoolmates can also be very helpful and resourceful in terms of learning Danish.

Yao also has a blog, make sure to check it out > https://yaozhangblog.wordpress.com

The post Expat feedback – Yao from China appeared first on Learn Danish.

This week, I am featuring Eugenio who is from Spain. He completed his Prøve i Dansk 3 exam in June 2018 in Århus, with Lærdansk. Well done !

I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading this post, where he shares his personal experience.

Thank you Eugenio

About you
Hi, I am Eugenio (but everybody calls me Uge). In August it will be three years since I have been living in Denmark
I am a PhD in Hydrology that works as a Postdoc at the Bioscience Department of Aarhus University. My research focuses on hydrological modelling and simulation of future scenarios to assess their impacts on water quantity and quality.
I come from central Spain, from a small village in a province called Guadalajara.

I live in Aarhus C, I am single and I have a lot of hobbies, including sports (particularly tennis), traveling, cooking, reading, nature, music, theater and of course sharing time with family (when possible) and friends.

Danish classes
Which school did you attend?
Lærdansk Aarhus

How did you find the registering process at the school when you enrolled?
I was told at the University, in the “Introductory Day” they organize for new employees, so it was easy for me.

Did you take breaks?
No

How did you find the various modules at school?
I like the module structure, it keeps you motivated (although that also depends a lot on the teacher).

Prøve i Dansk 3 exam
How was the Prøve i Dansk 3 examination?
It was fine, kind of what I expect for an official language exam.

Any suggestions in terms of the preparation to PD3?
Yes, definitively attend all the lessons and do all the homework, it really helps with the written part. Also, try to push yourself to speak, wherever, at work, with your flatmate…

Would you recommend any resources to help others?
If you are not good at speaking, which is my problem, try to find someone to do an exchange. I started too late with that.

Did you think the exam was difficult?
I think it was as it should be.

Any comments regarding written exam and oral exam?
Try to calm yourself, especially before the oral exam because you will get half of your mark in just 10 minutes.

Books at school
What do you think about the books?
I think all of them were very useful, specially “At skrive“, which we were using in this last module.

Danish practice
Do you think it is easy to apply your Danish (that you learned at school) in the everyday life?
That itself is easy, you just have to push yourself, which is the difficult part (at least in my case).

What do you do outside of school to practice your Danish?
I try to speak Danish with my colleagues in the coffee break and in the lunch break. Also in my tennis club and now I am starting speaking Danish with my flat mate too. Eventually, I have done exchange activities, which I like to do more often now.

Have you watched Danish movies that you think are worth seeing for other students?
Not movies, but I watch “Rita” in Netflix, and I can really recommend it. I watch it in Danish with Danish subtitles and I can manage. And I really like it!!

Do you have any tips to improve in Danish?
First and foremost, I think it is very important to be committed with the classes, do not miss any and do always the homework. Then, it is important to expose yourself to the speaking.

The post Expat feedback – Eugenio from Spain appeared first on Learn Danish.

Welcome back to yet another expat feedback. This week, I am featuring Wing who is from Hong Kong. She studied Danish with me and has recently completed her Prøve i Dansk 3 exam. Well done Wing!

Check out her interview, and if you want to decorate your interior, make sure to have a look at her creative designs called “Neet”.

I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading this post, where she shares her personal experience.

Thank you Wing and best of luck with your business

About you
HEJ! I ‘m Wing from Hong Kong. And I’ve been living in Denmark for almost 1½ years.
Currently unemployed, but started my little handcraft business (Instagram: neet.design) not long ago.

Danish classes
I went to Studieskolen from module 1 to 5 day classes until I finished my PD3 exam. I’d say it’s been a pleasant/tiny bit stress experience with Studieskolen. Pleasant is because all of the teachers.

I had in every module, are really good and helpful. The tiny bit stress part was, you have to do all(or most) of the homework to keep up with the class. And for a person like me, who left school quite a while, that could be a challenge.

Prøve i Dansk 3 exam
No need to worry about the preparation to PD3, if you attend Studieskolen. You’ll get a lot of information and training in the class or as homework.
I’d recommend to try to read more newspaper like DR Nyheder. Just find something that you’re interested in. I also find that some of the documentary of DR are helpful, both for written and oral exam.

Do you have any tips to improve in Danish?
If you have a Dane as a partner or friends, try to write them on messenger/emails/whatever in Danish at first.
And Don’t be afraid to start speaking in Danish in the public! I mean for example, just ordering food or asking a simple question in the store. We all know Danes are really good at English, but just speak Danish to them.
I know it could be frustrated (tell me about it, with an Asian face, Danes will immediate think that I’m a tourist) that they probably would answer in English or say “HVAD??”, don’t let it get into you. Keep trying!

And another suggestion is that watch TV.
I particularly found that cartoon (I watched “Gurli gris” aka “Peppa pig” (British version) helps a lot. Because it’s easier to understand and that, would boost your confident and motivation to keep learning.

The post Expat feedback – Wing from Hong Kong appeared first on Learn Danish.

The past months have been very intense for me with preparing the Prøve i Dansk 3 exam, meaning I did not publish many expat feedback. Welcome back to the Danish Expat Feedback series!  This month, I am very happy to feature a feedback from Alexandra, who recently completed Prøve i Dansk 3 with Københavns Sprogcenter.

I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading this post, where she shares her personal experience.

Thank you Alexandra and congratulations again on successfully completing PD3!

About you
Hi! My name is Alexandra, I’m from Russia.
My major is in translation/interpreting, but I’m currently exploring other options since Russian is not the most wide-used language in Denmark Meanwhile I’m enjoying being a stay-at-home mom in one of the most wonderful cities I’ve ever been to.
My husband and I moved to Copenhagen two years ago, and a month later I started learning Danish at Københavns Sprogcenter

Danish classes
I enrolled for online classes as I didn’t have much choice at the time: my classes started in August and my son was born in September, so day/evening classes weren’t really an option.

At first, I was worried they might not be as intensive as the offline classes but they proved to work just great for me, so I stuck with those, modules 1 through 5, no breaks. Each next module builds on top of what you already know from the previous one, and the topics are pretty down-to-earth and useful in everyday life. Listening was probably the hardest part, but hey, it still is, since real Danish people speak nothing like what any book can teach you.

Prøve i Dansk 3 exam
So finally, a couple of weeks ago, I had my Prøve i Dansk 3 examination. What can I say? If you’ve made it this far, you’ll be just fine, so don’t freak out too much
Practicing sure helps, especially with the written part, since the tests are more or less the same every year, you get a chance to see what will be expected from you. So just do every test from previous years you can find. In my case, they were provided by the teacher but I’m sure it won’t be too hard to find those online.
As for the oral exam, it turned out to be less stressful than I expected it to be. Everyone was friendly and the questions were limited to the details of what my monologue was about (my topic was about one of the political parties, so the questions were about their views and ideas). Be confident, don’t go into silence; if you didn’t quite get the question, ask to repeat it – it’s better than answering something completely different or not answering at all.

Study Books
Which study books have you used at school for the various modules?

• Module 1 – På vej til dansk. Trin for trin.
• Module 2 – Videre mod dansk. Trin for trin.
• Module 3 – Det kommer!
• Module 4 – Pæredansk
• Module 5 – Danske stemmer

I was quite happy with the choice of books, they worked great for me. After each chapter you basically get one more topic you can more or less freely discuss with the Danes. After my very first class I could already say what my name is, where I come from and what languages I speak.
Further on, when you get to module 3, you get introduced to the unique Danish sense of humor, texts become more sarcastic and way more interesting to discuss.

Do you have any tips to improve in Danish?

I am afraid I am not the one to ask for tips on practicing Danish in the everyday life, since I’m still struggling myself. I find it so much easier to switch to English every time I have a conversation. But I’m working on it, and my son motivates me a lot: after all, I would really like to understand what he’s saying when he starts going to the all-Danish nursery

Good luck with your studies! It’s totally manageable if that’s what you want.

The post Expat feedback – Alexandra from Russia appeared first on Learn Danish.

This month, I am very happy to feature a feedback from a fellow French expat, Cécilia, who is studying Danish in Copenhagen (Studieskolen).

If you are new to this blog, make sure to check out all the very inspiring Expat Feedback interviews.

I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading this post, where he shares her personal experience.

Thank you Cécilia!

About you
I’m Cécilia, 28 years old, from France. I have been living in Denmark for a year and a month, but the first 3 months I was here on and off. My girlfriend is Danish, we’ve been living in France for a bit and decided to move to Copenhagen. I’m educated as nurse and have 3 years of experience. I will be able to work in a few months when my Danish get at a good level, for now I just started a job as a handicap helper in Copenhagen.

School – Registering process
I am learning Danish in Studieskolen in Copenhagen. The registering process at the school is really simple, I got invited for an interview, after I applied for the school online. During the interview, they checked my background and my basic understanding of grammar, but nothing complicated. I had 2 breaks in 14 months, each time I just had to notify the school by mail.

How did you find the various modules at school?
I really liked module 1 and module 2, it was really fun. The focus was on learning everyday vocabulary, making simple sentences, reading and pronunciation.
The modules 3 to 4.1, were the most frustrating for me. Danish has a lot of missing grammar rules, so sometimes I didn’t understand why the sentences were done a certain way. Also during those modules my understanding of Danish became good enough, but I had a hard time making sentence complete, because of my lack of vocabulary. But from module 4.2, I have been feeling more comfortable. I still have a lot of vocabulary to learn and some grammar rule to clarify, but I can feel I progress every day.
The exams for each module were relatively easy. I think we are well prepared at school.
I’ve only been to morning classes 9h00-13h00, 3 times a week. And I really like the rhythm. It’s a bit intense, but at the same time it’s a good way to keep on learning.

Study Books
I think the books are really adapted to the level. Sometimes the topics get a bit boring and repetitive but I guess that is what we need to learn. The grammar exercises are really good and the listening exercises help to understand more and more. I would definitely recommend them as there is a focus (with all of them) on what important to learn regarding to the level you are at.

Danish practice
Do you think it is easy to apply your Danish (that you learned at school) in the everyday life?
I think the Danish we learn at school completely correspond to the Danish that it’s talked outside as our teacher uses everyday vocabulary with us. I think with time it becomes easier and easier to use it. To keep practicing my Danish, I tried to talk it as much as I can with my girlfriend, friends, family and outside. I’m read mostly newspaper, and watch DR TV. They have really good documentary-society program and it helps to build vocabulary.

Do you have any tips to improve in Danish?
If you have someone to speak Danish with, do it as much as you can, even if you get tired of it.
Watch some Danish T.V-shows, it helps for the understanding.
I sometimes try to listen to people conversations, it helps me to get familiar with the words sounds.
And in all occasion, you’re able to practice your Danish, you can try, and if it doesn’t work change to English.

The post Expat feedback – Cécilia from France appeared first on Learn Danish.

Welcome to the first expat feedback of 2018! If you are new to this blog, make sure to check out the Expat Feedback interviews from last year!

This week, I am very happy to feature a feedback from Ioana who studied Danish in Århus with LærDansk and completed her PD3 in 2016. Make sure to follow her on Instagram (@basedindk) to follow her latest news

I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading this post, where he shares her personal experience.

Thank you Ioana!

About you
My name is Ioana. I am from Romania and have been here for 3,5 years. My first 2 years here I spent on taking my Master’s degree at Aarhus BSS in Corporate Communication, and for the past 1,5 years I’ve been working for BESTSELLER, which is a Danish fashion company. I live in Aarhus, and I have pretty common hobbies, such as spending time with my friends, my boyfriend, going to the gym and eating tons of good food. I am a huge foodie and a party girl at heart. Three exciting things going on in my life right now: I will start going to CrossFit from February, next Wednesday I start taking Danish classes again (this time at FOF Aarhus) and I am now trying to be a pro at InDesign.

Danish classes
As for my Danish learning background, I’ve been pretty dedicated to learning the language from the start, and I still am. I am quite committed to living in Denmark and I my goal is to get a job where I can fully work in Danish in the next 3-4 years. Coming here as a student, you get all the support you need to sign up for Danish classes. I took my Danish classes at Lærdansk in Aarhus, and from what I remember it was just a matter of getting a paper from the job center in order to sign up for the classes.

Day classes vs evening classes?
Because I had university courses during the day, and later on became employed, I took classes in the evening twice a week. I must admit it’s pretty tough to go to class in the evening when you’ve already had a long day, but it helps if you have a cool teacher, some coffee and some snacks. And of course, if you are motivated to stick with it. But if you have a choice and can go in the morning or during the day, I’d really recommend you do so. I also had a 5 months period where I only attended one of the classes as I was going to university full time, had an internship and worked a part time job on the side.
I really appreciated that I had the flexibility in that sense and that I could be able to at least go once a week and be on track with my study. I think a learning from me here and maybe an advice to others is – don’t make excuses for yourself of why you can’t go, but suck it up, find a middle ground solution and keep going. I’ve seen so many who decided to pause their education because they had so many other things to do and never came back. Or came back too late and regretted missing valuable time. The faster you learn Danish, the easier it is to live in Denmark.

How did you find the various modules at school?
I think the modules themselves and what they entail are totally fine. What really makes or breaks a class (at least personally) is the teacher’s way of holding the class and the colleagues in the class – how dedicated they are and how much better or worse they are compared to you. I guess what I am trying to say is that if it really feels wrong, in the sense that the class is way too advanced or on the contrary, try and see if you can change. I’ve also had teachers I could really not connect with and teachers that were so into it, so funny, so energetic, that going to class was instantly a good experience. The good thing about the classes is that if you’re stuck with a teacher you can’t relate to, most likely you’ll get another one for your next module.

How was the Prøve i Dansk 3 examination?
I went to class for 2,5 years and “graduated” from PD3 a year ago, so some of my memories faded away. What I remember clearly is that the talks pre-exam made it sound like such a huge thing, such an important exam. And I’m not saying it’s not, more like take it easy – it’s more difficult than all the other tests you’ve had so far, but you are supposedly better prepared as well. My exam was held in this big hall with tens of tables and people. For those who don’t do good with tests it can be pretty intimidating. You leave your phone in a box at the entrance, you’re given a number – very much like any other official exam. My advice here is: up to the exam try and go to all classes and make an effort to do your homework – because most of the time the homework in the module before the exam is made out of assignments similar to the ones at PD3.

Any comments regarding the exam?
The first part of the exam (the written one if you wish) has a listening, reading and writing part. For the writing part you are allowed to bring a dictionary and if I remember right, a list with verbs. That helps a lot. Also, don’t try to write better than you normally do. Stick with expressions and phrases you know. Don’t try any sophisticated language. It won’t work if you haven’t used it before. For the listening part, if you can’t hear one thing, don’t get stuck, don’t panic, just let it be and focus on the next thing coming. Same for the reading. If you can’t find one answer, move to the next question. Try and get as many answers as possible, and when you’re done, go back and try and figure out what you skipped. The worst mistake you can do is block at one question you can’t answer.

The second part (the oral exam) is held another day. I can’t remember the exercises precisely, but I remember before the exam we had a chance to prepare for all the topics that we could get. Do that, prepare a little speech for all topics beforehand and try and memorize key words and phrases related to each topic. Don’t learn by heart the whole speech though. Again, what worked for me was sticking to the way I expressed in my regular conversations in Danish. In the end, the feedback from my examiner was that my grammar is not 100% perfect but that my natural way of speaking will make it easy for me to figure it out in the world. Which is basically why I took that education so yay me.

Study Books
I studied from Puls and then we always got extra material in class from the teachers for grammar exercises. I really don’t think there’s an issue with the material. I always had some and more to learn from.

Danish practice
Do you think it is easy to apply your Danish (that you learned at school) in the everyday life?
As for applying my Danish in everyday life, I use it from time to time but for sure not every day. At work I have a colleague who knows I understand and speak Danish so she writes and talks to me in Danish most of the time. I also sometime attend meetings in Danish and in general listen to a lot of Danish at work. The most I’ve used Danish is with my boyfriend’s family, and then I also speak Danish when I shop, when I go partying downtown, and when I write emails to authorities, the caretaker, the gym and so on. On top of that, I do listen to music and news in Danish every morning on my way to work, and have Danish subtitles to all movies and series I watch.

Movies, series and Books suggestions
Movies to watch: Underverden – by far the best Danish movie I saw, and it’s from this year. More here.

Series to watch: Forbrydelsen – has 4 seasons but the 1st is by far the best and you can watch it for free on dr.dk here & Broen – I am now watching season 4, also running on dr.dk for free.

Books to read: I barely get myself to read something in English, let alone in Danish, but this Christmas I read a Christmas calendar and I really recommend you start doing that next Christmas. It takes 15 minutes a day and it keeps you motivated to finish it by Christmas. I read Nissebanded i Grønland.

You can read another article on my relationship with Danish here. I wrote it almost 2 years ago and maybe things have changed a bit but I still think it’s relevant.

What do you do outside of school to practice your Danish?
When I was going to Lærdansk, as a student I got a Danish online language partner through one of the school’s programs called Taldansk. We talked once a week through Skype, as she lived in Copenhagen and I lived in Aarhus. That was by far the most helpful thing I did to have the courage to talk Danish with Danes. I strongly recommend it.

I also volunteered at the school and was an advocate for the program, seeing how much it brought me. Lærdansk also has a language cafe down in the basement of the school, if you want face to face conversation, and they always have volunteers happy to talk to you. More about Lærdansk opportunities here.

While I was studying for PD3, to stay motivated with doing my homework in the weekends, I formed a group called Danish and Fun. The International Community in Aarhus jumped in and helped us get a room at Dokk1 in Aarhus to hold our weekly meetings, and soon after when I couldn’t be responsible for the group anymore due to work, they took over and made it part of their programme. If anyone is from Aarhus, do go over. It’s every Sunday from 13:30 to 15:30, there’s language games, Danish volunteers, and internationals to socialize with.

You can find out more info about it here.

One cool thing I did at Lærdansk was being part of a promotional campaign for the school. Here is the picture of me appearing in an ad at a bus stop!

I also took part in a video with Lærdansk, which was after my first year learning Danish

Follow Ioana on Instagram @basedindk

The post Expat feedback – Ioana from Romania appeared first on Learn Danish.

Welcome back to the Expat Feedback interviews, which will be the last one for 2017.

This week, Carlos who goes to the same school as me, accepted to share his experience of learning Danish!
I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading this post, where he shares his personal experience.

Thank you Carlos!

About you

Hi, I am Carlos, both Brazilian and Portuguese.
I moved from Mexico City to Denmark with my wife and two daughters back in May 2016, as she was transferred to the Nordic branch of her company. The first month we lived in Christianshavn and later we moved to the city centre, near Kongens Nytorv. I spent most of my professional life working as an accountant in advertising agencies both in Brazil and in Mexico, with a few years gap when I worked as a private stock trader in the Brazilan Stock Market. But since I arrived in Denmark, I took a break from my professional life, in order to dedicate myself to my daughters. But I intend to go back to my career next year.

Your school

I am attending Danish classes at Studienskolen, which is really close to my home. The registering process was quite easy, just a small test on grammar and it was done. Actually, I am on module 4.2 and apart from the 6 weeks summer break, I never stopped my studies as I want to finish them as soon as I can. As I am a stay-at-home dad, I am taking daily classes, 3 times a week. The modules were not very hard, except for this one. I am not sure if it is the module that is hard or if it is me who is loosing motivation.

Study Books

In this module, we are using the Pæredansk as a book. Lots of texts and conversation exercises in this book, quite different from the previous ones that were more focused on individual exercises and grammar. What I like in this book is that it has a lot of interesting texts about several aspects of the Danish life.

Danish practice

I rarely use what I learned at school to speak, as you know, Danes always turn to English when they notice you can’t speak very well. But the Danish lessons were quite helpful to read the newspapers, like Metro and BT, to watch Danish TV as DRTV have some really good TV shows as “Billet til kærlighed”.

But also series such as Matador (thumbs up for this one) and Denmark’s history. I am also a big fan of a Youtube channel called “WTF er det?” as they talk about curious topics in a Danish level that is not very hard to understand.

I never listen to Danish podcasts, sometimes I listen to Danish radio. I rarely listen to danish music, apart from the very famous Gulddreng.

Tips/Suggestions
Do you have any tips about how to improve your Danish while studying and being in Denmark

My tip / suggestion to improve your Danish is: read, read, read, listen, listen, listen and talk, talk, talk. As the Danes have this bad habit to switch to English, I am now pretending that I cannot speak English, only Portuguese and a little Danish. I used it in a Café and it worked quite well!

The post Expat feedback – Carlos from Brazil/Portugal appeared first on Learn Danish.

This week I am featuring Zivile, who is living in Odense and nearly done with learning Danish!

This is the first interview from an expat studying in Fyn , which is a great addition to the “Expat Feedback” series.
I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading this post, where she shares her personal experience of learning Danish.

Thank you Zivile and best of luck with the Prøve i Dansk 3 exam

About you
Hi all. I am Zivile from Lithuania. I moved to Denmark a bit more than 3 years ago for my master studies at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense.

Now I work as a full time consultant at International Community Odense. Danish language is now a big part of my everyday life and I am glad to share a bit more about my experience learning Danish with you.

Which school are you attending
Lærdansk Odense. However, I started studying Danish back in Lithuania, where I finished courses for levels A1 and A2.
I have also attended a couple of summer schools for foreign students at KVUC in Copenhagen, while studying my bachelor.

Have you taken breaks?
Yes, about 4 months after starting my Danish education at Lærdansk Odense I decided to take a break, as I was not too satisfied with the system and too busy with my studies and part-time job. However, I am not a quitter, so I came back to the language school several months later and continued my education.

If you are still studying, which module are you on now?
I am now in module 3.5 and awaiting for my Dansk Prøve 3 test in the middle of November. If everything goes well I will be done with my Danish education in mid-December.

Day classes vs evening classes?
I have only attended the evening classes due to my studies and later work schedule.

Do you think it is easy to apply your Danish (that you learned at school) in the everyday life?
Not all the time. It might be hard at the beginning, especially if you are talking to people who are not used to hear foreigners speaking Danish. Sometimes people switch to English because they want to be nice or some are happy to have a chance to practice their English. You need to be determined and do not give up.

© Zivile (joyfultalks.com)

What do you do outside of school to practice your Danish?
Having an internship and then later a job at a Danish speaking workplace was a game changer for me. It sure helped me improve my written and spoken Danish, but most of all boosted my self confidence to speak Danish. I practice my Danish in a daily life situations – at a post office, ordering food and coffee. Besides that I like reading news in Danish, watching Danish tv, following relevant Danish pages on social media.

Have you watched Danish movies that you think are worth seeing for other students?
Now almost becoming classics – Jagten (The Hunt) and En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair) are the ones I would recomend watching. For those who like old school tv-series, check out Matador, or the Danish sitcom Klovn (Clown). I would say, Netflix or dr.dk is a go to places if you wish to watch something in Danish. Even having Danish subtitles once you watch any other content, helps a lot to broaden your vocabulary.

Tips/Suggestions
Do you have any tips on how to improve your Danish while studying and being in Denmark?

Try to speak Danish outside of the language school as much as possible, go to a language café (we have Chat in Danish in Odense, and some others), find a tandem language partner.

Be determined – it takes time, but it’s worth it.

Zivile has a very nice blog where she writes about people, culture and life in Denmark Make sure to check it out on joyfultalks.com.
You can also find her on Instagram and Facebook.

The post Expat feedback – Zivile from Lithuania appeared first on Learn Danish.

Let’s continue on the Expat Feedback series with one of my fellow student Carina. I am very pleased to be able to share again a new expat feedback on the blog!

I have been studying Danish with Carina since Module 3.2 and like many of us, she is a very determined student to become a pro at Danish!

I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading this post, where she shares her personal experience of learning Danish.

Thank you Carina!

About you

Hi, my name is Carina and I am from Germany. I have been living in Denmark since January 2017.

Your school

I started Danish classes in February at VUF (Voksen Uddannelsescenter Frederiksberg). Since I already learned some basic Danish back home in Germany, I skipped module 1 and started right away with module 2.

In May I decided to change my language school, because I wanted to have more intensive and demanding classes. I started with module 3.2 in Studieskolen.

How did you find the registering process at the schools when you enrolled?
In both schools, VUF and Studieskolen, I had no problems with registering. Since I already knew some Danish, my language skills needed to be tested beforehand.

At VUF one of the secretaries talked a few basic sentences in Danish with me and then decided that I should start in module 2. I think this level was too low.  After the first day in class I asked if it was possible to switch to a more advanced class. Unfortunately, this was not possible. That is also one of the reasons, why I decided to change the language school.

At Studieskolen the Danish test seemed more professional. First, I had to write a short text in Danish and then I talked to a Danish teacher. In my opinion this system works much better to assess someone’s Danish skills and to place him or her in the right class.

Have you taken breaks?
No

If you are still studying, which module are you on now?
I am currently in Module 5.1

Day classes vs evening classes?

I attended both, day and evening classes, at Studieskolen. If you have the time to attend day classes, you should do it. There you get more practice than in the evening classes. In my opinion day classes are also more fun, because you get to know the other students better and thus there is a better group feeling in the class.

Which study books have you used at school and your experience with them?

Puls 2 (in Module 2 at VUF): The book has a lot of different exercise types and is well structured (with a grammar section at the end). But in my opinion, there were too many repetitions (regarding the topics).

Det kommer (in Module 3.2): I liked it, because it covers interesting topics and it comes with its own exercise book, which I found very useful.

Pæredansk (in Module 4): There are some topics, that were already covered in earlier modules (such as food and animals), but in this book, there is a stronger focus on new vocabulary. At the end of the book there is a short grammar section, which makes it easier to look up specific questions.

Currently we are working with a new book written by Birte Langgaard. The book is not yet published. I like it, because we get to talk about some new topics, such as health and politics.

Update from August 2018: The book has been published, it is called “Højt til loftet” (Published in 2018).

Do you think it is easy to apply your Danish (that you learned at school) in the everyday life?

At the beginning it is very hard. It happened several times to me, that I asked something in Danish and got the answer in English. This is frustrating, but it is important not to give up too quickly.

What do you do outside of school to practice your Danish?

I have language buddies that I meet regularly. These are Danish native speakers that would like to improve their German.
When we meet, we usually talk one hour in German and then one hour in Danish. This way we both get to practice the language we want to learn. I started meeting with them in February/March and I found it very useful to lose the fear of speaking Danish outside of school.

Have you watched Danish movies that you think are worth seeing for other students?

I have watched Matador, the documentary series “Historien om Danmark” and some Danish movies. Watching movies in Danish is a great practice, that I strongly recommend to all Danish students.

Historien om Danmark – Documentary on DR

Tips/Suggestions
Do you have any tips about how to improve your Danish while studying and being in Denmark

It is very important to use Danish outside of class. Therefore, I recommend reading Danish books or newspapers, watching Danish movies and getting some Danish friends or language buddies that are patient enough to speak Danish with you even though your Danish is not perfect yet.

The post Expat feedback – Carina from Germany appeared first on Learn Danish.

Over the past couple of months, I have been listening to Danish podcasts and I really wanted to share my feedback about podcasts. I was introduced to listening to Danish podcasts during module 4.

From what I have experienced, it has proven to be a great learning tool in addition to reading, listening to Danish music and watching Danish movies. It is great for the simple fact, that you have to really focus on what is being said.
In my opinion, here are 3 topics that are really crucial to make the most of listening to Danish podcasts:

Podcast Host
I think that it is real challenge to find the right podcast, because some podcasts hosts talk way too fast, mumble a lot, or use vocabulary that is too technical for my level in Danish.

Duration
I have been able to keep full focus on podcasts that are no longer than 30min. After that time, I really start to get tired and lose track with what is being said.

Topic
This one is kind of obvious, but you want to make sure that you enjoy what you are listening too. No point to torture your ears and brain with listening to podcasts that are just not that appealing to you.

My Danish podcast selection

Because there are so many podcasts online, I thought to share some of the ones that I enjoyed listening too and that are not too hard to listen to. Make sure to follow me on @learndanishblog and/or Facebook, where I will share my new podcasts in the future.

If you know and enjoy other podcasts, please feel free to contact me. I will be very happy to share them on the blog and update this post!

Så længe det kan spises

Type: Food podcast
Duration: Episodes can last up to 30min max. Started in July 2018.
Host: Kris & Chris
Difficulty: Episodes are not so long, easy enough to keep up with.
Story: I like this podcast because they invite each other in a restaurant once a month and talk about food. Always nice to build up your food vocabulary, and can help you with an everyday conversation
Link: Here is the link if you want to listen to itMake sure to follow them on Instagram to get their latest updates: @detkanspises

All inclusive

Type: Documentary
Duration: This is a podcast series of 7 episodes, average 25 min per episode. Added in August 2017.
Host: The host is Simon Jul (Danish actor and comedian).
Difficulty: I liked this podcast because it wasn’t too difficult to understand and I could learn many new words and expressions.
Story: The story is quite fun as he goes for the first time on an All-Inclusive holiday in Crete and shares his daily feedback.
Link: Here is the link if you want to listen to it: http://www.radio24syv.dk/programmer/all-inclusive/

Ha’ Det Godt På Job

Type: Documentary
Duration: This is a podcast series including 5 episodes (average 23 min per episode). Started in March 2017.
Host: Mads Elk
Difficulty: Very clear pronunciation from Mads Elk, great to listen to. I personally really liked this podcast as it covers the workplace in Denmark with its specific vocabulary.
Story: The workplace in Denmark, managing people, competition with other countries.
Link: Here is the link if you want to listen to it: https://radioplay.dk/podcast/ha-det-godt-paa-job/

C:NTACT

Type: Documentary
Duration: Episodes can last from 5min up to 20 min. Started in April 2017.
Host: Danes telling a story about themselves. C:NTACT is an independent theatre and media organisation dedicated to social and cultural integration and education. They are based at the Edison stage in Copenhagen.
Difficulty: Can be challenging for certain episodes. I like this podcast because there are many people talking so you get to hear different pronunciations. Also, it helps you dive a bit more into Danish society.
Story: Everyday stories, some are personal, other more society oriented. They do mini series also as part of the podcast.
Link: Here is the link if you want to listen to it: http://www.radio24syv.dk/programmer/contact

Podcast resources

I encourage you to check these websites, as they have many great podcasts to choose from. These are the three that I personally use a lot. If you use other resources, please feel free to share them with me and I will add them to the blog!

DR

They have a very large choice of podcasts to choose from. A great website to check out.
You can download their app on your phone as well. Iphone or Android.Web link: http://www.dr.dk/allepodcast

Have you checked out my Summer 2018 Podcasts article?

The post Listening to Danish Podcasts to improve appeared first on Learn Danish.