Welcome to my first post of 2018! This time, I will cover something we all love to do, which is watching movies and TV series

The environment to practice your Danish understanding is perfect as you can be at home, feeling the hygge vibe with your dictionary and hot chocolate. Alternatively, you can also be commuting and watching it on your phone.

In this post, I will share with you some of the resources I use to watch movies and series. I will also recommend some movies which I personally watched at home or at school, but also movies recommended by Danes. Please note some movies may not be amazing, but because they are available in Danish, this helps practice your Danish.

I will not include so many links without subtitles, as it can be very challenging not to have subtitles. However, by Module 5 you should be able to understand a lot more without subtitles, especially if it is Danish TV news and documentaries.

This post is actually aimed at anyone currently learning Danish, so I would suggest the following:

Module 1 : Use English subtitles and watch in Danish.
Module 2 : Use English subtitles and watch in Danish
Module 3 : Use English subtitles and watch in Danish. If you feel like pushing yourself, switch to Danish subtitles
Module 4: Use Danish subtitles and watch in Danish
Module 5: Use Danish subtitles and watch in Danish. If you feel like pushing yourself, remove all subtitles.

You will be amazed how much you can improve your listening and understanding by simply watching movies, series and documentaries in Danish!
Have fun and challenge yourself

Resources for Danish films, TV series and documentaries

Filmstriben

www.filmstriben.dk

Great website with thousands of films and many series to watch in Danish, but also in other languages. A great alternative to Netflix, that is free of charge. You need to register first at your local library, which will give you a pin code to login.
Based on which library you are assigned to, you may be able to watch a different amount of films on a monthly basis.

I really like this website as the quality is excellent and you can use subtitles in Danish. Please note this may note be so suitable if you have trouble to read Danish, i.e: early modules.

DR website

www.dr.dk/tv/programmer/alle

DR has a huge database to choose from if you want to watch in Danish. Have a look at their website and choose what you like. Their content is not available for an unlimited period, so make sure to double check when it will be removed. I use DR.dk quite a lot, as it is excellent quality, subtitled and easy to find what I am searching for.

DR Bonanza

www.dr.dk/bonanza

DR Bonanza has many old films, documentaries and series available online. They are not so recent programs, therefore the quality is not always the best. However, it is a great way to practice. There are many programs to choose from, the best is for you to just browse the website and search based on your personal interests.

Netflix

www.netflix.com

Even if this one is kind of super obvious, I still need to mention it in this post. Unlike the previous websites, Netflix has a limited amount of Danish material available, however they have Danish and English subtitles all the time, which is a great help for the early modules, all the way up to module 5.

The downside is that you need to pay a subscription, unless you know someone who is super nice and can borrow their account for you to practice Danish!

Dansk Filmskat

https://www.danskfilmskat.dk/

Dansk Filmskat has a nice collection of not so recent Danish movies. It is a subscription based website, but worth a shot if you really want to dive into Danish movies. You can search movies according to various filters in case you want to narrow down a title.

Films, TV series and documentaries to watch

Here is a list that I would recommend, if you want to improve your Danish level and dive deeper into the culture. Some may not be available in the above platforms, so I will let you decide the best way to find them online or offline

This is a work in progress list, which I will update continuously.

The post Watching Danish Movies and TV series appeared first on Learn Danish.

Welcome to the “Prøve I Dansk 3” feedback series!
Over the past couple of weeks, I published my personal reviews about Module 1 and Module 2. Let’s continue and move onto Module 3!

Please note that below feedback is based on my personal experience at Studieskolen in Copenhagen. The content of the modules that I describe is obviously subject to change with time (as per the national guidelines) and can vary slightly based on the teacher and the school.

If you feel like sharing your own feedback about your experience in learning Danish in Denmark, you are very welcome to contact me. I will gladly feature you on the blog!

In order to have consistency throughout theses module reviews, I will use the same analytical structure:

• Module expectations
• Module structure
• Module Test
• Book used
• Resources
• Personal feedback

Welcome to Module 3 feedback!

Module Expectations

If you make it module 3, you will start to see improvements coming your way.
I started module 3 with evening classes (3.1) and finished it with day classes (3.2). Classes were not as crowded as during the earlier modules, which was really nice. I could see also a change with who is attending the classes. There were less students and more professionals with a great dedication and motivation at each class!
Grammar is still a big part of this module as we need to be reminded of it and get better at it!

Module 3 includes a lot more talking in small groups, which will substantially help your talking. The teachers only speak Danish during the class, which is really helpful and forces you to think in Danish and process it faster when wanting to talk.

As I mentioned in my Module 2 review, expect a lot more homework. You should expect to have a good amount of written essays about more complex topics, such as:
Volunteering in Denmark, hospitals and accidents, health, Modern life and stress, writting emails, writting comments as if you were a user reading an online forum post, a famous person you admire and why, being vegetarian, etc.

Content used during the module

Books

We read also one book every week, which we had to sum up in a resume, as well as introducing it to the other students in the class. Some books were thrillers, drama, biographies of Danish authors, poets or painters, or just everyday stories. The books are more interesting than module 1 and 2, but by the end of module 3, they get a bit boring. Module 4 books are definitely more interesting.
I really liked being able to discuss (in Danish) what we read and share my thoughts on it. Besides, you get a correction of your resume, (from the teacher) which will help you improve in grammar.

Videos and audio files

During module 3, we had to listen to audio files/watch videos and answer questions. We also had to transcript audio files, which will improve your understanding. Here is an example of an audio file we had to listen to and use for questions.

Audio credits: “Det Kommer!” – Alfabeta – Bodil Jeppesen og Grethe Maribo
Check out the lyrics (if you want a bit of help).

Songs

We also listened to Danish songs, trying to guess the text and get used to it. This really helps your understanding and will add vocabulary (I previously wrote a post about listening to Danish songs, here is the post).

Films

During module 3.2, our teacher started to have us watching a very famous TV series called Matador. This was online on DR, with subtitles. I wrote a full post about it, which was “The Matador Challenge“! I would definitely recommend you to check it out and try include it in your studies. It really helped us with understanding Danish.

Module structure

Module 3 is split into 2 levels: Module 3.1 and Module 3.2.
What you can expect to learn/review in this module:

• Pronunciation, expressions, grammar (inversion especially), verbs, tenses, conjunctions, expressing your opinion with more expressions and sophisticated vocabulary (compared to what you learnt in the modules 1 and 2).
• The teachers will only speak Danish, which is really great!
• You will be discussing topics that are more complex and that relate to the Danish society.

Module Test

Module test 3 only includes two parts: reading and written.

Please note that you are allowed to use a Danish/English dictionary during the test.

You will need to be very consistent throughout the module and make sure to learn all the new vocabulary and expressions between each class. I personally managed to learn approx 600 new words/expressions during this module, which made my level in Danish that much better. It wasn’t easy to be honest, but this really paid off from module 4.

Prepare yourself before

Here is an exercise that we were given in class to be prepared for module 3 test. Try to do it at home, this is the type of written test you can have for module 3 (give yourself max 25 min to do it).

Click on the image to enlarge it

What the module test includes

Reading

Part 1: you should read a text and answer questions (5 min)
Part 2: you read a document including a few pages and find the answers to questions. The idea is too search for the important information and read quickly (20 min)
Part 3: you read various texts about topics/people and you need to match who said what, from a list you have (5 min)
Part 4: you read a text and need to answer questions (10 min)

Written

Part 1: Write an application – job for example (15 min)
Part 2: Write an essay about a specific topic given on the day (30 min)

In all honesty, the time given is really sufficient and you will have many chances to proof read what you will hand over. Do not stress yourself too much for the test. The module 3 prepares you very well for the exam, thanks to the various written homework.

Book used

There are many great books used by the various schools to learn Danish. The one my teacher used during module 3 was called “Det Kommer!”. I really like this book, because it was very well structured and included an exercise book. I could definitely feel that the texts were more complicated, which helped me improve a lot more.

Resources

Most of the material I used for module 3 is pretty much the same as the one I posted in previous articles:
Resources and my everyday routine.

Personal feedback

Module 3 has been a great learning curve and I personally improved a lot during this module. I enjoyed that the teachers were only talking Danish to us, but that we also spoke Danish to each other during the classroom. This helped me get more confidence and just go for it.

Exercise 2 on 2 – Describing the image and situations

I really enjoyed reading more books on topics that are more complex, but also being able to learn more about Danish society, culture and history. I cannot recommend it enough, but read as much as you can, this will help you.

During module 3, I managed to learn a lot of vocabulary which helped me read, understand conversations and also have more structured conversations. I felt that I could take more “risks” and trying my best to talk to Danes. You will start noticing some changes by the end of module 3. As described above, we also started to watch series and documentaries, which really pushed my level in Danish.

Hang in there, module 4 will only start to get better and so will be your Danish level! Full comprehensive review of module 4 coming out next week. Stay tuned!

What did you think about module 3? Did it meet your expectations?
Would you recommend it?
What book did you use?
Feel free to share your thoughts and best practices on the comment section below, Facebook or @learndanishblog!

The post Module 3 Feedback – (Prøve i Dansk 3) appeared first on Learn Danish.