Hej everyone,

At this stage, my guess is that you might be stuck inside like many of us. Some of you may have just started to learn Danish at a school, others may be half way. There is also a part of you that must definitely be near the finish line, with the infamous Prøve i Dansk 3 exam.

Even though I completed the Danish examination (PD3) two years ago, I am constantly challenged with new vocabulary and expressions to learn. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, I have been learning so much in Danish around the health & disease theme. My brain literally exploded at some stage with too much information in Danish (between apps, radio, TV, family and friends), that I had to disconnect for a couple of days to digest all of this. Not just the actual news about Coronavirus, but also all the new vocabulary that I really want to remember for future reference.

With this in mind, let’s make the most of our time at home and keep on practicing Danish. This is a great opportunity to focus and improve our Danish language skills. You will find some suggestions to keep your brain entertained (not just with Netflix). Feel free to comment below if you have any suggestions that work for you at home to learn Danish, during this crazy time. I would love to hear about it.

Happy learning and make sure to stay zen!

Watching Danish Movies and TV series

Here is a dilemma: there are so many movies, documentaries, series to choose from in your own language and in English, so why would you choose to watch it in Danish? Because it is (among many reasons) a great way to learn, to practice, to hear different accents. Sure, this might not feel super comfortable at first, but hang on, the fun is coming. In this article, I share many resources if you want to binge watch in Danish.

Listening to Danish Podcasts

If there was ever a time where you can find thousands of very interesting podcasts, this is right now.

Since I started my journey to learn Danish, I have been very enthusiastic about podcasts, for many reasons. If I had to do an updated list of my favourites Danish podcasts in 2020, the list would be really long. If you decide to listen to Danish podcast, I would encourage you to check these two posts with links and suggestions. The first one I wrote in 2017, the other one back in the summer 2018, time flies, but the content stays great! Enjoy.

Practicing with a Danish tutor online

Many friends in my expat network have been affected with lockdowns and very limited options to socialize with Danes and meet new people. We tried to use Danish resources online to keep on challenging our skills and Danish language. I was a bit confused with all the options that can be found and finally went to italki.

italki’s website has excellent Danish tutors online, easy to you find sessions based on your schedule and theirs. It is not a free resource, but learning efficiently with the right support is not always free. Happy we all gave it a shot, which paid off with our individual challenges. Just remember that you will not speak Danish after 1 or even 5 classes, but you will not be alone in this process, someone qualified and motivated will make sure you improve in speaking Danish. Check out italki’s website to have fun in Danish.

Danish board games

If you need to disconnect for a while from the online world and get away from all the news, then I definitely suggest to play board games in Danish. There are so many to choose from, my challenge was to find the ones where I could actually understand in Danish. It could be that you are alone at home, with your partner, family, colleagues, housemate. In any case, I am sure that you can find at least one game that can entertain you. You will find some suggestions here of Danish board games.

Books to read in Danish

No excuses. You have time now to read books and feed your brain with new content. Over the past year, I bought books but never got the time to read them. Life happens, we are all caught up in the daily routine. This time around, I actually have time to read these. Have a look at your book shelf and remember why you bought these books. To read them and have a good time. I did happen to buy Danish books as well and to be honest, it is a challenge for me to read them all. Simply because I also have books in English and French which I can choose to read with a lot of ease (compared to Danish books). But let’s challenge ourselves and read more Danish books! Check out this extensive list of Danish books that you can read.

Preparing for Prøve i Dansk 3

This section is aimed for those of you who are currently learning Danish in Denmark and enrolled in the Prøve i Dansk 3 course. The Danish language schools are doing an incredible job by teaching online classes (since the schools are in lock down). As an additional resource, you can find detailed posts about:

The various modules:

Module 1, Module 2, Module 3, Module 4, Module 5

Prøve I Dansk 3 exam

Written preparation, written exam review, oral preparation , oral exam review

Be inspired by others

If you still have time on your hands, make sure to check out the interviews conducted since July 2017, with many expats (24 actually!) who learn Danish like you. You may not necessarily improve Danish here, since all is in English, however you may find some motivation through others’ successes.

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