If you are learning Danish, you certainly have some must-have books that help you study and improve.

I wanted to share a post about (some of the) books that I have been using since I started to study Danish. My review is non-biased and is entirely based on my own appreciation of the below books.

There are many resources to be found in book stores, and I am not going to list all of them in this post! However, if you are using other books that you think are great and worth sharing with others, please do not hesitate to contact me! I will gladly add them to this list.

Must-have books to study Danish

Dansk er ikke så svært / Dansk er lidt svært / Dansk er svært

This is a series of 3 books, each including 50 grammar exercises.
They are so helpful from module 1, all the way until module 5. What I like about them is that you can practice at home and have all the corrections at the end of the book. I have to admit that it is a bit of an investment (as they cost each over 200kr) but you will not regret it.

You can purchase the books here:
Dansk er ikke så svært  Dansk er lidt svært  Dansk er svært

Den Lille

This is a very useful grammar book that is well suited if you are learning Danish. It has a classy design, a really nice book to have on your shelf. I would recommend to have it, if you are looking to go hard on grammar
They also have free online resources to practice your Danish (bottom of the page on this link)

You can purchase it here

Politikens Retskrivnings og betydnings ordbog

This is a Danish dictionary which is very helpful when you have to write essays and need to double check words and expressions.
I really like it because it is well structured and easy to read. It also includes synonyms which is a perfect way to learn new words and expressions. If you like Scrabble, then this book will become your best friend. It is a bit of an investment, but worth it.

You can purchase it here

Politikens synonymordbog

Book about Danish synonyms as the title suggests! A great additional book to have as it will enhance your vocabulary. I really started to use it more from module 4.

You can purchase it here

Danish Dictionary

This is a very obvious one, but it makes sense to have it on the top of this list. I personally chose a pocket dictionary instead of a bigger size dictionary, for the simple reason that I can carry it with me everywhere. In my opinion, a dictionary needs to be practical and easy to use. I can have it with me when I travel, when I go to language school or when I am at home.

You can choose from various dictionaries, but I would recommend this one (English/Danish):
Gyldendals Røde Ordbøger

Danish books to read for beginners

Make sure to check out this post about books to read. This way you can make good use of the above study books to improve your skills in Danish!

The post My top 5 must-have books to study Danish appeared first on Learn Danish.

Organizing yourself on a daily basis to learn Danish requires dedication, time and planning. This is essential to achieve your own goals. Improving is linked to many factors, one of them being that you have a proper routine.

Personally, I can be very good at procrastinating and always finding something else to do on my phone or computer. But that does not help me further in the process of learning Danish, this is why, every day, I stick to a specific routine. Or at least I try to!

Here is my routine to improve in Danish and stay focused. I am currently taking day classes and have a part time job on the side, which allows me to spend enough time at home to study. This routine can also be applied if you are attending evening classes, but you will (most likely) be forced to reduce the number of hours spent on each task every day.

My daily To-Do list

• Homework
• Grammar
• Vocabulary
• Reading Newspapers
• Daily news on Mobile App

Top Daily routine to learn Danish

Homework

We get homework after every class, which can easily take up to one or two hours at home, to complete. In the early modules 1 and 2, we had a limited amount of written homework. But as I progressed in the modules, I have been given a lot more essays to write on more complex topics. Homework are always the first task on my to-do list.

Grammar

Needless to say, that Danish grammar will be a challenge when you learn the language. Improving your skills require that you spend time on grammar. Take the time to analyze your written homework and see where you need to improve. Have a look here to some useful resources to improve your Danish grammar.

Vocabulary

Every day, I aim to learn new words. Those are words that I have seen during the class, read on a newspaper, a book or heard on TV or a song. Some days, I managed to learn up to 100 new words, others just 10 words.

The amount of words doesn’t matter to me, what matters is that I get to rehearse them every day until I know them by heart. Some days, I only rehearse words that I have already learnt, therefore will not focus on new words. I found out that the best method for me is to learn new vocabulary, by heart. It can be quite frustrating sometimes, but so rewarding when you hear them in a conversation and know what they mean.

Some of my fellow students use flashcards to rehearse vocabulary. I only heard positive feedback about flashcards, but never used it personally (so will not review it for now).
I actually have a basic Google Excel document, where I save all the new vocabulary I learn every day. This means I have it with me on the go and only need an internet connection to overview my Danish practice list.

Reading Newspapers

From Monday to Friday, I read BT which is a free newspaper. This adds new vocabulary to my list and keep me in the loop about Danish news.

Daily news on Mobile App

I downloaded the DR Nyheder app on my phone. I check the news in Danish at least twice a day, pick up an article that looks interesting and take the time to read it. This has really improved my reading and vocabulary over the past months.
You can download the DR app here: iOS or Android

These are the 5 to-do tasks I aim at completing every day. Thankfully, I have managed to stick to them as much as possible. I am very pleased and proud to finally see results, my Danish is improving, happy days!

Extra tasks

If you have more time on your hands, here are some extra daily tasks that you can add. I aim at doing one of them every day, on top of my 5 to-do tasks.

Read a Book

I read between one to two Danish books a week. I get one from school and one from the public library, which gives me enough material to read at home. If you find the time to read books, this will substantially improve your vocabulary and Danish level. Make sure to borrow books that you will enjoy reading.
I want my reading exercise to be a fun and an enjoyable experience, therefore I focus on selecting books that I really want to read.
Have fun and read Danish!

Song

On a weekly basis, I aim to listen, read and study one song. This is also a fun exercise and part of the learning process. Read more info about this tasks on a previous post I wrote.

Preparing your next class

I like to read the upcoming pages of my study book and already learn the vocabulary (ahead of the next class). It really helps me to have prepared it at home and already read it.
This means that when the others are reading an article for the first time, this is my second time reading it.
It becomes a repetition and helps me assimilate the content, grammar and new vocabulary faster.
By doing so, I am able to pay full attention to the class and not feeling lost, but also practice the vocabulary. I don’t do this task all the time, but I try to do it at least twice a week. This has seriously helped me to improve and stay on top.

What about you? What are your daily tasks?
How much time to you spend at home studying?
Feel free to share your thoughts and best practices on the comment section below, Facebook or @learndanishblog!

The post My Daily routine to learn and practice Danish appeared first on Learn Danish.

If you feel like taking on a personal challenge and watch a Danish series, then I got the perfect exercise for you:

Matador (DR) – Danish challenge

A bit of background about “Matador”

In June 2017, Lise Nørgaard, who is by far one of the most respected Danish journalist and writer known for her humorous portrayals of Danish cultural life, turned 100 years old!
She is also the author behind one of the most classical Danish TV series (“Matador”), that was filmed between 1978 and 1982. More about her here.
Earlier in May 2017, DR has restored some of the first episodes of Matador with the addition of subtitles. This was a 3-year project for DR and they restored and shared the entire series made of 24 episodes. This is obviously a very good news for us, students of the Danish language.

How does Matador come into learning Danish?

Matador takes place between the 1920s and 1940s, which will give you more insights about the Danish society at that time.
The actors also speak in a “clearer” Danish, a bit more articulate than the recent series. I admit that some expressions used may not be so relevant today, nonetheless, it is a great starting point to dive into Danish society.

The Matador Challenge

This was obviously not a straight up challenge as it was part of our study programme at Studieskolen. We were given weekly assignments to watch episodes and analyse them.
Our teacher advised that it was the first time for him using Matador as a learning tool, since it has just been restored and subtitled in Danish.

If you feel like challenging yourself (like we did) and improving your understanding of Danish, then I definitely invite you to follow the next steps.

Good to know:

• Understanding: It has personally been a challenge as I did not understand everything perfectly, but this is part of the learning curve.
• Getting into it: You should be accustomed to the characters after episode 2. It takes a bit of time to get into the series, but it gets addictive from episode 3.
• Subtitles: Unless your oral understanding is excellent already, you will most likely read all the subtitles. I personally read a lot more the subtitles to understand what they are saying. Either way, watching it will improve your skills.
• Translation: Expect to pause (quite) a lot, to translate words that you do not know.
• DR: If you try to watch DR from outside of Denmark, this may not work due to your IP address not being in Denmark. Try with a VPN, you should definitely be able to watch it!

Get started

Based on my personal experience, I would suggest that you try to take on the Matador Challenge with other students. This will motivate you, but you can also discuss it with them after each episode.
Alternatively, you can watch it and discuss with Danes that you may know.

Go for it:

• Watch one episode at a time
• Find 5 new words or expressions that you didn’t know and write them down
• Find 5 questions about the episode that you will ask the other students
• Explain your 5 new words/expressions in Danish to your fellow students or friends
• Ask your 5 questions and give some context for the answers
• Learn about the new words/expressions that others found
• Answer the questions from the others

#thematadorchallenge

If you take this challenge, feel free to hashtag it on social media #thematadorchallenge
Do not hesitate to share your feedback in the comments section below.

What was your favourite character?
Did you feel an improvement with understanding the series?
Did you learn anything about what the Danish society could have been like in the 1930s?
Would you recommend this series?

My feedback on this exercise

I think it was difficult at the beginning, but after the 3^rd episode, I really started to enjoy watching Matador and could understand better all the actors. This means, I had to focus a lot at the beginning (some episodes are over 55min), but it definitely got better.
Finally, I really enjoyed sharing my opinion about Matador with my fellow students.

Watching Matador online

You can watch all Matador episodes in Danish with subtitles in DR’s website.

If you want to watch the episodes in an older quality, I suggest the following website from DR “Bonanza”. You will only find the originals, meaning no subtitles: http://www.dr.dk/bonanza/serie/154/matador

You can also check out below links if you feel like reading more about Matador:
http://www.matadoronline.dk: this page which features recap of each episodes and plenty of other useful information.
https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matador_(tv-serie): Wikipedia page that gives you a very good overview of Matador

Enjoy the Matador Challenge!

The post Danish TV series “Matador” appeared first on Learn Danish.

Here is the question you will have to face when deciding to study Danish after moving to Denmark.
Most of the expats I know, have chosen the evening classes for obvious reasons, because they had a job during normal working hours on weekdays.

The others are expats who either (in most cases):

• Moved to Denmark and didn’t get a chance to find a job straight away, so they focused on learning Danish during day classes, until they could find a full-time job
• Choose to prioritize learning Danish as fast as possible and have a part-time job on the side, or simply use the remainder of their free time to study and finish Danish 3 Examination.

I personally experienced both day and evening classes (at Studieskolen), so I just wanted to share some feedback and insights on both options. This is in relation to the Danish 3 Examination (Prøve i Dansk 3).
I will breakdown this comparison in various categories:

1. Duration
2. Homework
3. Teacher
4. Students
5. Weekend
6. My personal feedback

Learning Danish : Day classes vs Evening Classes

Duration

Day classes

Day classes are usually 3 times per week x 4h per session or 4 times per week x 3h per session. You get the idea, if you attend day classes, expect an average of 12h being at school.

Evening Classes

If you choose evening classes, you will approximately have 2 times per week x 2h30 per session. This means that you will have an average of 5h classroom.

NB: It doesn’t matter whether you take day or evening classes, it will still take you the same number of weeks to go to the next level. Every 6 weeks a new module will start.
 

Homework

As I really wanted to improve in Danish quickly, as well as feeling comfortable in every class I attended, I found best to study the same amount of hours attended in a classroom.
If like me you choose this option, this means that your days and/or evenings will suddenly become very busy, regardless if you choose day or evening classes.
This fact is purely based on my personal experience and the one of fellow students. If you truly put in the hours at home to do your homework, you will really notice improvements.

Day Classes

If you choose the day classes, you will have a lot more time to study, which ultimately will help you out to improve faster. If you really wish to go the extra mile and get better, curiosity will be your best friend. At least it has been for me!
Watching movies in Danish, reading books or newspapers, translating songs, these are only a few examples that will require some extra time. This extra “curiosity” time, you will have, if you decide to take day classes.
 

Evening Classes

In the early modules (1 and 2), you can manage without too much problem your homework in between classes. If you do your homework after the class and manage to learn the vocabulary seen in class, you should be fine. However, as you move further into the modules, it will become a lot more difficult as you will have more homework included written ones.  Not to mention the extra time you may want to spend for watching Danish movies, reading books, etc.
If you are busy with your own day job, keeping up with the pace in between classes can quickly become a vicious circle if you don’t study. You certainly need to be consistent and really stick to the homework given by your teacher.

Teacher

Regardless of the option you choose to take, I really want to insist on the fact that teachers (at Studieskolen) are really great.

Day Classes

If you attend morning classes, your teacher will be fresh and ready for you and the class. If you have the option and the time to take this class, I would recommend it 100%. Simply because you are fresh and so is your teacher. It is the beginning of their working day, so everyone is a lot more focused. Which obviously impacts significantly on your improvements.
I never tried to take afternoon classes as part of the “day classes”, but from what I heard by talking to fellow and/or former students, this option is also great.

Evening Classes

I tried evening classes from module 1.1 until module 3.2, and to be honest, it became tougher as I moved onto the modules. Just imagine teaching a class until 9.30pm, where students can be hungry, tired of their working day or simply not 100% focused, this quickly becomes a challenge for teachers. Thumbs up for the evening teachers!

Students

I always have been with fellow students who are really nice and good people. Definitely a great way to expand your social circle in Denmark and an amazing cultural mix. Studieskolen has students learning Danish from more than 110 countries!

Day Classes

I found students a lot more dedicated to learn during the day classes than evening classes. It can certainly be due to the fact that they have a lot more time on their hands to study. This has personally motivated me a lot more to study with other expats that have the same project, which is to go 100% with learning Danish. The size of classes is also smaller during day classes, which also means more attention to each student.
This can obviously vary from class to class and module to module. Expect a lot more students at the beginning of each new cycle (regardless if it is day or evening classes), and then some dropouts along the way. Everyone has different projects for personal or professional reasons, which can force some of the students to stop and/or take a break.

Evening Classes

During evening classes, expect to have more students from universities and professionals who are committed to a day job and cannot attend day classes. Classes tend to be more packed than during day classes.
Again, this is based on my personal experiences, so this is not a general rule. Either way, you will have really nice students from all over the world with you in the classroom!

Weekend

If you take day or evening classes, weekends are going to play a big part in your progress. Chances are you will want to relax and enjoy the beautiful country that we live in: Denmark!
Weekend is a synonym of consistency as far as I experienced. If you manage to study on Saturday and/or Sunday, this will definitely help you improve, but also make you feel good about yourself and remind you that you are at the top of your game. Be strong and study hard on weekends!

My personal feedback

From having experienced both, day and evening classes, I personally would recommend attending day classes. Again, that is if you have the choice and can manage to have a part time job on the side, until you finalize Danish 3 Examination. You will have a lot more motivation, energy, desire to learn and curiosity if you study during the day.

When attending evening classes, I felt that I always had a million things in my mind from my working day. Whereas with day classes, I always have full focus.
Since you will spend a lot more time with the day classes, you should expect your Danish reading, understanding and talking to be more complete than if you attend evening classes.

Either way, if you are attending day or evening classes, this means that you are on the right path to speak Danish. I know expats who graduated both from day classes and evening classes, meaning it is possible.

Go for it!

The post Day classes vs Evening Classes (Danish school) appeared first on Learn Danish.

Chances are that you definitely used Google Translate on your phone since you arrived in Denmark.
If you already started the Danish modules, I am quite certain that your teacher will have suggested you to be careful with Google Translate, as it is good but not so accurate all the time.

Your teacher is right! I had a good few instances where I said the translated word from Google and Danes looked at me with the face of “what the hell are you trying to tell me”. This has not happened to me a lot, but still, you do feel like a fool when it occurs.

Throughout the modules I attended, pretty much every student I met, always had their phone with Google Translate during the classes.

This will save you a lot of time if you quickly want to get a translation during the class and not lose track, of what the teacher is talking about.
It can also help you during your everyday life. I tend to use it when I am on the go and need an instant translation.

I also have a pocket dictionary in Danish-English, which I definitely think is a must have for every expat learning Danish. It will give you accuracy in what you are trying to translate, but also push you to be more curious as you can read over words from it.

Finally, I use also an online app called “English Danish Dictionary” by Gyldendal. One of my teachers suggested to the class, and I have been using it since Module 1. It is definitely worth investing in (paying app).
It is currently only on the Apple Store (sorry for the Samsung users).

Please note, this post is not focused on giving you a lot of new insights, just to be careful with Google Translate and knowing when to use it.

Happy translating!

The post Google Translate – Danish appeared first on Learn Danish.