(Photo courtesy of Hans-Jörg von Schroeter at Flickr, CC License.)
Are you new to the Danish language? 🙂 In that case: Velkommen! On this blog you’ll find a wide variety of topics of everything related to Danish language and culture. Whether you come to Denmark for the beers and beaches or want to read Søren Kierkegaard in the original language, there should be something for you here. 🙂 Don’t be scared by the size of this blog – it’s been growing quite a lot during the last few years! Here are 10 great places to start reading for those of you who’re fortunate enough to be beginners and come to the language with a lot of happy expectations and excitement!
1. Greetings!: You have to start somewhere, and if you’re just able to say hello, half the battle is won.
2. Talking about the weather: In an island country plagued by winds and rain, nothing warms the inhabitants’ hearts more than a solid chat about the weather!
3. The Plural Plurals of Danish: Basically, Danish has three endings to change nouns from singular to plural (four if you count the S of English words that have been ”adopted”). Read more to find out!
4. Counting in Danish: Danish numbers often confuse foreigners. Even Swedes and Norwegians don’t get it – before reading an explanation like this one! 🙂
5. Liking Things: Do you like smørrebrød? Rødgrød med fløde? Talking to Danes? Here’s a small how-to…
6. That’s hygge to me! There’s no way you’ll understand the Danes if you don’t get the idea of hygge.
7. Soft D’s are Not Hard: Everybody says the Danish language is difficult. Well, don’t listen to them. Open your mouth, chew that potato, and feel the language!
8. How to hiccup like a Dane…: The stød is a kind of cough. It’s the way of using your voice that makes Danish sound so funny to many foreigners. You can master it by practising a bit.
9. Big and Small: Danish adjectives puzzle many learners, especially the words for ”big” and ”small”. Here’s a quick overview of the various forms – see, it’s really no big deal…
10. 100 Most Common Written Words in Danish: When you know these words, you’ll just be onte step closer to reading newspaper articles, children’s books and fun cartoons.