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Talking about prices Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Apr 30, 2017
Er Danmark dyrt? (Is Denmark expensive?) Many priser (prices) certainly are higher than in lots of other countries, so don’t be too surprised when you come here as a tourist! 🙂 Here are some expressions for talking about prices and payment in general. dyr, billig (expensive, cheap) pris (price) penge (moneys – yes, it’s a…
Your name is what? Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Apr 21, 2017
Hvad hedder du? (What’s your name?) Jeg hedder… Talking about navn/e (name/s) is important when making new friends. Let’s look at Danish naming traditions! H.C. Andersen is probably the most famous dansker (Dane) of all time… Like all danskere, he’s got a • fornavn [fore-naoon] – in this case: Hans Christian – and an •…
Enter the Danish Ice Age Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Mar 31, 2017
Sommeren er på vej, og det betyder is! (Summer is coming, and that means ice cream!) Even though it’s only forår (Spring, literally ”fore-year”), Danes love ice cream, and the combination of temperatures around fjorten grader (fourteen degrees of Celsius) or so and a bit of sol (sun) is an excellent excuse to buy yourself…
Are Danes Equal? Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Mar 9, 2017
I går var det Kvindernes Internationale Kampdag (”the Women’s International Day of Struggle”), and Danish kvinder (women) and mænd (men) gathered in the streets to fejre (celebrate) and demonstrere for ligestilling (demonstrate for equality). Danmark is among the world’s most egalitarian countries – still, it lags behind the other nordiske lande (Nordic countries) in international…
Danish Stress Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Feb 28, 2017
If you want to talk with the natives, you have to hit an udtale [OOTHtahleh] (pronunciation) that is not too far off. 🙂 Of course, having a bit of accent is okay, as long as people don’t need to guess whether you meant hat or head. Stress is one of those little details that do…
Reading a Danish Cafe Menu Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Feb 25, 2017
…og om lidt er kaffen klar (and soon the coffee is ready). One of Denmark’s most iconic singalong songs ever doesn’t mention kaffe (coffee) for nothing – many Danes just can’t get enough of it, and globally only Finns and Swedes seem to be drinking more coffee. Whether you agree with rapper Per Vers, who…
Verbs in the Mirror Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jan 31, 2017
Drømte mig en drøm i nat… (Dreamt myself a dream tonight…) One of the oldest songs in the Danish language (click here to listen to it) starts with a reflexive verb. Since there is a difference between I wash myself and I wash the dog, speakers of many languages found a way to refer back…