Archive by Author
Telling Stories Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jan 24, 2012
When rain is pouring down your window and Denmark seems a little dull and desolate, the time has come to rediscover your inner qualities. I met the storyteller Helle for an interview… Helle, you’re a storyteller? Yes, I’ve been that for 13 or 14 years. For many years I taught drama at a højskole (folk…
Danish for Saturnians Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jan 22, 2012
In this post, we’ll continue helping our alien friend survive in Denmark… Insecurities – Undskyld… Excuse me/Sorry… – Jeg forstår ikke. I don’t understand. – Kan du gentage det? Can you repeat that (please)?(We don’t really say please in Denmark, preferring to be polite in other ways!) – Du taler for hurtigt! You speak…
Danish for Martians Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jan 20, 2012
Suppose you came from another planet, and you crashed in Denmark with absolute no knowledge of the language… (Or English, for that matter!) What phrases would you need to get along on a very basic level? A friend recently asked me for such a list, so here you are. (Sorry, sci-fi dudes, I have to keep…
40 Years on the Throne of Denmark Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jan 15, 2012
January 15th, 1972, Christiansborg Slotsplads (Christiansborg Palace Square), central Copenhagen. A multitude of people – young and old, men and women – have gathered in front of the palace section used by the Royal family. (Another part of Christiansborg Slot [Palace] houses the Danish Parliament.) Surprisingly many carry small Dannebrog (the name of the Danish…
Months of the Year Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jan 12, 2012
Like the days of the week, months are easy in Danish – provided your language is English or one of the other (European) tongues that have taken over the names from the Romans! Don’t worry, there are no Latin endings left in the Danish version… In fact, the month names can’t be inflected at all…
Entering the New Year Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jan 5, 2012
”Nu er det jul igen og nu er det jul igen, og julen varer helt til påske.” So goes a traditional Christmas song, sung by a number of Danish families on juleaften (Christmas Eve, December 24th) while holding hands and marching around the juletræ (Christmas tree, most often a gran, ’spruce’): Now it’s Christmas again…
Those Pretty Letters 3 Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Dec 31, 2011
Å is the all-Scandinavian letter. It is found in the alphabets of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish, where it sounds more or less like the O of languages like Italian or Spanish. If that confuses you, just imagine that Å’s are A’s that have been O’ed! Historically, the Å’s were long A’s. In Icelandic, these long…