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Archive for 'Traditions'

Danish Summer Weddings Posted by on Jun 23, 2017

Mange danskere gifter sig om sommeren. (Many Danes marry in the summer.) Having recently been a guest at a Danish bryllup (wedding), I feel a bit more qualified to tell you about this tradition in Danmark. Of course, it often starts with the classical question: Vil du gifte dig med mig? (Wanna marry me?) Take…

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Your name is what? Posted by 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 •…

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8 Danish Proverbs Posted by on Jan 27, 2017

Before the Internet, proverbs were like offline memes that anybody could throw into a conversation to make a point! 🙂 Even though our communication has changed, ordsprog (proverbs, literally ”word-languages”) still exist in many communities, including the Danish-speaking world. I think proverbs are a great window into the original ”mood” or setting of any language…

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Happy New Year from the Queen Posted by on Dec 31, 2016

Unlike julen (Christmas), the Danish nytårsfejring (New Year Celebration) hasn’t got a lot of traditioner. People get together, eat, drink (remember to say skååål!) and watch fyrværkeri. (Each year a small number of people get hurt by raketter – rockets.) One fixed tradition, however, is the televised nytårstale (New Year’s speech) by Queen Margrethe. Here…

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Christmas Vocabulary Posted by on Dec 24, 2016

Nu er det jul igen! (Now it’s Christmas again! – a line from a Danish Christmas song…) Few people are so crazy about jul (Christmas) as the Danes – maybe because it’s nice to have something to glæde sig til (look forward to/happily anticipate) in the dull Danish winter, where you never know if the…

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Danish in a Glass of Beer Posted by on Mar 26, 2016

Jeg stormed ud og købte øl / ja vintrens gamle stive føl / fór ud på grønne enge… Once you get it, you’ll see that only in Denmark would anyone sing about springtime kærlighed (love) with the words: I rushed out to buy beer / yeah, the old, stiff winter foals / darted out to…

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Trolls of Denmark Posted by on Feb 25, 2016

Did you know Danmark is full of trolde [trolleh] (trolls)? Ads often want to tell turister (tourists) a ”modern” story about Danish design and H.C. Andersen, so if you haven’t seen en trold in the streets of Copenhagen, it’s probably not your fault! 🙂 Trolls, however, have been around since vikingetiden (the Viking age) –…

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