Archive for 'Uncategorized'
But how do I pronounce it? Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Mar 18, 2012
So, as I’ve been trying to show you throughout this blog, Danish is fun to learn. It has a lot of colourful expressions (like tømmermænd – carpenters – for ’hangover’) and even some nice concepts not found in English (such as hygge). For an English-speaker, Danish grammar should be quite straightforward, and a lot of the…
Memories of Yesterday Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Mar 2, 2012
This is a continuation of yesterday’s interview with the ethnographer Ulrik. Are the Danes living in the past? Good question! I think we sometimes are. I think all of us occasionally fall back in a kind of romantic thought about something that we imagine used to be, when everything was free from trouble. Some Danes…
Denmark from the Inside Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Mar 1, 2012
Ulrik, you’re an ethnographer? Yes, that’s right. I got my degree in 2006, after nine years of studies. I’m currently the leader of The Ethnographic Collections at Moesgård Museum in the Århus area. Did you make any fieldwork? I was in Egypt, in Alexandria, where I made a project about some Greek, Italian and…
Danish in the World Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Feb 16, 2012
If people had been blogging in the year 900 AD, you might very well have been reading this on gennemsigtig.kom/dansk (gennemsigtig is the Danish word for ’transparent’, from gennem ’through’ + sigt ’view’ + –ig ’-y’). The Vikings ruled the waves, and most of eastern England was a Danish colony. Admitted, the Danish spoken in…
Snowman Frost + Miss Thaw Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Feb 14, 2012
In my experience, one of the best ways to appropriate the basics of a foreign language, is to read a lot of poetry and children’s literature. The two blend nicely in ”Snemand Frost” (Snowman Frost), a poem by beloved poet Halfdan Rasmussen (1915-2002). With this simple – albeit tragic! – love story I would like…
Danish for Mercurians Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Feb 2, 2012
By popular request, the aliens are back! This time our little friends have come all the way from Mercury to experience some Danish night-life. – Hej Hi – Hvad hedder du? What’s your name? (Literally: What are you called?) – Jeg hedder Xenia, og du? I’m called Xenia, and you? – Hvor kommer…
Days of Handball Euphoria Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jan 30, 2012
Yeeeeeees! This happy interjection – taken from English, but given a slight Danish twist (making it rhyme with gæs ’geese’) – must have sounded from thousands of Danish stue|r (living room|s) and værtshus|e (pub|s) yesterday, as the Danish male handball team became European Champions, beating the hosts 21–19 in a nervepirrende (thrilling, literally ’nerve-exciting’) match…