Christmas Preparations in Denmark Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Dec 18, 2015
Sikken voldsom trængsel og alarm! / Det er koldt og man må gå sig varm! (What a tremendous crowd and commotion! / It’s cold and you have to ”walk yourself warm”.) This 1848 hit ballad (by Peter Faber) is still sung by Danes during julen (Christmas) – probably because its description of travle mennesker (busy…
Feeling the Way of Words Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Nov 30, 2015
Hello all you people who are brave and patient enough to delve into the mysteries of dansk! Some time ago I asked you for feedback on your learning difficulties, and a couple of great suggestions popped up (keep ’em coming!) One of you wrote: ”Do you have an idea how to obtain that feeling of…
Danish Words of Healing Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Nov 25, 2015
Det er en svær tid for mange (it’s a hard time for many [people]). Uskyldige mennesker (innocent people) have been killed in Bamako, Paris, Beirut and other places. That’s when we need our languages to comfort each other and show that we care about each other. Words can hurt, but more importantly – ord (words)…
Meet the Monster Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Oct 31, 2015
Uhyret er løs! (The monster is ”loose”!) After all that hygge, the time has come for some real uhygge (eeriness, literally ”un-hygge”). And that creepy monster is lurking in the dark, doing everything it can to prevent you from learning dansk! You want to get through Halloween alive? Godt så (good). First, you have to…
Danish Hygge Words Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Oct 23, 2015
After last week’s hygge post, I thought it would be hyggelig if we could hygge os some more! 🙂 After all, that’s how many Danes spend the cold season, until the sun is smiling and it’s time for sommerhygge… Look how many hygge words there are: hygge – the Danish way of cozying up and…
Can Danish hygge save the world? Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Oct 16, 2015
Did you know that a British college is teaching hygge? I’d highly recommend all fans of Danish culture to take a look at this article by the BBC! (Yes, it’s already been shared on our Facebook page.) The people interviewed really do their very best to explain the Danish ”core” concept of hygge: ”Sitting by…
How Hard Is Danish? Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Sep 30, 2015
How hard is Danish actually? I’d say it depends a lot on your native language (in addition to your tongue-twisting skills, of course!) If you’re an English-speaker – good on you. Both languages come from the same Germanic roots, and there are loads of similarities, grammar-wise and vocabulary-wise: De har en kniv. (They have a…