r/Danish

Hej. I have been learning Danish for a while and finally decided to record a video while speaking. I am Venezuelan, so, I know my Danish sucks, but I wanna know if you, native speaker, or Danish learner, can actually understand me, or if my pronunciation was terrible.

Danish is hard to understand, and if my pronunciation is terrible, it will be impossible. So, tell me if you can fatte noget.

https://youtu.be/i_gE_WVdad8?si=0r9_sWCSiYW7GBnY

Hej kære dansk-lærende,

I'm a Danish software dev married to a lovely Japanese lady who wants to learn to speak Danish, so I put together a flashcard deck and an app for her to practice - thought it might be useful to the crowd here - completely free

It will show you increasingly difficult words (with examples, conjugation and illustrations) and auto-progress smoothly with your mastery level

vocabcraft.com?lang=da

held og lykke! :^)

Every time I tell someone I taught myself Danish, I hear the same response of "wow how did you do it" or "wow i wish i could do that". I see that a lot in this sub as well so here's my biggest tips.

DON'T RUSH IT
The best advice I got when I first started learning was actually from a coworker who was learning english. He told me there's no easy/fast way to learn a language and I've lived by that. Think about it. You're not just learning a few simple words or phrases. You're learning a way of life. You're learning vocabulary, grammar, emotion, jokes, sarcasm, proverbs, etc. That doesn't happen in just a few months and honestly it's really hard to make it happen in just a few years. Any tutor, book, or video promising to get you fluent in x months is bullshitting. And on the other end, a huge part of learning a language is the actually experience and picking up things along the way so don't rob yourself of that or set expectations too high

Speak, Speak, Speak
This sounds like a no brainer but it's one of the biggest reasons people lack in Danish. In order to better your accent, get better at listening/understanding, be able to think in Danish, etc. you have to actually speak and utilize the language. I get that it's tough and many of you are nervous at first, trust me I was too, but the only way to get better at speaking is by speaking so stop selling yourself short. The same way you wouldn't expect a non native English speaker to speak to you in Shakespeare english, most Danish speakers don't expect you to be perfect so just speak as much as possible

Think in Danish
This is probably the biggest one tbh. This is the difference between a beginner and a fluent speaker and once you're able to think in Danish you're already superrrr close to fluency. It's daunting, yes, but totally possible and doesn't take as long as you may think. I practiced Danish literally every single day even now. Whether it was speaking or listening or writing or classes, I made sure I was always being exposed to Danish in some shape or form and I i don't remember exactly when or how but one day it just kind of clicked. I didn't have to think so hard about grammar or sentence structure, it just made sense. Of course, this doesn't mean I just woke up and was fluent. It just means I didn't have as much problems with it. Certain things were just automatically understood and ofc there were things I still had to think about, but as I practiced more, that gap widened. Immersion is key

Practice EVERY SINGLE DAY
Yes. Every day. Hver eneste dag. Yes, it gets tiring but keep your eyes on the prize. A lot of people end up stuck at A2 simply because they can't be bothered to practice. It doesn't matter how, but you need to be exposing yourself to Danish every single day so that you can begin thinking in Danish and get on that road to fluency

Use variety
Doing the exact same thing every day gets boring. Quickly. So make sure you're utilizing variety. For listening, conversations with natives is the best you can get. Listening to podcasts or content creators is also super helpful. One thing that really worked for me was finding Danish Youtube channels about topics I actually care about and just watching a lot of videos. I use the bingy chrome extension to help with my learning when I watch Youtube, there's a button you can click on any subtitle to get an explanation of the grammar or slang in it. For speaking, speak with natives as much as possible. Recording yourself and listening back for errors is also super helpful. For reading, start with children's books and work your way up to short stories and novels. For writing, try narrating your day in a few sentences or texting Danish speakers. Use a mix of all of these and trust me, you'll never get tired.

Immerse in the culture
When people hear immersion they think about just the language but like I said earlier, it's a way of life. So try to live it. Even if you don't live in Denmark, still try and involve yourself in the culture. Listen to Danish music, watch Danish movies, cook Danish food, learn about the traditions and holidays. This can not only improve your Danish, but give you a huge respect for the language and the people

It's normal to feel stupid Lastly, but definitely most importantly. Learning a new language, especially as an adult, is insanely challenging and it's totally normal to get frustrated and even feel dumb or stupid. Trust me, I went thru it too. The best thing to remember is you're your own biggest enemy so give yourself a break. Every day above ground is a chance to get better so utilize it and don't beat yourself up over common mistakes. Feel free to ask questions or comment success stories. Danish is tough, but you're tougher. You got this!