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Danish: A List of Resources


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As expats living in Denmark, we place a high priority on the study of Danish. I have done lots of research and purchased a ton of stuff. I will try to add plenty of free resources. I have used some formerly-free resources that now charge a fee.

 

Surely, sooner or later someone on these forums will want to study Danish. So here ya go:

 

Saxo.com is a great online bookstore. They offer worldwide delivery, but of course it could be expensive.

 

 

Workbooks that Danish children use

 

The Stav series is a series of workbooks that are used by Danish children to learn Danish. We have Levels 2 through 5. The teacher's manuals are available, which is nice. The biggest downside is that much of the curriculum centers around teacher dictation. So unless you have someone who can properly read Danish aloud, you will find a sizable portion of these workbooks useless.

 

Textbooks designed for adults

 

The next set of textbooks that I will mention are the ones that my teachers have used. Great textbooks, but they would be tough to use if you are learning along with your children. I don't think that you can buy answer keys. I took the class, so I have the answers :)

 

Alfabeta is a big publisher of materials for adults learning Danish. My teachers have used some of the textbooks. The nice thing about this series is that the stories appeal to kids. The text is a series of stories about a family. You learn about their daily lives: going to school and work, playing with friends, shopping at the grocery store. There are two versions. Taleserie has little to no grammar. The Tempo version tells the same stories but adds grammar.

 

PÃ¥ vej til dansk is a great textbook series, but the text is not as appealing to children. It tends to focus on adult interests like renting an apartment or going on a job interview.

 

Grammar

 

I own two grammar books. My favorite one is Danish: An Elementary Grammar and Reader by Elias Bredsdorff. I would like it twice as much if it had an answer key.

 

Danish: An Essential Grammar is more modern, but I don't really like the way it is organized as much.

 

Dansk her og nu (Danish here and now) has lots of grammar and some exercises. Our tutor likes this website.

 

Danish Grammar

 

Another Grammar site

 

The Danish Study. Verbs, verbs and more verbs. A subscription site, but inexpensive. I use this one frequently.

 

 

 

 

OK, that is enough for now! I will come back with a Part 2.

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Danish Resources: Part 2

 

Resources specifically for children. Keep in mind that these are mostly designed for Danish children.

 

Word Games

 

Subscription site with some freebies

 

De Små Synger. Chock full of cute songs and culture. You can also get the CD, but many of the songs can be found on YouTube.

 

Min først røde ordbog If I were only going to buy one book for my kids, this would be it.

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Thank you! Although I selfishly wish you were expats living in Sweden instead (Swedish is an oft-neglected 3rd language in our family), this is a great list of resources.

 

May I ask what your search process was like? E.g. did you look for resources teaching Danish to new immigrants, texts used in local schools, ask other parents what their children's favorite books/shows were?

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HejKatt, I love the Swedish vintage cartoon series Bamse. Danish Netflix has eight episodes translated into Danish. If you like vintage cartoons, these are really good. Looks like you can get them in Swedish on YouTube. But maybe you are Swedish, and already know all about Swedish cartoons!

 

My favorite Danish cartoon character is Rasmus Klump. Oooh, and I just now discovered that there are free books on the site that are read aloud.

 

With regard to your question, I am constantly searching online for Danish resources. I have more to share that I haven't posted yet. :laugh: It just seems a shame to keep all of this research to myself, KWIM? I figure it will help someone sooner or later... I will just keep adding to the above, I guess.

 

I have been going to classes for immigrants - that is how I came to intimately know the textbooks that are used for adults.

 

Also, we have an excellent library and some good bookstores in our city. That is how I find many things. I love children's literature & I look for stories that are Danish or Scandinavian.

 

The Moomin are popular here, although I have not yet read the books or seen the show. I thought that they were Finnish, but now I see that they were originally published in Swedish.

 

If you have any Swedish children's literature to recommend, I would love to know about it. I could likely get it in Danish.

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Penguin, thanks for all the extra links - lots to check out! I'll ask dh about the children's literature closer to your dc's age. Off the top of my head, your youngest may like Astrid Lindgren's "Mio min Mio", "Brødrene Løvehjerte" and "Ronja Røverdatter" (disclaimer: dh found that boring at 12).

 

My dc are young, still in the picture book stage - favorites have been Elsa Beskow's books, Gunilla Bergström (Alfons Åberg). Sven Nordquist (Pettson och Findus), Gunilla Wolde (Totte, Emma series).

 

Also I wanted to mention cdon.se - it has competitively priced books, we buy and ship locally to Sweden. They also have a Danish site: http://cdon.dk

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  • 1 year later...

Hello!

 

You certainly were right, sooner or later there was someone who wanted to learn danish and that's me! This information is exactly what I have been looking for so thank you so much for posting it. I just had a couple questions for you and if I could get your advice that would be greatly appreciated. 

 

I am Canadian- Danish (even with dual citizenship) but my Danish mother never taught us the language so I am now 23 and have only a very minimal understanding of the language other than phrases I would use with my cousins like "let's play/eat/swim" and "be carefull!". I am lucky enough to have a native Danish speaker (my mom) live with me to help me learn now but she wouldn't know where to start and was hoping to use a workbook/textbook to guide us. 

 

I looked up some of the resources you mentioned here but they seem a bit more advanced than I am right now (the websites were fully in Danish). Would you have any suggestions for beginners who are lucky enough to have a Dane living with them? 

 

Thanks so much!

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If (and I know it is a big if) you are willing to splurge on the shipping cost, I highly recommend the Trin for Trin textbook series:

 

Book One:  PÃ¥ Vej Til Dansk

Book Two:  Videre Mod Dansk

 

This series was used in my Danish courses. The entire book is in Danish, but you have your mom to help you through the directions.

 

I recently bought Grammatik i Brug, and I can't say enough good things about it.  I think it would great for an adult beginner with access to a native speaker. 

 

The publishers offer the answer keys as downloads.  Look for rettenøgle.  Here is the one for the grammar - the textbook key is somewhere on the publisher's site.

 

If you would like an online course, I like SpeakDanish.

 

Have fun!!!

 

 

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