I've actually never seen Borgen. I'm always told that it is a must-see for understanding Danish politics. In my defense, I am just now watching The Wire, which is considered the must-see series for understanding my hometown of Baltimore. And The Wire is 20 years old 🙂

I read the middle grades novel, George by Alex Gino. The main character is a 4th grader who is transgender. It is a sweet and mostly gentle book. There is some bullying and the main character experiences emotional pain. But it is really a rather hopeful book. I almost wish that the author had made the main character a wee bit older because 5th and 6th graders often don't like to read about 4th graders, but many 5th and 6th graders are still kids not tweens. On their website, the author talks about the title of the book, and expresses some regret: "... I have now landed in a position where I ha

I read a play this weekend: The Trial of the Catonsville Nine by Daniel Berrigan. The Catonsville Nine were a group of Catholic Vietnam War activists. In 1968, they forced their way into a Selective Service draft board office just outside of Baltimore. They stole draft cards and burned them in the parking lot with homemade napalm. It was broad daylight, and they waited around for the police to show up. Berrigan's play is of course a work of art, not a recitation of a court record. But it was a good piece of art. I really liked reading it. Here is a link to Maryland's Public Library resource o

@hopeistheword Furious Hours looks like a book I would like. Added to the TBR. I'm still trying to get up the courage to read In Cold Blood. @Dreamergal I co-moderated a book club discussion of Enrique's Journey with a group of ESL (English Second Language) learners. It was so great to read that book with a group of people from so many different cultures and with so many different immigration experiences. I forget most of the book now, but the shared reading experience is a great memory. @Violet Crown As a liker of contemporary mass music, it is probably not a book for me...but the

My 2020 started with an old friend (40+years) cutting me out of her life. That was the first week of January, so not COVID-related. But it sure was the harbinger of things to come. I still have a broken heart about it. I live about an hour away from two of my closest friends, so it is not like we got together all the time. But they have resumed all pre-COVID forms of socializing, and I have not. I'm hoping we can ride this out, as they are like sisters to me. I'm sort of walking on eggshells with them, mostly by deflecting invitations and avoiding the topic on the phone. However, I've mad

We talked about Banned Books Week not too long ago. Well, it is next week! Banned Books Week 2020: September 27th through October 3rd. Sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA), it is "an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. It brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some

I think you might like Sigrid Undset (1882-1949). She won the Nobel Prize in 1928, and her most read work is the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy. A number of BaW posters have read it. Undset converted to Catholicism at a time when there were very few Catholics in Norway, and an exploration of Christianity in 14th century Norway is at the core of the trilogy. The first book is The Wreath. The newer translation by Tiina Nunnally is the one I recommend. I am over-the-moon excited that a new Nunnally translation of another Sigrid Undset trilogy (Vows, Volume 1) is about to be released. These b

I'll be focusing on two books this week: FICTION: Pirey (1980) by Petre M. Andreevski. This Macedonian novel is very engaging, and I look forward to picking it up each day. The back cover describes it as "...one of the most celebrated novels of modern Macedonian literature. Set during the Balkan Wars, the First World War and the years soon after, the story follows the major political shifts in the Balkans at the end of the Ottoman Empire and their catastrophic impact on a Macedonian village and a married couple, Ion and Velika." NON-FICTION Invisible Women: Data Bias in a

@wintermom yikes I apologize if I offended. Do you think it correct to say that the introduction of nynorsk was due to a desire to have a language that was further removed from its former union with Denmark? That was my understanding, but maybe I am wrong.

@wintermom Yes, my text is bokmål. If I recall correctly, nynorsk came about as a way to de-Danishify (yes, I made that up) Norwegian. I’m content with being able to read Norwegian. It is *so* close to Danish, and Norwegian literature has a lot to tempt me.

Really nice to see you here, @Hunter 🙂

Ooh, I would love to know some of the titles. You probably know this already, but Danish had a major orthography revision in the late 1940s. The main changes were (1) to stop capitalizing common nouns and (2) to change from aa to å. Some place names retained the aa. Aalborg is an example.

Wow, I am super happy to read through this conversation! @Quill It took me a long time to feel this way, but now I cherish my mistakes. Especially if I became terribly embarrassed. Because I typically then never make that particular mistake again. I was shamed by a train conductor in Denmark when I used the wrong gender for a lid. I was asking for a lid for my coffee, and she gave me a smack down. It was forever seared in my memory that a lid is et låg not en låg. Not deferring to your daughter is a tough one. I would have the same problem. @Pen A common suggestion is that you use a

FYI, this thread is a spin-off of a discussion we were having in the Book of the Week thread. So if you want to discuss books or audiobooks (English or non-English) hop on over there, too. Those are really nice textbooks, @maize Simplified language for science isn't easy to come by! As a retired homeschooler, I don't think to look at the Bilingual Board, so I am glad you posted it here. Eventually, I want to learn Portuguese so I will start squirreling away resources now.

OK, here it is: The foreign language lovers thread - September edition. Of course, everyone is welcome. I just tagged the posters who have been geeking out on languages with me this week. I hope I didn't forget anyone. @Seasider too @Pen @Violet Crown @Junie @Matryoshka @Dreamergal @Little Green Leaves