From Duolingo to The Official Danish Education in two years
It was love that brought Anna Fischer from her home in Southern Germany to Denmark in August 2020. But apart from her steady relationship, nothing was in place. She had to learn Danish, settle in Copenhagen and find a job.Two years later, Anna Fischer wrote a post in Danish on LinkedIn, where she could proudly tell friends and colleagues that she had passed the Official Danish Education.
Find out, why Anna chose to enroll for the Official Danish Education at UCplus, and get her good advice on how to learn Danish quickly.
Caption: Anna Fischer works at the Danish company Planday, and she asks the colleagues to speak and write to her in Danish.
Duolingo can’t do it all
Like many others, Anna Fischer thought that she could use Duolingo to help her start learning Danish.
“I thought, ‘It can’t be that difficult!’ But I soon became wiser. You need help when you need to learn Danish pronunciation correctly. And I realized that I needed a real language course. Especially because Danes are very quick to speak English with you, if they can hear that your’e not that good at Danish. So I knew that I had to find a place, where I could get a teacher who could teach me about the language, and where I could practice.”
Structured language lessons save time and provide important knowledge
Anna Fischer completed all the Official Danish Education modules at UCplus Dansk, and for her, this has meant that she learned to speak Danish quickly; she has learned which words to use in which contexts, and how to pronounce them correctly. And attending the Danish course had other benefits:
“I also learned about Danish history and culture. And it’s good to get a general knowledge of Denmark. It gives an understanding of why Danes say, what they say – and why they do, what they do.”
In addition, Anna experienced that it means a lot, merely being together with others who are also learning Danish.
“It helped to know that we were all in the same situation. And it was interesting to see how others tackled the challenge of learning Danish. And we could share our experiences with each other.
Anna’s five good tips
We asked Anna about the things that she did to learn Danish. And you can get her tips and recommendations here:
- Try to speak as much Danish as possible
It can be difficult – especially when Danes start speaking English to you. But tell your friends and work colleagues that you really want to talk to them in Danish. And keep going in Danish 😊 - Don’t think about your mistakes
Remember that others can understand you, even if your pronunciation is not perfect or you use a word that is not quite correct. The most important thing is that you keep trying! - Remember to read in Danish
You can read at your own pace. And you can choose exactly what you want to read. I started with children’s books because they were easier. - Watch TV and listen to podcasts
When you watch television, you get help understanding what is going on from people’s actions and facial expressions. It’s a little more difficult to follow a podcast, but it’s good practice. And you don’t have to understand everything. - Keep practicing – even after you’ve passed PD3
Remember to continue with all the language training you did in preparation for the test. Try watching the news every day, so you keep up to date with what is happening.
Anna’s recommendations
Book: Ronja Røverdatter by Astrid Lindgren – because I had read the book as a child in German, so it was a good experience to read it again in Danish.
TV: Forsvundne Arvinger – because there isn’t much action, and I can understand what is going on 😉
Podcast: Sarah og Monopolet – because it’s fun to listen to, it’s everyday language and you hear slightly different Danish accents.