Tag Archives: danish

Learning Danish – the Lærdansk Sonderborg Way

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One of the blogposts that has had most interest in this blog mentioned the inauspicious start I had with applying for Danish lessons at the kommune. Inauspicious or not, I did manage to start learning Danish in January 2012. However, having been to Danish lessons for three years on and off, I must admit that it has only served for me to become more and more disillusioned with the whole process.

Let’s Start with the School

In Sønderborg the kommune pays for foreign students to learn Danish at Lærdansk Sonderborg. Essentially, this means that the school has a monopoly in the area. In practice, this means that the school will get money from the kommune regardless of the quality of the teaching, so there seems to be no benefit in investing in improvements. And when I talk about improvements, I am not referring to smart boards and the like, but improvements in the actual quality of teaching.

Quality of Teaching

Where do I start?

Probably one of the biggest downfalls is that there is no emphasis on the basics. People at very different levels are in the same class, all doing the exact same work. E.g. when I started Danish, there were people in my class who had started Danish 3 months earlier. This meant I never got the basics. And there were still people joining 3 months after I did. In fact, I never ever heard the alphabet in class! This lack of basics means that it is next to impossible to understand the more nuanced areas of the language.

This is combined with an education system where there is no progression between one lesson and the next. It is not a course programme that builds one lesson on the previous, such that you continuously build on previous knowledge. Instead, what you get is 10 minutes about nouns one day, and 10 minutes about nouns one month later. And you would have probably missed the first 10 minutes because you hadn’t yet been put in the class.

The Teachers

During my time at Lærdansk Sonderborg I have been with three different teachers. I can sum up these teachers in this way: One came to class completely unprepared (but made sure we had fun). One came slightly more prepared (but was palpably disinterested in most of the students). And the third printed a lot of papers to give out, but there was no obvious explanation as to what we were being given and why. Teachers playing on phones, leaving the room, or showing us films with very limited if any follow up discussions all happened on regular basis.

That said, I have heard of some very good teachers on the grapevine too. Unfortunately, these seem to be very much the exception rather than the rule and I have yet to come across one.

What did I Expect?

What I expected when I started classes is the following:

  • I expected to learn something new every time I went to class. I expected this to be following some input from the teacher over and above being given a worksheet and being told to get on with it.
  • I expected the teacher to come to class prepared with a clear plan to make sure that the students are slowly but surely building their knowledge of vocabulary, grammar and confidence in the language.
  • I also expected homework that helped us consolidate what we had learnt in class, if we so wished. When I asked for this I was told “You don’t have time for it as you work”.
  • I also expected students who were there primarily for the learning (although making friends is an added bonus). This was something that, overall, was true.

Of course, it could be that my learning style is completely unaligned with the Danish teaching style. However, by speaking to a lot of other foreigners, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Or you might say I am expecting too much. After all, the school is free so I should be thankful for whatever I am getting. However, it is not free. I am paying for it from my taxes. You are paying for it from your taxes.

My Danish teaching has not all been this uninspiring. The best (in an, admittedly, poor pool) was with a private teacher through work. It is, obviously, not completely comparable, but the things that really helped were that the teacher asked me where I felt that I needed help, and listened to me by setting clear goals, and an emphasis on ensuring that I had understood what I had done by setting consolidation work. This rarely (if ever) happened in Danish classes at Lærdansk Sonderborg. No questions (or apparent interest) in where we needed help, and a topic was only tackled in one individual task rather than in a more holistic way.

Where am I now?

After 3 years of being in the system, spending most of the time not actually attending lessons, I have now passed my Prøve i Dansk 3 exam in November/December. This is the exam taken at the end of the course that shows proficiency in Danish to a B2 level according to the Common European Language Framework. You might, therefore, say that I reached my aim. However, I would say most of what I learned I learnt from a private teacher, my work colleagues, and from the Netdansk online teaching system, rather than the teaching actually at the Sonderborg Laerdansk school.

A version of this blog post was sent to the school around the time I decided to stop attending classes, with clear information that I was happy and willing to discuss my issues with them in order to make things better. Unfortunately I never received a reply besides that it would be forwarded on within the school.

The Art of Conversation

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I come from a country where people like to talk and discuss anything and everything under the sun. If there is disagreement, that’s not necessarily seen as a negative. Conversations don’t necessarily proceed in the way I expect in Denmark however! Having gone through many conversations with Danes in the past 2 years, I thought I’d write a bit about my experience here.

Hygge is king (or queen)

The Danish concept of hygge permeates all that Danes do. You might think that this concept of being cozy and warm and fuzzy (or however you want to describe it) is all good. Unfortunately, speaking a different language to the one they are most comfortable in or speaking slower/having to repeat, will disturb their own hygge. So unless the person is comfortable speaking English, do not be too surprised if you are not including for as much of the conversation as they can. Some will, of course, make the effort, but inclusion in a group does not seem as high a priority as I was brought up with it being.

Conversation Progress

As I said above, starting a conversation may sometimes be quite hard. However, once started, it doesn’t necessarily go smoothly from there. A typical conversation here goes like this:

Me: Question

Dane: answer

silence

Me: Question (breaking the silence)

Dane: answer

silence

repeat as necessary

Now, I was always taught that if someone asks you a question, it is only polite that you either ask it back or ask something else. However, when asking around, Danes seems to think that you asked the question, they answered, so it is now your turn to say something. So I hope you enjoy doing the hard work of carrying the whole conversation sometimes!

What to Expect in Conversation

OK. You have managed to catch their eye and show the Danes that speaking to you won’t break the hygge that much. And you managed to get them away from the Me question – Dane answer scenario. What can you expect to hear? Well, this will differ based on the situation. However, 2 things stick in my mind as something that happens more often than just by chance:

a) The language question

Dane: So, how long have you been in Denmark?

Me: Two years

Dane: How’s your Danish?

Me: OK

Dane: It’s a hard language right?

Danes love to believe that their language is one of the hardest in the world

b) The Work Question

So, they now know your name, maybe where you come from, and that your Danish is OK. Then comes the next question:

Dane: Arbejder du? (Do you work?)

Me: Selvføgelig (of course)

Dane: Oh, OK

Now, this might be because I am a woman with a Danish partner. However, I rarely get asked ‘what do you do’. The question is (nearly always) ‘Do you work?’. This, to me, comes with the implication that I am expected to be sponging off the system. And no, that question rarely, if ever, is followed up with ‘So what do you do?’. Maybe the Danes are aware that I love my job, and I could talk a donkey’s hind leg off talking about it? Maybe they’re just very wise :).

 

I have tried discussing this with my (Danish) colleagues. They are not quite in agreement with me on some of the points. So I am wondering… what has your experience been, if you’re not Danish. And if you’re Danish, can you recognise any of it?

contemporary dance

Love Songs at Sonderborg Theatre

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Sonderborg theatre is one of the main venues of Sonderborg theatre union, an organisation set up to promote interest in theatre in the Sonderborg area and arranging performances with a varied repertoire in Sonderborg. One of these performances in the 2012/2013 season was Love Songs by Dansk Danseteater.

contemporary dance

Dansk Danseteater is the largest contemporary dance company in Denmark. Its main 2012/2013 show is Love Songs, which will be touring first around Denmark and then internationally. The Danish tour started in Sonderborg and this is the performance we watched.

Loves Songs is “an intimate portrait of love…which is neither a dance performance nor a jazz concert”. It consists of 9 dancers playing around and showing the concept of love to a soundtrack of jazz classics.

I was a bit sceptical about a contemporary dance show, having seen and been utterly bored by such a show previously. However, during a chance meeting with a dance teacher in Sonderborg I was convinced that I should try it out and that my previous experience was not what I should expect.

She was right! The performance was lively, fun and, most importantly, accessible. Love Songs will be playing around theatres in Denmark for the next 2 months so do check it out at a theatre near you – they seem to be playing all over the country so that should be possible! They will be playing in Kolding if you are interested in checking it out and live in Sonderborg.

And if you live in Sonderborg and want something closer, don’t forget to check out the Sonderborg theatre union programme! There are a couple of other interesting shows coming up, including the dance show ‘Future Roads and Swan Lake‘ and Tosca.

A Country of Contradictions?

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Talking with Danes you immediately realise that they have a strong sense of identity, what being Danish means, and why something that you do or the way that you think is NOT Danish. However, Danishness is not as clear cut as most Danes you meet on the streets like to believe. To a foreigner (or at least me), being Danish is also a quagmire of contradictions:

A fair and equal society.

A homogeneous/equal society that focuses on the individual.

Rules so that no one is left out

All of these characteristics are ideal aspirations in themselves. However, reaching a real and sustainable balance between the two is often much harder than it may at first appear unless people consciously keep this in mind.

Kelly Draper, writing for the Copenhagen Post, makes an excellent show of how being fair and equal can be contradictory. Both of these characteristics are to be aimed for. However, a fair society is not necessarily an equal one. A fair society is one where people get what they need when they need it. Otherwise we risk wasting resources ‘helping’ people who do not need it and missing the ones in need as we put rigorous checks and balances in place to ensure that everything is equally divided at the specific level rather than the holistic one. This is, of course, easier to manage, but helps no one.

Another issue I am struggling with is how we teach our* children how to be inclusive citizens and thoughtful about the circumstances that others may be in. Talking to parents (and at work I am surrounded by them) it is usual that there are rules in place at school as to who you can invite to a birthday party (all girls, all boys, or all children in the class), how much money is to be spent on gift, and also who to play with**.

Of course, teaching kids that no one should be left out is an excellent ideal. And there are instances where rules are necessary and important, when someone’s rights are being trampled on. However, when putting such rules in place, are we teaching the kids the importance of what lies behind them, or are we just teaching them to follow rules. And, what about teaching kids that not everyone can afford the same things, so be grateful for what you got in terms of what they could afford. Again, it is easier to put a rule in place than to teach the kid why such an action is important. After talking with parents, unfortunately, I strongly suspect that the second part of explanation is often forgotten.

As a foreigner thinking about the society I am living in I am sometimes criticised for saying anything below stellar about Denmark. I can understand that no one likes hearing criticism about what they do. But I often wonder if what I say stops at the ‘being rebuffed’ level, or if some people also think about it following our encounter. Quoting Socrates “the unexamined life is not worth living”.

 

* Yes. I say OUR children. Although I have no children and am not ethnically Danish, I am living in this society now and am making an active contribution to it. So I am entitled to an opinion about it ( just like everyone else).

** In at least one school, the teachers organise kids into groups of 4 and once a month they go to each others houses to play together.

Danish Flags

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My first glaring encounter with the Danish flag happened on the first birthday card I received from Michael’s parents; I received an envelope covered in Danish flag stickers. I was taken aback, nigh offended. Why weren’t they respecting who I was and where I was coming from? Why weren’t they accepting my identity, and instead imposing their own onto me. The Danish flag has nothing to do with me, so why is it on MY card?

The Danish Flag

The Danish flag also known as the Dannebrog, consists of a white Scandinavian cross on a red background. The legend goes that the Danish flag fell from heaven during a battle in Tallinn on the 15th of June 1219. No historical records support this legend, though were the legend to be true the Dannebrog would be the oldest state flag still in use by an independent state.

It is customary that the flag is not suppose to touch the ground and should be taken down before sunset. There are also laws that you cannot fly another flag in Denmark besides the Dannebrog, unless the Dannebrog flies on a nearby pole at the same height (or higher), or if on the same pole, the Danish flag needs to be positioned on top.

Why its Widespread Use?

Of course, the feelings that I felt on receiving my first Danish birthday card are not what my Danish in-laws were aiming to project. As this article states, to Danes the flag is an empty symbol to which they can assign whatever attribute they would like. As Inge Adriansen is quoted as saying in that article, while the flag abroad is seen as a symbol of nationalism, in Denmark it is also seen as a symbol that the people own. These attributes are typically ones relating to celebrations, and in fact flags are used everywhere: at birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, farewells… supermarket discounts? You name the celebration, the Danes will bring the flags!

I have been slowly learning to accept this way that flags are used in Denmark. The fact that Michael has learnt to moderate flag usage around me helps. His parents? This year’s birthday card still had flags!

Flags on birthday card

Join a Danish Conversation Group?

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I have now been in Denmark for around 10 months. Of these, I have spent around 9 months in some kind of Danish language education. However, my Danish is far from at a level where I would hope it would be! I can communicate somewhat, but nowhere near correctly, and can probably not understand more than 20% of what is said to me.

I am used to ‘academic’ stuff coming relatively easily to me so, understandably, I am getting quite frustrated at my lack of progress. I have realised that the lessons on their own are probably not enough. I need to be exposed to talking and thinking in Danish before I can progress further. Ideally, this is to be done with people at similar level as I am with a similar interest in improving their Danish, as otherwise it is too easy to switch to English.

One of the ‘good ideas’ I had come across in the ‘Worktrotter’s guide to Denmark‘ is the organisation of a Danish conversation group and I think it is now about time to do something about it. There is a similar group in Sonderborg, called Cafe International, that started a few years ago. However, their Danish is by now way advanced for me, and they have progressed to doing activities, like listening to a talk, or having a museum guided visit in Danish now.

So I decided that maybe it is time to start a new conversation group. A first meeting to discuss what will happen is being organised on the ‘Newcomer’s Network‘ facebook page. We plan to meet on Monday 17th of September 2012 at 6pm at Cafe Figo to discuss the way forward. If you are interested in joining do leave a comment here or on facebook and I will get back to you.

Visit to Dybbol Historic Centre

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Dybbol Historic Centre tells the story of the 1864 war. During this war the Danish border was pushed northwards as the land around Dybbol was won by the Prussians. It was only during a referendum in 1920 as part of the reparations of WWI that the land came back under Danish rule. This war had a significant effect on the area that is still felt to this day.

1864 soldier

The 1864 story is told in a number of ways. First of all you get to watch a video about the war. I was surprised that the first part of the video focussed on the war movements and where the trenches where, before we got to why the war was being fought. I guess that most of the visitors are Danes and Germans from the area who already have very solid knowledge of this war, which is why this explanation is not critical. On the plus side, getting the commentary in English on my headphones was not a problem at all.

IMG_1445

Following the video you are directed to a diorama of the Danish trenches. I liked that the background on the 4 people in the diorama were given a background, explaining how they got to be there. In this background you also got information that one of the guys was 35 and was there as a ‘paid replacement’ for someone’s son. This information made it that much better in providing the emotion of the war.

IMG_1444

However, you don’t only get to hear and see what the war was like, you can also experience the story in the outside area. With events organised throughout the day, such as shooting of guns and a telling of the story of a soldier. You can also make pancakes on an open fire and make bullets, as was done during the winter special opening.

A visit to this site is a pleasant way of spending a morning. From the 1st of April to the end of October it is open daily from 10-17. During winter there are special winter events on specific weekends.

tour of city Sonderborg

Take a Tour of the City

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It is often difficult to learn all there is to know about a city , or even tiny village, just by walking around on your own. You will undoubtedly miss some corner with its intriguing story that you would have loved to learn about. A good way of taking a stab at getting to know about these corners and stories is by going on a tour.

tour of city Sonderborg

Typically, most tourist offices offer city walks on a number of themes, sometimes by professional guides, and others by highly interested volunteers from the city itself. Sonderborg is, of course, no less.

Sonderborg tourist office organises a series of guided walks in the municipality, mainly in the summer holiday period. Among the tours offered there is an 1864 town walk in Sonderborg, a walk around Grasten castle and gardens, as well as town walks in Sonderborg, Nordborg and Augustenborg. Unfortunately for me only the 1864 town walk is advertised as offered in English, with all the others only offered in Danish or German, so I decided to check it out.

1864 Town Walk

This walk around the streets of Sonderborg takes you from Radhustorvet, in front of the main Sonderborg tourist office, down to the castle, along the pier and up towards Sct Marie Kirke. During the walk you see locations connected to the 1864 war, learn about what went on, as well as hear stories about the people living in Sonderborg at the time.

The walk appeared interesting. However, there was one downside: the languages! The walk was intended to be given in Danish, German and English and on the day I attended all 3 languages were required. Unfortunately, the guide didn’t appear equally comfortable in all of them. This resulted in the walk being around 90% Danish, 6% German and 4% English! If it wasn’t that some of the Danish people took pity on me and translated the main points it would have been very difficult to understand much of anything (thank you family from Blans!).

Therefore, if you understand Danish, I urge you to try it out (and come back and tell us how it really is), if you understand German and are interested in it, do check it out (after all my German/Danish recognition is not the best in the world. However, if you only understand English I can only recommend that you not bother with it…unless you get another guide, that is!

Danish flags and kagemand

Elements of a Danish Celebration

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Danes love their celebrations (as probably everyone does). However, there are certain elements that you won’t necessarily be familiar with. These are some of those elements that I was not used to before.

1.Danish Flags

Danish flags are a prerequisite of almost any celebration in Denmark. Danes go all out with them especially if it is your birthday: you will raise the flag on the flagpole you inevitably have outside your house, you neighbours will raise the Dannebrog as well, and at home and in the office you will raise a small flag on a small flagpole you inevitably have around the house.

Magnus blowing the birthday lights

That’s not all! If you receive a birthday card expect the envelope to be decorated with tiny Danish flag stickers, and do not be surprised if the card itself is a drawing of the Danish flag. If you have a party expect tiny cocktail sticks with Danish flags decorating most of the dishes, and numerous flags all over the tables. It’s an understatement to say that you cannot have a birthday without a Danish flag (and no – if you are foreign you will probably still get the Danish flag for you party! Or at least that is what I have got so far).

2. Hand Shaking

Any Danish party starts with a prerequisite round of hand shaking, where as you arrive you shake the hand of everyone already there and then stand at the end of the line waiting to shake the hand of all new arrivals. I have been told a number of strategies to deal with this: either arrive early so you do not have to do much walking, or arrive late so you do not have to do much standing. In any case, beware if the crowd is mainly big burly farmers. You hand will be the worse for wear.

Oh, and by the way, this is all repeated as you are leaving!

3. When do I Sit Down?

In case you arrived early and are done with standing around, can you go to your chair and sit down? Oh no you don’t!

When it becomes time to get to your (invariably) chairs and tables, don’t you dare sit down immediately! Protocol dictates that you wait for everyone to find their chair (probably you need to hunt down a seating plan first if it is a bigger party), stand behind it, and wait for the party host to give the word. If you unknowingly try to sit down early, you will be promptly jerked back by your neighbour. Don’t-even-dare!

4. Speeches and Such

No Danish gathering is complete without a speech or two (or 25!). The speeches invariably consist of memories the speechmaker has with the speech receiver(s). Tears are optional.

If you are not much of a speechmaker, however, do not despair! Instead of a speech you can commission any of numerous songwriters to write a special song for the special person on a well-known tune. Do not expect the song to rhyme much, or if it rhymes don’t expect the metric to fit the tune. All you need to do then is to get someone to start off the song, and off they go! struggling through the song like pros.

5. Birthday: Kagemand

A cake is a common feature in most birthday celebrations around the world. Denmark, however, gives you the cake man! The cake, especially for young kids, has to be in the shape of a man (or woman), regardless of what it is made of. I have seen him made as a biscuit, a sponge cake, even open sandwiches! The emphasis here is on the man. Who cares about cake?

 

Getting acclimatised: A new city. A new country.

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For the first 20 years or so of my life I pretty much lived in the same country, same town, same house. Living in such a small community as Malta has undoubtedly given me characteristics that are Maltese through and through: an urge to speak loudly, talk with my hands, have an opinion about everything (sometimes just for the sake of it, or to play the devil’s advocate). This doesn’t really go down well with people up north!

Colourful houses in Sonderborg

Sonderborg is the 6th city I have lived in for more than a month (after Zurrieq-MT, Konstanz-DE, Prague-CZ, London-GB & Pisa-IT). So I didn’t jump into the experience of moving to a new country with my eyes shut tight. I had also regularly visited Denmark over the past four years to visit Michael’s family and friends, which gave me first hand knowledge of some of the typical characteristics of living here.

Nevertheless, moving to a new country often has its challenges. You have to learn the unwritten norms and values of the place, without losing yourself completely. Sometimes you need to first accept the way things are done before you can understand it. This is not easy for a scientist used to (and being paid to) ask ‘Why? Why? Why?’!

Blue sky and trees

There are different strategies that people can implement to aid (and sometimes hinder!) their acclimatisation. These are often very evident when reading the blogs of other foreigners living in a country. You see the ones who only let themself focus on the good and positive. Others for whom the negative is even more pertinent. Then there are the ones in between.

The strategies one employs also depends on where in the adjustment process one is. Kalervo Oberg, a world renowned anthropologist defined five phases of cultural shock when moving to a foreign country:

  1. Honeymoon phase: The newcomer feels excited and thrilled by new experiences, opportunities and environment.
  2. Crisis: When cultural differences become more annoying and irritating to the newcomer.
  3. Acceptance: Once one has learned more about the culture and accepted the differences, an understanding of the country develops.
  4. Adjustment: Comes after learning to deal with the positive and negative aspects of the new country.
  5. Reverse culture shock: Applies when returning to the home country, one can be shocked of the customs of one’s own home country.

So how am I coping?

Looking back over the past few months I can now very clearly see the strategy I am employing. I am like a pressure cooker, which needs to be vented every so often but most of the time is happily whistling away. My venting often happens when I am with other foreigners (which has probably results in one guy telling me I complain too much…you know who you are :P).But really? I am happy here! I enjoy my job, have enough time after work to enjoy what I like, and the weather is not all that bad. So if you hear me complain a bit here, please do not take it personally if you are Danish. Hope we can be friends ;).