Sprogcenter: Learning Danish (Module 1) and Field Trip to Hjerl Hede

When you move to Denmark and get the ever-so-valuable CPR card (kind of like an American SS card), you can sign up for free Danish classes for the first three years. It might not take you three years to complete the classes, but you have the freedom to stretch it out if you need/want to. These classes help you understand what is going on around you, but more importantly, they prepare you for the A1 and A2 tests that you need to take within the first 6 months and 15 months of your new life in Denmark. Passing these tests help you stay in good status for your visa. Most large cities in Denmark have language centers, but someone from your local commune will help you find where to go.

Being the overachiever that I am, I wanted to start taking classes right away. I didn’t want to just sit around and wait to understand people. I could’ve seen the first three/four months in Denmark as a vacation, but I just couldn’t for some reason. I didn’t want to wait that long for my new life to begin, so I inquired right away about language classes. Of course, inquiring took about one hour out of my time, but I then had to wait two weeks to get an entrance interview and another three weeks to begin the class. Since I didn’t have a visa or CPR card, I had to pay for my Danish lessons in the beginning. It was a bit of a stress on the purse strings on our one-family income, but I am happy that my husband saw the value in keeping his wife somewhat happy! 🙂

The system for learning Danish is broken down into three levels. The first level is for people with limited education and perhaps a background with a completely different alphabet. Level two is for people with a bit more education, and level three is mostly for those with lots more education and perhaps knowledge of more than one language. If you start in level one, module one, you can eventually work your way through to the end of level three, or so I was told. I, thankfully, started off in level three/module 1. I had the educational background for good prior knowledge in learning, but I still had to start from the beginning of this level, since I didn’t know any Danish. (This isn’t completely true. A friend of mine and I tried to teach ourselves Danish back in 2012 with a textbook that we bought online and some online podcasts. I had prior knowledge of Danish, but I couldn’t hold a conversation or understand what anyone was saying around me. Needless to say, starting at the beginning was a perfect fit for me in language school.)

Because my kids were in daycare and my husband worked, I signed up to take day classes, which met three times a week. I was given a textbook, that we only used on occasion, and I was introduced to the library within the language school, to which I paid daily (meaning three times a week) visits. Reading short books of 30-100 pages really helped me build up my vocabulary since my listening skills were less than ideal. They downright sucked! Some of the others in my class were much like me; they had followed a Danish husband or wife from their home country to Denmark. Some had children, some didn’t, but we were all somewhat connected. There were also a few refugees from Syria and other middle-eastern countries. Most of them started off in a lower level to get them ready for 3.10, as the school liked to call the class I was in. These people were much better at understanding spoken Danish, but they were still on the same speaking level of all the other, “just started language school for the first time” people. We were a motely crew of sorts, but we were all friendly and liked each other. There seems to be an unspoken bond that you create with people in situations of survival, and though Denmark isn’t a place where people think you need to “survive” to live there, to expats/refugees starting a new life, “survival” isn’t that bad of a way of describing just what we were doing.

For two months, I was very good about going to class almost every day. Of course, there are the unforeseen situations like having a sick kid at home that kept me away from class, but I would still study at home. I also read tons of the short books from the library; so many in fact, that I read nearly all the books from the first two out of four series. I was later told that I read the books for not just module 1, but also module 2. Crazy! I was understanding the lessons, and thriving with the grammar lessons, but when it came down to it, I still felt that I didn’t know what anyone was saying. I could tell that I was getting better, but it was very frustrating to listen to the radio or watch TV and be clueless after two months of learning a language. This wasn’t my first foreign language either. I had taken courses in German, Spanish, French, American Sign Language and Hebrew (Most of which I have forgotten, since I never learned them to use them for any reason. Except for German, which I am a badass with. Just saying!). Danish seemed by far the hardest. It could be that I say that now, since I am learning it in my late 30s as opposed to being much younger, but I think now I have more of a need to learn Danish much faster than the other languages. The seriousness and necessity of it are real, and that’s not always much fun. Then again, it could be the pronunciations. HOLY TOLEDO! I can’t tell you how many times I have tried to communicate with someone by reading the word as it is written, which his often VERY WRONG. Danish is definitely the type of language that you need to learn it from sound instead of sight, which means that I am completely doomed! I’m not an auditory learner, never have been. This is going to be a long ride.

Back to the end of the second month, which is when I was told by my teachers that I would be taking the module 1 test to move on to module 2. I have to say that I was happy for this, but I felt that it was coming. I was surprised when I learned that some people had to move back down a level, since I didn’t know that was possible. Others, who had been in the class longer, weren’t taking the test. I was glad that things were going at a good pace for me, but I felt badly for the others. I know how frustrating learning a new language can be. 

The test at the end of module 1 was relatively easy. We were given time in class a few weeks before the test to write three themes. We needed to prepare for a 2 minute speech about one of the three topics. The teachers would write the themes down and put a random number (1-3) next to them. We then would say either 1, 2 or 3. Then the teacher would tell us which of the three topics we would be discussing. I was extremely lucky to get to talk about my family. I could mostly do that before I started the language class from what I had taught myself. That topic had no pressure of failure. I think I would have been okay with the other two (Every Monday and My Interests) if those were picked. From what I have heard from others, this is the easiest test of all the tests at the school. After talking about my topic and answering a few questions that the teachers had on my topic, I had to create questions about a random picture. They wanted 5 “hv” (questions that began with question words: who, what, etc.) and 5 verb starting questions. We, again, had plenty of time in the two weeks before the test to prep for this, even though I had never seen the picture. The method was the same from practice, though. The teachers would answer every question I asked, which just helped give you the feeling of being in a conversation. I, of course, had a few mistakes with some of the things I said, but it wasn’t anything major. For the majority of my time in class and during that test, I felt like I was guessing. Danish grammar isn’t completely different from that of English, which helped a bit with the guessing. I just hope that I am more in touch with what is going on in the next module. I have heard that the test at the end of that module is much longer and more intense.  We shall have to wait and see.

Overall, I like language school. I am the eternal student, and enjoy being in a classroom. I like learning and languages are my specialty! 🙂 Seriously, it could be math! I would be completely screwed if that were the case. At least, I feel that I have a chance with Danish. Hahaha! So said the craziest woman ever.

On our last day before summer break, the school took the level 3 students on a field trip. We had charter busses (Actually, there was only one bus, since so many people didn’t show that the other bus went home. People suck sometimes! Their loss.) and got to see a Danish attraction. They took us to a place called Hjerl Hede, which is a mini village that was created to show people how the Danes used to live over 100 years ago. I like it. They actually had real animals there. Here are a few, extremely random pictures of the trip. 🙂

 Carriage house:

 Pond:

 Inside the school:

 Moo:

 The door to the church:

 The wall to the church:

 The bakery:

 The cooper:

 The store:

 The bathroom doors to the school:

 The mill and sheep:

 The blacksmith:

 The mill:

 The tanner:

 Behind the mill:

 Living Museum:

 Inside a the inn:

 The inn:

 Back of the priest’s home:

Though it seems like a blur of memories now, I know that I will miss the friends I made in my first language class. I am bummed not to be continuing with them, since I will be switching to night classes in the fall when I start my job, but I’m eager to see what module 2 will bring. I hope two nights a week will be enough to keep me moving along with Danish, since my job will require very little Danish. Let’s hope it is just what I need! 🙂