Seeking easy Danish language media

December 5, 2016 8:24 PM

I'm going to spend a month or two in Denmark next spring, and although it's likely that everyone I meet there will speak better English than I do, I started the Duolingo Danish course and to my surprise I'm really enjoying it. Can you recommend Danish-language media (movies, tv or radio shows, bloggers or vloggers...) that I can access online, maybe have Danish subtitles, and that I might have a chance of understanding even though I haven't even learned the past tense yet? (Don't worry, I'll get to that soon.)
posted by moonmilk to Writing & Language (21 answers total)

Borgen! Politicians speak really slowly.
posted by bq at 8:30 PM on December 5, 2016

dr.dk/ligetil is the news written in simple language. I think there are videos too. This was recommended in my Danish language class as being great for language learners and I enjoy it.

A warning though, my experience as a foreigner living in Denmark and actively learning the language is that Duolingo specifically does not prepare you for using Danish in any meaningful way. It's a difficult language to to hear when spoken properly (it's fast, mumbly, and runs together a lot) and pretty much everyone will switch to English rather than try and speak it with you. It is fun so worth pursuing, just have realistic expectations about your trip.
posted by shelleycat at 10:50 PM on December 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

Here is a good list with sumaries:
from Visit Denmark.
Period dramas are good as there's not much slang and people speak quite pronouncedly.
There was a great one a while back about the family who brought TV to Denmark, hopefully someone else can help out with the name.
posted by Iteki at 10:51 PM on December 5, 2016

I also follow Copenhagen Zoo on instagram and see how far I get translating their captions every day before hitting translate. They're short and predictable but still in colloquial language.
posted by shelleycat at 10:53 PM on December 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

you're only going to be here for 30 to 60 days? then I would recommend looking more at places to visit and explore rather than learning a language you will struggle to master and as shellycat well states we'll all just switch to english anyhow. Get to know the country and the people, not necessarily the language, it's a better use of your travel prep time. If you like it enough to move here, then *definitely* learn danish - but not until then :) Just my 2 cents.
posted by alchemist at 11:30 PM on December 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

I was in Copenhagen on business last week. The locals always tell me that (spoken) Danish is such a hard language to learn that "it normally takes children somewhere into their teens before they realize what their parents have been going on about". But if you know enough to be able to ask people to "speak Danish to me" - and handle the aftermath - then that would be a great achievement. Hell - if you can pronounce the metro stop that you are getting off at without getting it wildly wrong - that would be an achievement.

Personally I've enjoyed reading The Year of Living Danishly - written by a British woman who moved to the country. It covers a lot of interesting cultural details - including the author's attempt to learn the language (by going to an immersive class whilst in Denmark).
posted by rongorongo at 11:54 PM on December 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

IIND but agree with all the above not to push yourself too hard with this as Danish tourists-speaking-the-language culture is different than other places (i.e. It's not considered rude not to speak Danish like it would be in France or something... and in fact many Danish people would wonder why you were bothering) (correct me if I am wrong!)

That said I really like the show Rita and the spinoff Hjørdis.
posted by athirstforsalt at 12:00 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

Mod note: Folks, it's been stated that there may be reasons for the OP not to focus on learning the language, but let's leave that be now, and just answer the question.
posted by taz (staff) at 1:06 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

Sesame Street and the Muppets in translation are wonderful for language learning. The writers brilliantly made them entertaining for adults as well as children.
posted by cotterpin at 1:16 AM on December 6, 2016

Dicte is for you! Strong female characters, good cops/reporters/crime-solving action, lots of conversations to follow. Three seasons on Netflix.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 2:35 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

I disagree with the advice to just use your time elsewise. I recently spent a few weeks in the Netherlands and did the Dutch duolingo in advance. I knew I was not going to actually speak dutch with the Dutch but having some familiarity with the language makes it that much easier to really get to know a place and feel more comfortable in a strange setting. You'll likely at least be able to read signs at shops. When I've been to places that I don't know the language at all, I feel more disoriented. Anyway to answer your specific question, I would second the recommendation of Rica and the Hjordis spin-off (rita is definitely better....)
posted by Tandem Affinity at 4:49 AM on December 6, 2016

I very much enjoyed the movie A Royal Affair, although I 100% read the subtitles as I don't speak a word of Danish. You could try watching it with subtitles, and then a second time without the subtitles, as an aid to following the Danish dialogue. I rented the DVD from Netflix, pretty sure it's still available.
posted by RRgal at 5:45 AM on December 6, 2016

Arvingerne, (The Legacy) is great. And Forbrydelsen. Livvagterne is a TV series about body guards. Bedrag (called Follow the Money in English) is about corporate espionage & fraud. All of these are available with English subs.
This site seems to list all of them. The ones I mention above are all shows I watched and liked.
(And I also second all the shows mentioned by others in the thread, especially Rita and Borgen.)
posted by Obscure Reference at 5:51 AM on December 6, 2016

Response by poster: Thanks for the recommendations! I'll start checking these out. Especially looking forward to Sesame Street and the Copenhagen Zoo!

rongorongo, I'm already halfway through The Year of Living Danishly and enjoying it!

I don't expect to be able to have conversations in Danish, but even a small boost in being able to understand will help me feel more connected to the place. I'm going for an arts residency and won't have much (if any) time for self-directed tourism.

I'm also just enjoying the learning process, even if it goes nowhere.
posted by moonmilk at 6:43 AM on December 6, 2016 [2 favorites]

There was a great one a while back about the family who brought TV to Denmark, hopefully someone else can help out with the name.
That was Krøniken - it was really good because it was also about the foundations of the Danish welfare society.

I can understand the for understanding a bit - I like that as well when I am traveling.

Congratulations with the residency! Are you going to Copenhagen? Memail me when you get here - if I can be of any help.
posted by mumimor at 6:47 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks! I'll be mostly around Aarhus, but I hope to get a chance to see Copenhagen.
posted by moonmilk at 9:36 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

I loved watching the the tv show "Klovn" with English subtitles.

It's a darker version of "Curb Your Enthusiasm", if that's your kind of thing. Very very cringeworthy. Might alter your perceptions of Denmark.
posted by jimmereeno at 7:48 PM on December 6, 2016

Response by poster: I don't know if this is a thing, but is it possible to find Danish-language video with Danish subtitles? That could be a big help.
posted by moonmilk at 5:48 AM on December 7, 2016

You want the tv news for the heading impaired, hoppfully one of the Danes can hook you up. Actually probably any of the main channels "players" will have the content available subtitled.
posted by Iteki at 8:39 AM on December 7, 2016

We've watched TV programmes on dr.dk with Danish subtitles. It's a standard feature, just like any other national broadcaster. Danish subtitles on Danish-language videos is definitely the way to go, but I don't see how you'll get that far with just Duolingo.
posted by shelleycat at 10:32 AM on December 7, 2016

Response by poster: Update! I went to Denmark and had a great time (and lots of delicious snegler). As predicted, everyone spoke English. As predicted, I could barely understand or pronounce spoken Danish. I'm still really glad I put a lot of time into studying Danish, because it was so satisfying when I realized I could understand a newspaper headline or a billboard, or navigate a website. I'll probably keep dabbling in Danish even though I may never get back there again. (But I'm already plotting ways to go back.)
posted by moonmilk at 1:19 PM on June 20, 2017 [6 favorites]