State Funded Courses
If you are over 18, have a residence permit in Denmark, and have been assigned a civil registration number (CPR nr.), you have the right to receive three years’ education in Danish. Danish education includes Danish language tuition and Danish social studies. Your municipal authority pays for your education in Danish. There are three types of Danish education programmes.
Danish Educational Programme 1
For people who have not learned to read and write in their mother tongue, or who cannot read/write in the Latin alphabet. This programme places special emphasis on oral Danish. But you will also learn to read and write simple texts.
Danish Educational Programme 2
For people who have spent a short time at school or who have basic training skills from their native country. You will learn to understand, speak and read Danish so you can get by at work and on a daily basis. You will also practise writing simple texts in Danish.
Danish Educational Programme 3
For the person who has completed medium to long-term education, for example, business training, upper secondary education or someone with a further education qualification. The speed and level are higher than that of Danish education programme 2. You can end this course with the Studies Test, which is a prerequisite for beginning several higher education programmes.
Courses Abroad
You can learn Danish at several universities around the world. Contact larger language centres in your home country, for information. The Danish Embassies and Consulates can also refer to Danish activities in your home country. The Danish Cultural Institute has a number of offices abroad where Danish is taught. The Institute also runs Danish language courses for foreign students studying in Denmark each summer.
Courses in Denmark
The opportunities to learn Danish in Denmark are vast. There are long courses running during the academic year, short intensive courses and summer courses. The Danish language courses are divided into three courses that are designed to match the participants’ level of education. These courses are described in the “State Funded Courses” section.
Business related Danish courses are offered at technical schools, business schools, and social and health schools. These courses specify the language skills for carrying out specific jobs, and if possible complete a professional job training qualification.
Courses at Adult Language Centres
The adult education centres (VUC) offer courses for employees who need to improve their Danish language skills prior to entering the education system, taking further education courses or taking up a job. Here, instruction is provided in fluent and correct oral and written communication, reading various types of texts, producing presentations, reports and summaries.
Online Danish Courses
Know of any other online Danish courses? Let us know!
Dictionaries and translation
There aren’t that many free online dictionaries, but one of them is the W3 Dictionary. We can also recommend Ordbogen.com, which provides comprehensive dictionary services for only a few hundred kroners per year.
Last, but not least, there is Google Translate – excellent for short machine translations and for tranlating entire websites. In many cases where Danish public/private websites aren’t translated in to English, Google will actually generate a very usable instant translation.
Other ways to learn the language – and meet new people at the same time!
Meet2Talk – At Meet2Talk you can find members near you, who would like to swap languages. You learn their language, and they learn yours. Once you are connected, you decide where and when to meet. You continue the meetings, speaking the two languages alternately. Learn much more on the Meet2Talk website click on the link above!