Cole Edelstein - How I learned Danish (in Danish with subtitles)

Video in Danish explaining my own journey with the Danish language, starting with Norwegian. I've also included some general language learning tips! If you are Danish, feel free to write some feedback/corrections in the comments
For those interested, my instagram is @colex10282

[@olgamolenda3113]

Thank you so much for this, I'm from Poland currently learning Danish for fun and I'm happy to know I'm not alone with my inability to understand it 😂

[@coleedelstein1112]

That’s awesome! Yeah the pronunciation used to drive me crazy but if you just stick with it, you will understand!!

[@olgamolenda3113]

@@coleedelstein1112 That's motivating 😊

[@dominikaxy]

20 years in Denmark and I still struggle with this language 🙁

[@FrozenMermaid666]

I am learning Danish, and I must admit that Danish pronunciation is so complicated and it’s done with powerful stomach moves and glottal stops aka the Danish stød and like a zillion nuances / variations of the vowel sounds, so it’s like one gets some real exercise while speaking Danish, and the Danish accent is almost as hard to imitate as the German accent, so I would say Danish and German are the Germanic languages with the most complicated phonology and accents - on the other hand, languages such as Norse and Gothic and Icelandic and Dutch and English and Welsh and Breton and Cornish have the accents that are the easiest to imitate (naturally very easy to imitate) and very easy pronunciations, except for the LL sound in Welsh which is one of the unusual sounds that aren’t easy to figure out how to do, like the soft D in Danish, which I am still not sure if it has an L sound in there or if it’s just an approximant of the eth sound (which is a less obvious D sound) or another approximant of D or a mix of both, as no one knows how to explain this sound correctly, like, what exactly they are trying to say to get the right sound, which is actually pretty subtle and not easy to hear in most words!

[@FrozenMermaid666]

Another thing is, those teaching the sounds aren’t always explaining the sounds correctly, and sometimes say that one must say the er etc with flat A / schwa sound, but in truth, the ar / er / ir / or / ur / ør letter combinations in Danish (and in German) are not supposed to be pronounced with regular / normal / flat vowel sounds, but with R-controlled vowels / vowel-controlled soft Rs that can have very subtle R sounds sometimes tho they are still in there (some English words and some Faroese words also have some of those sounds with R-controlled vowels and vowel-controlled Rs, which can have different variations) tho in Danish words like er the R sound is more pronounced, so it sounds kinda like the German word der without the D sound, kinda like ear or euhr (I use uh for the schwa sound or some schwa-based sound) with a soft R sound under the vowel sound - besides, Danish has a totally non-relaxed pronunciation, like English and Dutch and German etc, which is one of the things that give it that unique modern sound, and that means that when one speaks Danish the muscles involved in speaking are automatically tensed up 100% tho it’s something one does subconsciously, so one may not be realizing that one is tensing up and placing the sound in a certain way, and each language has a different sound placement actually, and, it’s naturally easy to do that in English (to figure out the right placement and in which way to do this tensing up of the muscles involved in speaking etc) and even in Dutch, so I can hear lots of ppl that sound like native speakers in English and Dutch, but for some reason, it’s not easy to find the right placement and the right way of tensing up in languages like Danish and German and the right way of protecting the sound in that outward way, which is also one of the reasons why their accents are not easy to imitate, having a very outward and open projection, whereas in Dutch and English the sound is projected in a more normal way and sometimes in a closed way as in Dutch, so, I haven’t heard anyone yet that can do the Danish accent and sound naturally and native-like, and even I cannot get the right Danish accent yet, even though I am naturally good at imitating accents and knowing how the sound is made, so I should be able to do the Danish accent, but when it comes to actually trying to imitate it myself, it’s like even my Rs aren’t working anymore, so I don’t know what am I not doing right...

[@theflyinggasmask]

Really impressed by your "Rød grød med fløde" pronunciation, the best one I've ever heard from a non-Dane. I can recommend just talking to yourself in Danish and try and mimic people in movies or series etc. That's how I learned to speak English.

[@karinaliebmannmadsen1577]

Hold da det op!!! Hvor er det flot 🙌🙌🙌 super flot udtale og ordforråd. Hatten af for dig 🇩🇰🇩🇰

[@natur2184]

Your pronunciation is very good. There are some words which you say, that kind of sound a bit more Norwegian (in terms of accent). I don't fault you, Danish is very inconsistent with pronunciation. Sometimes "o" sounds like "å" as a small example. Great job and I hope despite the difficulties people watching this video may have learning Norwegian, Swedish or Danish, keep going! You'll eventually get about a whole country's worth of people you can communicate with.

[@tw418]

Du taler fantastisk godt dansk 👍🤗

[@jacobjacobsen2798]

Wow! Du er virkelig god. Din udtale er meget tæt på at være perfekt. Jeg flyttede fra Danmark til Belgien i den nederlandsktalende landsdel. At jeg havde haft tysk et par år i skolen var en god begyndelse til at lære sproget, men det der virkelig fik mig lært sprogets opbygning var at læse højt for mig selv.I begyndelsen gerne en bog jeg på forhånd havde læst på dansk eller engesk. Dit dansk er i høj grad imponerende.

[@AlwaysASolution-qj9be]

Cole, excellent video! Great energy and well done. Congratulations on your language skills and thank you for the tips!👏

[@newenglandgreenman]

Thanks for this video, Cole! I'm an American just starting with Danish, and you're really inspiring. The pronunciation is really daunting, of course. And I don't have any Danish friends to practice with. But the podcast idea is a great one. Congrats on your achievement!

[@merc340sr]

Holy shit! You sound like a native speaker!!!

[@PUAlum]

What a great video, Cole. Thank you. I love the sounds of Norwegian and Danish. Years (and years) ago i was thrilled when i placed an operator-assisted long-distance call in Norway relying on my Berlitz phrase book.... and it actually worked! (and she didn't speak English). Just retired, and think just for fun to try Danish. Thanks again...and keep up the good work!

[@stepheng9607]

This is a very interesting video. I have had a similar experience. I started off with Norwegian because everyone recommends it as the "middle" language. In fairness there are lots of useful resources. I did have a couple of online conversations but I found it difficult to find online teachers that lived in the country. I also found that, whilst I could read a novel, I struggled to understand spoken Norwegian, despite spending a lot of time on the activity. The dialects were a major barrier. I found that I could read Danish quite well and I could understand some spoken Swedish. So I have been thinking about switching to Danish as I am interested in the culture and the language. It was fascinating to hear your story. Clearly having a grounding in Norwegian is a great help as a starting point.

[@coleedelstein1112]

Thanks! Yeah I would definitely recommend switching to Danish (or even Swedish?) because the dialects are just so much more manageable. I think you’ll be surprised how quickly you can become proficient in a second Scandinavian language.

[@lasagnegut4863]

yay du snakker norsk

[@jandamskier6510]

@@lasagnegut4863 Han taler altså dansk i dette indslag, bedre dansk end mange af de udlændinge som har boet her i mange, mange år.

[@_sofie]

Rita er en klasse anbefaling! Virkelig imponerende at du taler så godt dansk det er sindssygt svært, så kudos.

[@marcuslynn]

Really inspiring video Cole! I'm learning Danish now and it's a bit daunting. Really appreciate your tips and hearing your journey!

[@coleedelstein1112]

Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@russellbaker7098]

What a lovely video, presented in a really nice way. I travel to Denmark on business a lot and want to learn enough to talk to my colleagues. As a fellow English speaker, your experience is really interesting

[@pennyjane9906]

Awesome video! :D I don't speak danish (yet) but you sound pretty dansk to my ear and you seem so comfortable with the language. Really cool and inspiring!

[@antonriera8229]

Godt gået brormand. Sindssygt du er den bedste amerikaner jeg noglesinde har hørt

[@099las]

meget imponerende at se og høre!

[@stephenscottbrewer5184]

Was für inspiriende Videos, vielen Dank, Cole! Bin auch dabei, 'dansk' zu lernen. Deutsch war meine zweite Fremdsprache nach französisch. Eigentlich lebe ich schon seit über 30 Jahren in Frankreich, komme aber ursprünglich aus einem kleinen Dorf in Pennsylvania, wo ich als Kind nur englisch hörte. Begann mit 14 (9th grade) französisch zu lernen, und "the rest is history," i.e., I got the language bug. Russisch, italienisch, spanisch, ein bisschen japanisch und polnisch. Dein dänisch ist ein Vorbild für mich, danke! Bin nicht auf Instagram aber habe nun deinen Kanal abonniert. Bravo! Glæder mig til at se andre videoer fra dig.

[@richterbelmont04]

Ich weiß, das kommt ein bisschen spät, aber ich wollte dich nur einmal kurz für dein großartiges Deutsch loben! Es erstaunt einen besonders wenn man weiß, dass Englisch deine Muttersprache ist

[@kimpieolinkie794]

this video was quite helpfull :3 im from the netherlands and im learning danish cuz i love languages, my partner is danish and im hoping to an animation/art school in denmark when im done with middleschool :3 i can't wait to start to listen to the podcasts ya suggested + the Rita show thing (found it on netflix) :>

[@coleedelstein1112]

That’s awesome! Yeah you should check those out 😄

[@Victoria-mp4bc]

Jeg har alltid hatt inntrykk av at mange nordmenn lærer språk og vil fordype seg i blant annet amerikansk engelsk. Så jeg lurer veldig på hvor du lette etter norske mennesker å snakke med 😅 Er på den andre siden helt enig med dialektene, det er veldig vanskelig, til og med for mange nordmenn. Kjæresten min har et familiemedlem som er fra et lite sted på Vestlandet, og det var umulig for meg å forstå hva han sa. Vil påstå at jeg er språksmart nok til å forstå svensk og dansk, så det å ikke forstå en dialekt i mitt eget land var veldig frustrerende.. Uansett, bra video! Det er alltid imponerende når folk har lært seg et språk så godt!

[@coleedelstein1112]

Tusen takk!! Ja, jeg tror at nå kan jeg finne noe steder å snakke med nordmenn, men i fortiden hadde jeg ikke tenkt meg å bruke internettet...

[@gerardgreaves1620]

Bro. Only 2 years when this video was made. So impressive. I been learning danish for 5 years and am no where near that level. And i been living here almost 2 of those 5. I definitely gonna try the listening thing instead of studying my butt off and not fluent

[@patriciainda4491]

Great video! Are you still learning danish? and how long did it take you to get this good! Really struggling with pronunciation atm

[@manutreelogy4244]

Hej Cole, Rtusind tak for videoen, den er meget inspirende. 4 måneder siden begyndt jeg at studiere dansk alene, via youtube, (jeg vil flytte til Danmark i få måneder) og jeg finder udtale er den virkelig udfordringt... Har du nogle forslage om andre ressourcer via internetten, for at forbedre forståelsen? En gang til, mange tak for at deltage så opmuntrende oplevelse.

[@skeptic781]

Damn I can tell your pronunciation is great even though I'm from Sweden

[@sarah4hp]

Wow... I'm impressed! Danish is NOT an easy language, especially to pronounce, so kudos to you for sticking with it and getting so good!

[@meggyheart]

Depends on your very own skills, and what your native language is. Danish pronunciation is very easy to me, its different for everyone. Especially since ø, å, æ, are not difficult for me, because its literally ö, ó, é in Hungarian. (I am going to kinda miss more of our "special" letters we have, Danish doesn't have too many letters compared to ours, since it has 29 letters, and Hungarian has 44.) So in short, Danish has no letters I wouldn't know the exact sound of. Both languages are very different from each other, Hungarian is quite the unique and actually difficult one, but these "special" letters are the same, written down differently. Of course Danish is easy for me because of both this, and my language learning skills, I easily learn languages. (Also considering I am very young, it's even easier) Danish is really not all that difficult, it might be for some, but then that's on them.

[@skycrow9594]

im from denmark, how i learned english was from my sister who set anime on for me dubbed. after 600 or so episodes on one piece, i could understand pretty well.

[@Becoming_a_Polyglot]

It is refreshing to see another American who, first of all watched a movie in another language, and then actually learned another language. Having lived the most of my life in the US, and traveled to Japan, China, México and South America. I can also say that only Danish person I've ever met was because my grandmother specifically hosted a student from Denmark. It's almost impossible to just be walking down the street and meet someone from Denmark.

[@boofychicken9818]

Hi there, I'm also learning danish and I was just wondering if you have the subtitles in Danish as well? It would be helpful to read and listen along :) Thanks

[@ranusaktiilahichik848]

I've got same problem, no one to practice with for speaking Norsk and when i watch Norwegian KZbin shows i don't understand, yeah as you said det er mange dialekte. But i do understand little bit Swedish shows instead, maybe cuz i usually heard Swedish song as well

[@lornamarie5544]

Wow you are so tight I have the same issue I’ve been learning and try and listen to Danish wherever I can. It’s that classic if I see the subtitles I know the words they are using and could write it myself but I have to bend my ear to understand the accent and really only get this gist of what’s going on. I speak French and Italian and one can mimic those accents. I don’t speak German but could say fake a German accent while speaking English but I can’t with Danish.

[@rezam1264]

Hi. What did you do to improve the pronunciation and the way of reading Danish texts?

[@theflyinggasmask]

He mentioned he had some Danish friends, so he probably leaned it from them.

[@LeeGee]

Totally relatable. I love the fact the Norway refuses to standardise its spoken language -- long may dialects and accents reign! But I hope the Norwegians don't mind me speaking posh Swedish! Spoken Danish is difficult for me in the way French is -- why only pronounce part of the word? I'm English, with family from the North of England, and so I am familiar with most of the speech patterns and sounds, but even so....!

[@Defferleffer]

I learned English quickly by watching movies and playing video games in English.

[@mikkelfolting554]

Du taler da glimrende dansk! Hvor i USA er du fra? Jeg er dansker men er vokset op i USA :)

[@isnisse3896]

Dejlig video og dejlig historie min ven:) As a dane i think our language can be hard to understand too! Im curius: What danish did you hear that was not understandable? There are perhaps 5 direlecs in denmark: Fynsk (At fyn), Sønderjysk (southeren jutland where im from), sjællandsk (zealand), Bornholmsk (bornholm), and rigs dansk (the common danish direlect) i get it if you watched videos online from people who has strong dirlects it can be hard... But you are doing great! i understand you 95% keep it up! a diffriend i see in american compared to danish, is the way danish people has a higher pitch. Americans talk in a lower volume where as danes say our words quick and jumpy, not as jumpy as norwegian tho:)

[@coleedelstein1112]

Tusind tak! At være ærlig jeg ved ikke hvilken dialekt af dansk jeg lyttede til når jeg begyndte at forsøge at forstå samtaler (sandsynligvis rigsdansk fordi det er det mest udbredt) - det hele var uforståeligt

[@isnisse3896]

@@coleedelstein1112 @Cole Edelstein bare tag rigsdansks, det kan vi alle forstå:D Hvis du gerne ville lære mere dansk, kan jeg forslå at følge r/denmark på reddit A funny thounge twister on sønderjysk (southeren danish) goes as following: A ar å æ ø i æ å = Jeg er på øen i åen = I am on the Island in the river Just shows how weird the pronounciation can be!

[@lrkemadsen9264]

Det er virkelig flot hvor godt du udtaler ting med bogstavet æ i!

[@christopherjones6772]

tak

[@wouth3590]

Hej, jeg er født i Danmark, men jeg har boet i Norge det meste af mit liv, jeg synes du taler vidunderligt dansk!

[@85Vikingen]

Imponerende 🙂👌

[@Infaziation]

Stærkt 👍

[@Mlw693]

I am listening to podcasts as you suggested. All I can hear are words. I cannot grab the meaning of a single sentence. Should pause and try to understand or should I keep listening passively over and over.

[@coleedelstein1112]

Hi! Yeah I would say it depends on the level that you're at. If you would be able to understand a transcription of the podcast - like all the individual words, but the flow of speech is difficult, I would say keep listening without pausing. But if you don't know the meaning of the individual words, I would switch to materials that aren't for native speakers - like Dansk i ørerne or the Simple Danish Podcast

[@Jojo-et9pg]

❤🎉😊

[@nikolasbeckerandersen1383]

Du snakker godt dansk. Faktisk rigtigt godt. Især din udtale af nogle danske ord er virkeligt godt.

[@Solsortemor]

Ja, det var dog imponerende! Du bliver da nødt til at besøge os i Skandinavien snart.

[@cuisinehouse6118]

Jeg har lært dansk i et år, jeg forstår stadig ikke et ord når de taler jeg ved ikke hvorfor de taler så hurtigt. BTW thank you 🌸

[@nielsulriksrensen9818]

Wow, imponerende!

[@Ramsaygojo]

Som en dansker de er vokset op i Sverige din danske dialekt er beder en min selvom jeg har snakket sproget hjemme hele livet.

[@Zapp4rn]

jag är svensk och jag förstår 90% av det som du säger

[@mealswithbarakah4032]

I am also learning danish but I am going to try guess what you just said "I am Swedish and I understood 90% of what you were talking about" I don't know if this is right.😁

[@Zapp4rn]

@@mealswithbarakah4032 yup, you got it, almost exactly word for word

[@mealswithbarakah4032]

@@Zapp4rn YAAY!!Thanks for replying to my comment.👍🏽

[@Zapp4rn]

@@mealswithbarakah4032 bästa vänner lol

[@uniworkhorse]

Blew my mind when you said you hadn't been to Denmark how crap bro how does one enjoy danish so much that this happens

[@coleedelstein1112]

I’ve been now lol

[@ryugaHNS]

rød grød med fløde almost sounded danish

[@Henry-gs9xy]

Fantastisk arbejde alt er 100% forståeligt, du bruger "behersket" lidt mærkeligt dog, stadig forståeligt dog.

[@theriddler2277]

wtf, det er sku flot. du kan bedre fansk end de fleste der har boet her i 2år+.

[@Zapatero078]

Ewwww

[@karinaliebmannmadsen1577]

@robetrotting this is not normal....he is amazing. But he gives some good tips on how to learn Danish.