Say it again please

It is a hot Wednesday afternoon, and over 100 students have filled the ‘Dansk Kantine’ in the Faculty of Humanities building. But while the canteen’s name connotes Danishness, the language of choice is English.

The students are part of a three-week crash course in Danish language and culture, designed to introduce them to Denmark before they branch off to their own departments at the university. They are just a few of the more than 2000 international students who will study at the University of Copenhagen this year.

Growing up in France, Aurele Tabuchi heard many stories about the country from her Danish grandmother.
Aurele says that she hopes to learn Danish while she is here but that her opportunities to speak Danish have been limited so far.

“It’s really hard,” she said. “You don’t really get the opportunity to practice it because everyone speaks English right away.”

Repeat that

For Kimberly Cannady, an American from the University of Washington in the United States, understanding Danish has been about repetition.

»There’s a big difference between how it’s written and how it’s pronounced. You just have to know how to ask people to repeat themselves«, she says.

Yukiko finds Denmark a big adjustment