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SCHOOLS

The Danish vocabulary parents need to know for back-to-school season

Parents around the country will be preparing for their children's return to school – or perhaps their very first term – over the next few weeks. Here are the crucial pieces of Danish vocabulary that will help international families navigate the school year.

Published: 3 August 2021 16:42 CEST
Updated: 8 August 2021 02:13 CEST
The Danish vocabulary parents need to know for back-to-school season
A teacher and her pupils at a Danish school. Photo: Denmark.dk

Types of schools

Most pupils in Denmark go to a folkeskole (folkeskoler in plural), literally “people’s school”. These cover the entire span of the country’s compulsory education system from age six to age 16, so all of primary and and lower secondary school. 

About 18 percent of Danish school pupils are, however, educated at privately run friskoler, or “free schools”, which might include small village schools in the tradition  These might include the Grundtvig-koldske friskoler (small, rural independent schools based on the ideas of the ideas of the Danish educationalist Nikolaj Grundtvig), private grundskoler (which tends to refer to more academically minded institutions in the big cities), Rudolf Steiner-skoler (schools based on the ideas of Rudolf Steiner) , lilleskoler (small schools), flersprogede friskoler (multilingual schools), or religiøse friskoler (religious schools for children with Jewish, Muslim, or other religious backgrounds. 

Before attending schools, children can attend a vuggestue (kindergarten for 0 to 3-year-olds) and then a børnehave (kindergarten for 3 to 6-year-olds), both of which are a type of daginstitution. There are also dagpleje, where children are looked after in the private homes of the kindergarten teachers. 

Between the ages of 14 and 18, pupils can attend an efterskole, or “after school”, a unique Danish institution of voluntary independent residential schools which tend to have a more liberal approach to education, and typically a focus on a set of subjects, such as sports, cooking, media, animation, theatre, music, or dance.

From the autumn of the year a child is six, they attend børnehaveklasse (preschool class), which is a compulsory one-year transition between børnehave and folkeskole.

What are the subjects you can study at folkeskole? 

Students study Dansk (Danish), Kristendomskundskab (Christian knowledge), Idræt (sport), and Matematik (maths) in all ten classes or grades, which are called klassetrin. 

From the first to the sixth grade they study Musik (music) and Billedkunst (painting and drawing), Natur (natural sciences) or teknik (technology). From the thrid to the ninth grade, they study Engelsk (English), with the option of Tysk (German), from the seventh grade. From the seventh grade, pupils can also study Geografi (Geography), Biologi (biology), Fysik (Physics), or Kemi (chemistry). 

How does the school year work? 

Skolestart, the start of the school year, is at the start of the efterårssemester or “Autumn term”, which is broken up in mid-October by a one-week efterårsferie, or “Autumn half-term”. Then there’s the vinterferie or juleferie (Winter or Christmas holidays), forårssemester (spring holiday), Påskeferie (Easter holidays), and the Sommerferie (summer holidays). 

At the start of term, your child might receive a tidsplan (timetable) or even an Individuel studieplan (individual study plan), showing what they are studying that year.  

Equipment 

Children at Danish schools are all required to have a skoletaske, a backpack or satchel. They will also need a gymnastikposer, or gym bag, as well as a penalhus (pencilcase) penne (pens), blyanter, (pencils) and a blyantspidser (pencil sharpener).  

What happens after folkeskole? 

After folkeskole, students can opt for one of the four types of gymnasiale uddannelser (upper secondary education).

These include:

The Hhx-uddannelsen, which is focused on preparing students for business careers, is normally given at a handelsgymnasium, or “business gymnasium”, and ends with the merkantil studentereksamen (literally the mercantile student exam). 

The Hf-uddannelsen, which is a general upper secondary school education, teaching a broad range of subjects. Pupils can choose to focus on naturvidenskabelige faggruppe (science subjects) or theKultur- og samfundsfagsgruppen (culture and society group). The stream ends with the højere forberedelseseksamen, Higher Preparatory Examination.

The Stx-uddannelsen, a science-focused upper secondary education, which ends with thestudentereksamen, the Danish upper secondary leaving certificate. 

The Htx-uddannelsen, which is focused on preparing students for technological higher education and ends with the teknisk studentereksamen.

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JOBS

How much Danish do you need to learn to get a job in Denmark?

Learning a new language like Danish is a process that can take years. So at what level can you test out your new skills and apply for a job in Danish? We spoke to a language teacher to find out.

Published: 8 May 2024 15:38 CEST
How much Danish do you need to learn to get a job in Denmark?

There are many international companies in Denmark where the workplace language is English – opening up opportunities to many nationalities who want to live and work in Denmark. However for some professions, a certain level of Danish is a requirement and for others, working in Danish opens up more doors.

“The level we say you need to get a job is to have passed the Prøve i Dansk 3 (PD3), which is the official exam by the Ministry of Education. It is equivalent to the B2 European Framework level,” Maria-Sophie Schmidt, language consultant at Studieskolen’s private Danish department told The Local.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is an international standard for describing language ability. It uses a six-point scale: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, where C2 is for those who are advanced and fluent in the language. It means employers and educational institutions can easily assess language abilities.

“When you pass Prøve i Dansk 3 and are B2 level, you’re not completely fluent but you can function in Danish and read newspaper articles in Danish. Usually I say B2 level is like a driver’s license we give you on your Danish. So you can drive a car but if you want to be a really good driver, you have to go practice in traffic. So after PD3 and with practice and with help perhaps, you should be able to write an application in Danish and go through an interview,” Schmidt said.

“PD3 will always help you get a job because companies appreciate you have the certificate. There’s a worry for some companies that you aren’t fluent.

“It is also helpful because Danes like to socialise in our workplaces such as at julfrokost (Christmas lunch) or fredagsbar (Friday afternoon drinks) and some are uncomfortable having to change their language to English all the time, maybe because we don’t feel we speak it well enough. So if you come as a foreigner and have a certificate of Prøve i Dansk 3, I think it’s a big advantage,” Schmidt added.

Foreign dentists and doctors need to have passed Prøve i dansk 3, as well as other professional tests before being able to start an evaluation period of working. 

However there are some sectors where passing the Danish language exam isn’t a requirement. Due to current pressure on hospital waiting times in Denmark, nurses outside of the EU are no longer asked to pass Prøve i dansk 3. Instead, they can demonstrate their Danish language ability, in line with the requirements used for nurses from EU and EEA countries. This includes a six-month probation period where Danish communication skills are assessed.

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The construction industry and engineering, as well as hospitality are other sectors where Danish language skills won’t necessarily need to be B2 level or need certification. But whether or not you require the Prøve i Dansk 3 certificate, practicing Danish is the key to gaining confidence in the Danish workplace.

“Sign up for a language course or sign up to a sports club and surround yourself with Danish language. Insist on speaking Danish and if you know anyone speaking native Danish, ask to have a coffee and practice your Danish. If you have kids and meet other parents, speak Danish, or volunteer at somewhere like a nursing home,” Schmidt suggested.

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Language schools offer a Module 6 course, called Studieprøve to get to C1 level. Here you learn to read, write and speak more academic Danish. It is a requirement for those wanting to study in Danish but you don’t need it for a job.

“At Studieskolen we offer Classes after PD3 – a conversation class at B2 and C1 level where you don’t focus on grammar and writing but on speaking relevant topics in society such as what’s going on now, newspaper articles, TV shows and practice speaking to colleagues in small talk and more complicated conversations. PD3 is a driver’s license but you often can’t join a conversation spontaneously or you may lack confidence and vocabulary, so those classes help that.”

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