Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

LEARNING DANISH

Danish words that just sound wrong in English

Danish is a difficult language to learn, but there are some words that can make you chuckle along the way. Here are ten examples which always make us smile.

Published: 24 April 2023 15:55 CEST
Updated: 30 April 2023 08:18 CEST
Danish words that just sound wrong in English
Spunk Bar on Istedgade in Copenhagen. Spunk is also a brand of liquorice in Denmark but has a different meaning in English. Photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

Fart

This is the word that keeps on giving. It means ‘speed’ and ‘motion’ and you’ll see it most on the roads, with signs reminding you of the fartkontrol (‘speed check’).

You can look at a fartplan (‘timetable’) to book onto a bådfart (‘boat trip’) where the captain of the boat will wish you a behagelig overfart (‘pleasant crossing’).

To hurry up in Danish is to be in a fart and if you go in an old fashioned elevator in Denmark, you might see or hear the words i fart, telling you it’s ‘in motion’.

Kok

When your Danish dining companion tries to get the attention of the chefkok, they are just thanking the head chef for the food. Kok means cook or chef.

Kant

It sounds like you’re saying something rude in a cockney accent but in Danish, you’re talking about the ‘edge’. Rural, sometimes neglected parts of Denmark are referred to as udkantsdanmark, which sounds like a real slight on the locals but actually means ‘peripheral’ Denmark.

Fugt

Now say this with a northern accent. Meaning humidity or moisture, if you don’t sufficiently air your home you might find yourself facing fugtproblemer (problems resulting from moisture).

Slut

They all lived happily ever after. Slut. You will hear this word a lot in Denmark and it means ‘end’.

A slutspurt (literally translated as ‘end sprint’ or ‘final sprint’) is the end of sale in a store. If you sell your car you will receive a slutseddel, which is not a document containing adult content but a much more boring piece of paperwork which proves the vehicle has changed hands.

Seks

It means six. Nothing more.

Fåreskind

If a male friend asks you to have a look at their fåreskind, they want you to check out their new sheepskin. Some English-speakers struggle to suppress a smile when seeing fåreskindshandsker (sheepskin gloves).

Slags

Denmark has many slags of herring and liquorice. It means ‘type of’. It can also be a verb meaning to beat or to hit, and a fight or brawl can be termed a slagsmål, which is a good argument for peaceful conflict resolution.

Spunk

One of the slags of liquorice and wine gums is a brand called Spunk. It’s also the name of a bar in Copenhagen, which is just a normal bar, just like this is normal liquorice. Nothing to see here.

Plopp

Ok, another food brand that makes us laugh. Enjoy a piece of Plopp while reading this article.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

SCHOOLS

‘A superpower’: How being bilingual can help kids thrive in Danish schools

Being bilingual can help children to prosper academically when they are encouraged at school and at home, an expert told The Local.

Published: 14 June 2024 16:13 CEST
'A superpower': How being bilingual can help kids thrive in Danish schools

A recent report in Denmark linked a lack of Danish spoken at home and lower economic status with poorer performance at school, but bilingualism in isolation is an advantage under the right conditions, a specialist in the area told The Local on Friday.

Around 40 percent of school students with immigrant backgrounds were considered to be underperforming in mathematics, reading and science. That compares to 16 percent of students with non-immigrant backgrounds, according to the report “PISA Etnisk 2022”, published this week by research and analysis institute VIVE (National Research and Analysis Center for Welfare).

For all students, regardless of heritage, socioeconomic status was a factor in school performance. In other words, students from strong socioeconomic positions achieve better PISA results on average than those from weaker socioeconomic positions.

The report states that the language spoken at home may also have an effect on school results, with students who speak some Danish at home more likely to achieve better results – although this effect is reduced when socioeconomic status is taken into account.

READ ALSO: Kids who don’t speak Danish at home ‘may find school harder’

However, the report may not identify the difference individual situations can make for parents, an expert in raising bilingual children told The Local.

Bilingual kids given the right encouragement and support at home and school are in fact likely to thrive, said Elisa Sievers, a cultural consultant and founder of Happy Children Denmark. 

Sievers, who noted she had not read the VIVE report specifically, has observed bilingual schools and studied evidence on teaching multilingual children, at the Institute for Minority Education at University College South Denmark. 

Larger studies don’t always look at “the kids’ class or socioeconomics, where they actually come from, how long they’ve been in Denmark or what kind of resources the family has,” she said, adding that a number of different factors, like the languages spoken and whether the parents speak Danish, can create different circumstances contributing to results.

Being bilingual “doesn’t take the academic level of a child down, quite the opposite,” Sievers said. “It’s really about creating a space where children feel seen and feel that all parts of their identity and their language skills are embraced, then the child’s full potential can get out and they can thrive and have better academic results.”

“If a child is not thriving then they won’t perform super well academically either.”

READ ALSO:

Difficulties can arise if bilingualism is framed negatively by educators, parents or others, such as “questioning whether [the child] speaks any language perfectly,” Sievers said.

“That will affect the way the child is behaving and the way the child wants to perform and experiment with learning languages in general.”

“If there’s a positive, embracing space where the child can develop and use their language skills in a positive way”, they will be able to thrive, she said.

To create an “embracing” environment for bilingual children, Sievers advocates parents “staying authentic”, meaning each parent being consistent about speaking in their own mother tongue.

“It’s important that while the children are small and learning to speak that parents stick to that, and then they can be more loose later when the child knows the two languages,” she said.

At school, teachers can “make a point of the child having a special skill” by encouraging use of the second language.

An example of this could be asking the child to explain something about their language or background to the rest of the class.

“Seeing the language background, talk about it as something positive and something that is a superpower for the child instead of being a problem,” she said.

Elisa Sievers has a monthly newsletter, with tips for teachers and parents of bilingual and trilingual children.

SHOW COMMENTS