Language Course

[Car]

Does fremmedordbog mean dictionary of foreign words? And does mean something like dictionary of orthography?

Yes.

[Rob P]

I have a watch which is made by Skagen Denmark. I'm curious as to how one would pronounce Skagen, does anyone know?

Robert

[Alcadras]

hej

i want to learn danish and i wanna ask something.

how can i say "i want to work (or any verb)" ?

edit : and also how can i improve my pronunciation ?
it is very hard and i see long sentence and it's pronunciation is too short

[Kleit]

Hi.
My mother is Danish.. I am also born and raised in Denmark. So I do, of course speak Danish fluent.

Sig til hvis i får brug for hjælp, OK?
" Tell me if you need any help, ok? "

--
Sami
kleit@kvaglundnet.dk

[Kleit]

hej

i want to learn danish and i wanna ask something.

how can i say "i want to work (or any verb)" ?

edit : and also how can i improve my pronunciation ?
it is very hard and i see long sentence and it's pronunciation is too short

The Danish sentence for "I want to work" is
Jeg vil arbejde. The sentence for "I would like to work now" is Jeg vil gerne arbejde nu

--
Sami
kleit@kvaglundnet.dk

[Guest]

My mother is Danish and thinks that I should learn it...should I? Does anyone hear know any Danish folktales and traditions?

[Ulven]

Learning something because your mum wants you to may work for the first week... till you find how much work learning a language is. Only passion can make it easy (or, kinda easy-ish-er :p).

I have more experience with Swedish folklore, but I think Danish is similar... really dark and scarey. Perhaps they have some less scarey tales too, but my experience says they are very heavy-going and not often with happy endings. Alot of violent imagery. Wolves, dark woods, witches, ravens, etc. A song I listen to, called "To Søstre" (Two Sisters), tells of a jealous girl pushing her sister into a river because a man she loved loved her instaed. An old man then finds this sister's bones washed up in the riverside, and makes a harp out of them. And her hair form the strings. So, in death, this gentler, kinder of the sisters still entrances the world with her beauty.

[Ulven]

Here is the poem I spoke of, and a translation. I changed the translation around a little because I didn't understand some lines. But if anyone can correct me on these interpretations, please do. My trouble spots are mentioned after the poem.

"To Søstre", af Sorten Muld (musikere)

Der bor en bonde på vilden ø
-There lives a farmer on the wild island

Han havde to døtre ved bord
-He had two daughters who lived by his side

Den ene var som mælk og blod
-One was like milk and blood

Den anden så sort som jord
-The other as black and the ground

For den de begge var forelskede i
-The one they both were in love with

Ville til den yngste datter fri
-Would choose the youngest daughter

Den yngste gik med udslagen hår
-The youngest went with shiny hair

Den ælste med faske råd:
-The eldest, with deciept in mind said:

"Lad os ned til havet gå
-Let's go down to the seaside

Og vaske os rene fra båd"
-And wash ourselves clean from the boat

Den unge trådte ud på breden sten
-The younger sister stepped out onto the wide and steady stones

Den anden stødte hende ud med sit ben
-The other thrust out her foot, pushing her into the water

Det var to unge spillemænd
-There were two young minstrels

De vandrede lands med strand
-They were wandering along the beach

Da de ser den søsters lid
-There they saw the girl and her demise

Ført op på det hvide sand
-Float up onto the white sand

Og knoglerne og hendes gyldne hår
-With her bones and her golden hair

Gjorde de en harpe - smuk som vår
-Was made a harp as lovely as spring

Harpen bringes til bondens gård
-The harp was brought to the father's farm

Og alle ken kende dens sang
-And all would know its song

"Min søster tog mit unge liv
-"My sister took my life

Men aldrig skal hun tage min mand
-But never shall she take my man"

I aften sidder hun på brude bænk
-In the evening, the older sister sat upon the bridal bench

I morgen blíver hun på bålet brænt for
-In the morning, she was consumed with fire and jealousy because

"Ingen skal forglemme mig
-"No-one will ever forget me

Når harpen begynder at synge".
-When the harp begins to sing"

-------------------------------------

My queries;

*Han havde to døtre ved bord
-Is ved bord just a way of saying that they live with him, ie. eat at his table.

*Den ene var som mælk og blod
-Is this like saying she has beauitful white skin and naturally blushed cheeks?

*Den anden så sort som jord
-In this context, I really don't understand this sentence. But I'm assuming it is a character reference, not a physical one, suggesting she has a dark side to her.

*For den de begge var forelskede i
-The 'for' would suggest to me that this line is the reason for the elder sister beings 'black and soil' in her heart. And I don't understand the grammatical usage of 'den', here. Though it is poetry.

*Ville til den yngste datter fri
-I don't understand this line. Another translation says that 'fri' here would mean 'be engaged to'.

*De vandrede lands med strand
-I don't get the s on the end of lands. I also don't really understand it land med strand, grammatically.

*Da de ser den søsters lid
-Am I right in guessing that it means literally "there they see the sister's defeat"?

*Ført op på det hvide sand
-Is ført another word for 'float'? Like flåd.

*Gjorde de en harpe - smuk som vår
In spoken, at lave (lavede) would be used here, wouldn't it, not at gøre (gjorde)?

*Og alle ken kende dens sang
-Another translation suggests that og here means 'so', suggesting that the harp was brought to the farmer's house for the expressed purpose of showing what had been done to the younger sister, as opposed to it just being an accident that they came to this particular house. I'd like to know what impression native (or close to fluent) Danes have on this.

*I morgen blíver hun på bålet brænt for
-Elsewhere, this line is translated as meaning she is to be 'burnt at the stake'. I guess that'd be too specific for my level of Danish. I thought it simply meant she was having struggles with her emotions, ie. guilt, anger, jealousy.

Alright, I'm done Tak skal du have. Jeg håber at du synes om denne sangs ord. Hav det godt!

[pasalupo]

There haven't been postings to this thread for quite a while; I'll try to blow some life into it.

Ville til den yngste datter fri
-Would choose the youngest daughter

Propose is the correct meaning in this context

De vandrede lands med strand

Yes, this is strange. DK is not my native language either. Could it be langs?

-Is ført another word for 'float'?

Not as far as I know - float would be flyde (pt. flød)

-Elsewhere, this line is translated as meaning she is to be 'burnt at the stake'.

This would be the correct meaning.

Kind regards -- Wolfgang

[Ulven]

Tak skal du have, Wolfgang. ( Vi begge har wolf in vores navne, haha. Men mit virkeligt navn er ikke så, selvfølgelig )

Ja, det er det, der er ingen omkring, det ser ud. Jeg skrev dette post lang tid før.

Nå, de ord var poesi, så mange ting er skrevet underlige.

Tak igen for at svare

Husk mig: slut at lære sig dansk ved folk musiker. De skriver aldrig med sans.
--------------
Thank you, Wolfgang. (We both have wolf in our names. Though mine isn't my real name, of course).

Yes, it's true, no-one's around, it seems. I wrote this post a while ago.

Well, these words are poetry, so, many things are written strangely.

Could it be langs?

Yes, come to think of it. I even sing it as langs and didn't notice . Silly me!

I'd use lavede in place of 'gjorde' for the line "Gjorde de en harpe - smuk som vår", if speaking such a sentence.

Thanks again, Wolfgang, for answering.

Note to self: Stop learning Danish via folk musicians. They write in cryptic tongues.

[pasalupo]

Hej Ulven,
jeg plejede at kalde mig 'Werwolf', men så troede folk at jeg var nazist, derfor ændrede jeg det til 'Pasalupo'. Det er ment som en slags vrøvle-italiensk.
Du har ret, posien er smuk, men når man lærer et sprog, så er der altfor mange ord, som en begynder ikke har brug for.
Kender du gruppen Krauka?

PS: I wrote it in Danish and I assume you understand everything. Of course I would be willing to translate, if there should be difficulties.

[Ulven]

Du har ret, det alt forstod jeg . Tak.
Åh, jeg mærkede ikke til det lupo på dit medlemsnavn. Måske, jeg er ikke sikkert, lupo må være romanisk også. Men måske ikke.(Jeg læser opp ordene for wolf og dog i alle sprog )
Jeg kendte ikke Krauka, så sa jed ud for dem på internet. Jeg lyttede nogle audio samples. De er sjovt. Jeg synes om dem, ja. Nogle andre scandinaviske musiker som jeg lytter til, er Hedningarna, Garmarna, og de finske musiker Loituma og Värttinä.

Hvorfor er det at du har lært dansk, Pasalupo? Jeg har aldrig besøgte til Danmark. Jeg trodde at jeg må vil gerne bo derover. Dette er hvorfor jeg studerer dansk i sted af svensk. Jeg begyndte med svensk på grund af deres musik. Men sverige må være for koldt at leve på. Finsk er mit favorit sprog.
-------
You're right, I understood what you wrote. Thanks.
Ah, I didn't notice the 'lupo' in your mebers name. I think Romanian for wolf may also be lupo, but I may be wrong. (I look up the words for wolf and dog in every language:p.)
No, I didn't know Krauka. But I looked them up on the net and listen to some samples. They're funny. I like them. Some other Scandinavian musicians I listen to are Garmarna, Hedningarna, and the Finnish groups Värttinä and Loituma.
Why di you choose to learn danish? I chose it because I thought I may like to live there. I began with Swedish due to their music, but switched to Danish because Sweden may be a touch too cold to live in. Finnish is my favourite language.

[pasalupo]

Hej med dig Ulven,
jeg lærte dansk, fordi jeg bor i Danmark. Jeg kan bedre lide klangen af svensk, men da min kæreste bor i Danmark, så måtte jeg koncentrere mig om svensk. Det er utolig svært at tale svensk, når man kommer fra dansk, fordi disse to sprog er så nært beslægtet.
Mange turister er vilde med Skandinavien og de tager Danmark som en slags "Skandinavien light". Er der en bestemt region i Danmark du kan lide bedst? (Jeg bor i Jylland.)
Måske er en alternativ måde at lære dansk ved hjælp af musik at gå til moderne sangere. TV2 og Kim LArsen laver god musik og deres tekster er en del nemmere end folkeviser.

Jeg læser opp ordene

læse op er lig med recitere; du mener slår op
Wolfgang

[Ulven]

What are some ways to express 'probably' in Danish. 'Sandsynligvis' seems a litle lengthy for some contexts. I sometimes use "måske jeg vil..." when I say "I'll probably....", but it's not quite sufficient. Is 'sandsynligvis' as commonly used as 'probably' is in English? If it is, then there's no problem. It's length just makes me think twice.

[pasalupo]

Sandsynligvis is a quite common word; if you want to express a higher degree of certainty, and if you are into short words, you can use nok, like in: Han er nok i London or Broen er nok færdig om et par år.
If you say "måske vil jeg" (mind the word order!), it has a lesser degree of probability: Maybe I will.
Nudansk Ordbog lists these as synonyms: anatgelig, rimeligvis, nok, sikkert, formentlig, formodentlig, velsagtens, troligt nok

[Ulven]

'Nok' can mean 'enough' too, though, can't it? I guess that's why I never use it as 'probably'- I'm not yet confident in my ability to use the word correctly.

Haha, whenever I try the inverted word order, I get corrected . It seems this time I'd have been correct.

[pasalupo]

I realise that the application of nok demands a certain amount of confidence.
Here is what you can find in Politikens Ordbog:

nok adv.1. i et omfang som svarer til hvad der i en bestemt sammenhæng kræves, ønskes el. behøves = TILSTRÆKKELIG d han fik nok at spise · jeg har fået nok af ham og hans sladder · vi er nok til at forsvare os selv · han har penge nok · det går ikke hurtigt nok · nu har stegen fået nok · det er rigtigt nok · han er stor nok · der er mad nok · har du nok penge med?· ikke nok med ikke alene d ikke nok med at han er doven, han drikker også· nok om det så er der talt tilstrækkeligt om det· nu kan det være nok udtryk for utålmodighed· være sig selv nok ikke have brug for andre el. deres gode råd
2. udtryk for eftertryk el. understregning af et løfte d hun er nok værd at lægge mærke til · han skal nok vide at svare for sig selv · og så kan det nok være at de fik drukket et par glas · jeg skal nok fortælle jer det · vi skal nok vække dig · jeg skal nok få det lært· det må du nok sige det har du fuldkommen ret i· det tænkte jeg nok det havde jeg forudset· tænkte jeg det ikke nok triumferende udtryk for at den talende havde forudset noget· det var vel nok udtryk for beundring d det var vel nok en fest!· nok så = SÆRDELES d der sidder han nok så flot på hesten · romanen stiller nok så store krav til læseren
3. udtryk for en bestemt følelse el. antagelse af sandsynligheden af noget = SANDSYNLIGVIS d jeg tror nok han kommer · han er nok i London · han ved nok bedst besked · hun skal nok blive klogere · broen er nok færdig om et par år · det skal nok gå alt sammen · du bilder dig nok en hel masse ind · det skal du nok ikke regne med· udtryk for en indrømmelse d jo, det kan du vel egentlig nok · det går nok an · nok se, men ikke røre· høfligt udtryk for et ønske d vil du ikke nok hjælpe? · må jeg ikke nok få lov?· du ved nok udtryk for at noget underforstås som i forvejen er bekendt d jeg vil gerne tale med dig om det du ved nok· {sjovt/..} nok udtryk for undrende eftertanke m.m. Står efter visse adverbier og gør at de kan stå andre steder i sætningen end ellers. d underligt nok har jeg ikke hørt fra ham siden · jeg har sjovt nok også haft sådan en · de var mærkeligt nok kommet hjem · sært nok · heldigt nok · dårligt nok · sandt nok
4. nok {en gang/..} udtryk for at noget gentager sig = ENDNU d han prøvede nok en gang · du må vente nok et øjeblik · vi måtte vente nok en time!

[Ulven]

Vilkommen fra Finland. Her er vi i Danmark, nu.
-Welcome from Finland. Here we are now in Denmark.
(obscure insider's reference. Don't ask! )

Denmark's music scene isn't as illustrious as the Swedish or Finnish scene, according to my tastes. But there is a song I LOVE! Its lyrics are quoted below. They are called Sorten Muld. Their style is pretty much electronic. It's more on the ambient side than anything, though with a beat. 'Chill' or 'chill-out', I think the style is refered to. But they have some folk elements, most especially in this song, To Søstre. Beyond this band, I don't know any Danish artists who aren't generic pop music (but with a different langauge- sometimes).
Here's some links.
Scandinavian folk movement...
http://www.noside.com/

Video-clippets of folk musicians. There will indeed be Danish artists here. Actually, there's a really interesting band that is excellent, but I didn't mention them because I can't get hold of anything (and I forgot what they're called But their clip is in here somewhere)...
http://www.tvfolk.net/

Anyway, here's the lyrics to my favourite Danish song. It has bagpipes! Yay! Horahh! I haven;t located a download, unfortunately. You may check out the sample at the 1st link I gave or at amazon.com.

Here is the poem I spoke of, and a translation. I changed the translation around a little because I didn't understand some lines. But if anyone can correct me on these interpretations, please do. My trouble spots are mentioned after the poem.

"To Søstre", af Sorten Muld (musikere)

Der bor en bonde på vilden ø
-There lives a farmer on the wild island

Han havde to døtre ved bord
-He had two daughters who lived by his side

Den ene var som mælk og blod
-One was like milk and blood

Den anden så sort som jord
-The other as black and the ground

For den de begge var forelskede i
-The one they both were in love with

Ville til den yngste datter fri
-Would choose the youngest daughter

Den yngste gik med udslagen hår
-The youngest went with shiny hair

Den ælste med faske råd:
-The eldest, with deciept in mind said:

"Lad os ned til havet gå
-Let's go down to the seaside

Og vaske os rene fra båd"
-And wash ourselves clean from the boat

Den unge trådte ud på breden sten
-The younger sister stepped out onto the wide and steady stones

Den anden stødte hende ud med sit ben
-The other thrust out her foot, pushing her into the water

Det var to unge spillemænd
-There were two young minstrels

De vandrede lands med strand
-They were wandering along the beach

Da de ser den søsters lid
-There they saw the girl and her demise

Ført op på det hvide sand
-Float up onto the white sand

Og knoglerne og hendes gyldne hår
-With her bones and her golden hair

Gjorde de en harpe - smuk som vår
-Was made a harp as lovely as spring

Harpen bringes til bondens gård
-The harp was brought to the father's farm

Og alle ken kende dens sang
-And all would know its song

"Min søster tog mit unge liv
-"My sister took my life

Men aldrig skal hun tage min mand
-But never shall she take my man"

I aften sidder hun på brude bænk
-In the evening, the older sister sat upon the bridal bench

I morgen blíver hun på bålet brænt for
-In the morning, she was consumed with fire and jealousy because

"Ingen skal forglemme mig
-"No-one will ever forget me

Når harpen begynder at synge".
-When the harp begins to sing"

-------------------------------------

My queries;

*Han havde to døtre ved bord
-Is ved bord just a way of saying that they live with him, ie. eat at his table.

*Den ene var som mælk og blod
-Is this like saying she has beauitful white skin and naturally blushed cheeks?

*Den anden så sort som jord
-In this context, I really don't understand this sentence. But I'm assuming it is a character reference, not a physical one, suggesting she has a dark side to her.

*For den de begge var forelskede i
-The 'for' would suggest to me that this line is the reason for the elder sister beings 'black and soil' in her heart. And I don't understand the grammatical usage of 'den', here. Though it is poetry.

*Ville til den yngste datter fri
-I don't understand this line. Another translation says that 'fri' here would mean 'be engaged to'.

*De vandrede lands med strand
-I don't get the s on the end of lands. I also don't really understand it land med strand, grammatically.

*Da de ser den søsters lid
-Am I right in guessing that it means literally "there they see the sister's defeat"?

*Ført op på det hvide sand
-Is ført another word for 'float'? Like flåd.

*Gjorde de en harpe - smuk som vår
In spoken, at lave (lavede) would be used here, wouldn't it, not at gøre (gjorde)?

*Og alle ken kende dens sang
-Another translation suggests that og here means 'so', suggesting that the harp was brought to the farmer's house for the expressed purpose of showing what had been done to the younger sister, as opposed to it just being an accident that they came to this particular house. I'd like to know what impression native (or close to fluent) Danes have on this.

*I morgen blíver hun på bålet brænt for
-Elsewhere, this line is translated as meaning she is to be 'burnt at the stake'. I guess that'd be too specific for my level of Danish. I thought it simply meant she was having struggles with her emotions, ie. guilt, anger, jealousy.

Alright, I'm done Tak skal du have. Jeg håber at du synes om denne sangs ord. Hav det godt!

[pasalupo]

Velkommen Ulven. Kender du Tønder festivalen?
Du skulle høre udsendelsen 'Folk og musik' som Danmarks Radios P2 udsender mellem 11 og 12 om aftenen. Den bliver også streamet via internet.

[Ulven]

Nej, det gør jeg ikke. Er der nogen led (link) for denne præcise stationen og tid? Jeg kender websiden, men det er svært, at finde mans vej omkring

Tak