I’ve been taking the module 1 Danish language class for English speakers all semester. The course is not affiliated with RSLIS. I was able to take module 1 for free since the municipality pays for non-EU citizens to study the local language. On Tuesday I took the test and surprisingly I passed! The requirements were very low, however. The test consisted of 2 parts. Part 1 involves either giving a summary (in Danish) of one of 3 second-grade level Danish books OR describing yourself (in Danish). You would draw from a hat which one you’d do, so you had to prepare for all 4 possibilities.
The second part involved asking and answering questions (in Danish) about a photograph we brought in. Altogether the test was very informal and was supposed to last less than 10 minutes. I was nervous all the same, lol. Since I was in Turkey on the official test date, I arranged to be tested as soon as I came back, this past Tuesday. It was just me and the instructor. I ended up having to talk about one of the 3 books, and then of course my photo.
The instructor (whose name is Jacob) said that I had given one of the best presentations of that particular book he’d ever heard. That was surprising, because I was definitely not the best student in the class. He also said my command of the grammar was very good, but that I shouldn’t be nervous when speaking Danish. And of course my pronunciation and accent were terrible, but they don’t expect module 1 students to be able to pronounce words properly. All they care about is whether you can express yourself in simple, continuous Danish.
So Jacob said he’d mail my module 1 certificate to the States. I will continue with Module 2 when I return to Denmark in the future (I’m hoping to).
I can say that reading those second-grade level books has dramatically increased my vocabulary and understanding of the language. I can recognize infinitives, plurals, adjectives, conjunctions, 3 basic tenses and definite articles. When I see something written in Danish I can figure it out, the simpler the better, with the help of my English-Danish dictionary. But I cannot carry on a conversation in Danish. It’s still very hard to understand spoken Danish. I can pick up words and phrases but native speakers talk so quickly and slur their words together, it’s very difficult to follow. Whenever I try to order food in Danish, the cashiers immediately switch to English because they can tell I’m not a native speaker. Or, if they don’t switch to English, they ask me questions in Danish which I can’t understand, meaning we have to switch to English anyway.
While I’m at home in the States I will definitely continue to study Danish and increase my vocabulary. I’m serious about learning the language, but it will take lots of time and patience. I may even start a blog about it to stay motivated, we’ll see! I’m tired of English, really. I need a new language to express myself in. :-)
Well, the semester is winding down. I haven’t been updating because I was working on my project paper. I was working with a partner and we turned it in this past Friday! The oral exam is next Friday, the 19th. I’ve never taken an oral exam before but I hope it goes well. In the exam, we have to defend our paper. Our paper took a look at knowledge management strategies in Facebook. We used 3 theories to analyze all of the ways in which to create and share knowledge in Facebook and concluded that while Facebook manages knowledge, there isn’t one single theory that can explain how it does so. It was an interesting project and it could be expanded upon in the future (ahem, possible Master’s Paper?).
Well, I have uploaded tons of new photos on Flickr. I will be back later with a more detailed post on other fun things I have been up to over the past few weeks (besides the paper, lol).
It’s been a while since I’ve posted last. This post will be a general update. There are new pictures up on Flickr as well.
Discovering Copenhagen #2 – A walk around Nørrebro
Last Wednesday Barbara and I went on a walk around Nørrebro, which is a multi-ethnic area of the city; a lot of immigrants have settled here. This is also the “rougher” part of Copenhagen. Riots have occured here in the past, and we walked by the site where famous riots have occured in the past (including a site where a youth hangout spot had been torn down due to clashes over its ownership). We also visited the historic cemetery where many famous Danes have been buried. Nørrebro is very interesting to say the least and has a lot of multi-ethnic restaurants and shops. Plus, Barbara was a great tour guide!! I took lots of pictures, and they are up on Flickr.
Discovering Copenhagen #3 – Central Station, the Bus System and Rådhuspladsen
Another discovery from the past week included a visit to the Central Station (which is near or part of Nørreport Station) and riding on the S-Train and having my first Danish hot dog at the Central Station (delicious!). I went with Kathrine, one of my classmates who is also from the US!
On Saturday we’d originally planned to go to the zoo, but it was rainy and yucky in the morning, so I decided not to go and to do some shopping instead. I decided to try out the bus system in the process. The bright yellow busses are very well organized and they run on the dot. I also like how you can buy a 10-ride ticket and it works on all of the public transportation options — the Metro, the bus and the S-Train. I ended up at the central city square, Rådhuspladsen, while waiting to catch another bus, so I did some quick exploring of the shops around that area. I will return on a later date to see more! Riding the bus is also a good way to see how the different areas of the city are all connected, because to me Copenhagen still feels like several separate cities rather than one large one.
On Saturday afternoon I visited my friend Hana, a fellow classmate, in her dorm room for tea (she lives in the same dorm as I do, but in a different building)! I had a really nice time, and stayed for dinner as well. Then, Saturday night I went to a kitchen party; I had been invited by my friend Iveta, a fellow international student who also lives in this dorm. The party was fun and I met some nice people!
Discovering Copenhagen #4 -A walk around the park
On Sunday I went with Hana, on a walk around this gorgeous park near our dorm. It looks very much like the countryside! So Copenhagen has it all — big city, quiet, green pathways and of course the beach (which I have yet to visit). It was a very pleasant walk and I took pictures of course; they are on Flickr.
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That is pretty much it for this entry. My week to clean the kitchen is coming up starting on the 28th. That should be interesting. I bought rubber gloves so it’ll be easier for me to do a good job without worrying about touching something icky. Ha!
On Monday (yesterday) our school hosted this interesting lecture about persuasive design. B.J. Fogg, a professor from Stanford University, gave a talk in the morning and a workshop in the afternoon. I attended both and found it quite neat. He talked about how websites, especially Facebook, uses certain techniques to persuade users to do certain things. Then in the workshops we looked at profile pictures and discussed how the lighting, angles, facial expressions and degree of cropping can affect the viewers’ perception. At the end of the workshop we broke into groups and put together a survey using our own profile pictures and apply some of the principles we’d discussed all day.
That’s it for now, more entries later!
