Product Description
This title includes a book & 2 CDs. The smallest of the Scandinavian countries, Denmark is made up of a peninsula (Jutland) attached to northern Germany, and a collection of islands known as the Danish Archipelago. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are also crown territories of Denmark, though each has political home rule. Inhabited for over 12,000 years, Denmark is best known for the infamous period between the 8th and 10th century when Danish Vikings, together with Norwegians and Swedes, pillaged and plundered their way across Europe. Danes contributed much to the arts and sciences, however, through the work of writers such as Hans Christian Anderson and Isak Dineson, the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, and the scientist Niels Bohr, creator of the first working model of the atom. In the title character of "Hamlet", William Shakespeare created perhaps the most famous Dane of all. Modern spoken Danish has gained a reputation as being exceptional and difficult for foreigners to understand and master. The nine Danish vowels represent sixteen different sounds and most of the consonants are unvoiced.A unique feature is the 'stod', the glottal stop, used to distinguish between several homonyms and words. The Danes also tend to drop inflectional endings, and this perceived mumbling, even in formal standard Danish, may present problems to those learning the language. The audio CDs emphasise pronunciation and address these issues in a series of engaging exercises on greetings, family, athletics, dining, illness, holidays and celebrations. Perfect for both classroom and independent students, the book also contains lessons on grammar, a glossary of vocabulary words, and a thorough introduction to Danish history and culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

very dissapointing
I wanted to learn danish because I was going to greenland with my father for a trip.I wanted to be able to speak danish there. I could not decide whether I should get this book or teach yourself danish. I got this book. BAD IDEA!The book is hard and confusing. It just throws TONS of vocabulary on you. It took 2 weeks of hard study time just to finnish chapter 1. After that it was still hard for me to translate danish sentences to english. I would reccommend teach yourself danish. It is a loteasier. Do not listen to the other reviews for hippocrenes danish.

A good investment
These books/cds sets were purchased for a main copy and member copies from the Danish Club of Tucson. All orders came quickly and everyone was very happy with the purchase. It is a basic learning tool, but someone could potentially get along ok in Denmark with the information/instruction provided in this program, and much less expensive amd dare I say easier to use than Rosetta Stone.

Good material- packaging could have been better
The material shipped was good. However, since it had CD included, the packaging could have been better. One of the CDs got damaged in the shipping

Not helpful
This audio course was not helpful formy purposes.I wanted to learn utilitarian phrases, nouns, and verb conjugation in my car or at home while doing chores.The audio CD does not provide the English translation, so while I could learn to pronounce words, without the book open in front of me, I had no idea what I was saying.

Danish for Today
If you want to learn the Danish that is spoken in Danish homes today, especially among young people, this innovative text bookis for you. The stories are engaging and the situations are so true-to-life that the reader gets a real feeling of what it is like to be in Denmark. And the dialogues on the CD are so well read that you feel like you are eavesdropping.The book also includes an informative introduction to Danish history, language and culture -- and a pronunciation guide to help with the challenges of speaking Danish.

I'm not sure whether an absolute beginner will find the first chapters a bit difficult, since it doesn't start with an oversimplified "See Jens, see Jens run" kind of conversation.But for those read for an immersion in the Danish language of today, it is highly recommended. Nete Schmidt has extensive experience teaching Danish to non-Danes, and brings all her skills to play in this excellent text. ... Read more

Product Description

From Cantonese to Thai, Gaelic to Modern Persian, learning the languages of the world isattainable for any beginning student. Learners can use the Teach Yourself Complete LanguageCourses at their own pace or as a supplement to formal courses.

All Teach Yourself Complete Language Courses include:

• Up-to-date, graded interactive dialogues
• Graded units of culture notes, grammar, andexercises
• Step-by-step guides to pronunciation
• Practical vocabulary
• Regular and irregular verb tables
• A bilingual glossary
• A clear, uncluttered, and user-friendly layout
• Self-assessment quizzes to test progress
• Fully updated audio recordings on CD foreasy access and review

Customer Reviews (9)

Not for Americans. Glorified/overpriced phrase book.
In my limited experience, I've noticed there are two distinct ways to learn a language. There's the "phrases first" way in which you learn a bunch of touristy phrases and then work your way backwards to the grammar/structure/vocab, etc. as you need it. Then there's the "grammar/structure/vocab first" way in which you're learning how to build your own phrases right off the bat. If you're looking for the first method, this book is as good as any, I guess, although the CD's are obviously thrown together and overall poorly done. The female narrator speaks with a fairly thick English (i.e. England - the book is published there) accent that's at times hard to understand. The actual audio on the discs only refers to blocks of text in the book and has very little translation in it at all. This means forget about any "learn in your car" approach. The discs are pretty much useless unless you have the book right in front of you. They switch constantly from a woman speaking Danish with with a UK accent to a man speaking UK with a Danish accent. About all they're good for is if you want to listen to people speak Danish for a few minutes at a time and have no idea what they're saying. Both the discs and the book are full of obscure UK references and high-brow situations (i.e. "Jens and Maria are having lobster on a yacht while discussing afternoon tea. Jen asks when the servants will be changing the silverware for dessert.") If you really want to "learn" the language and not just memorize enough phrases to get you by and impress your friends, I'd recommend the Hippocrene "Beginner's Danish" book + 2 CDs set Beginner's Danish with 2 Audio CDs (Danish Edition). It is MUCH better organized and is meant for people who are serious about actually developing the building blocks to create their own phrases instead of memorizing and poorly pronouncing mostly useless and silly touristy ones. If you're just trying to "get by" and don't mind translating everything from Danish to UK to American, this set will do you just fine.

Great Way to Learn Danish!
My father is Danish, and this spring when I went to visit my Danish family, I promised myself I would learn some Danish. Every day in the car to and from work I did the "sound it out" exercises, and at night I would do the book work. I learned Danish pretty well (speaking and understanding at least, not really with the writing), and impressed my family!

I would definitely encourage using this system! It's great for anywhere and you can learn fairly quickly, as long as you dedicate yourself to it.

amazing book!
I became interested in learning Danish to further explore my Danish roots. This has been the best guide to help me with that. The language is very useful, and there are a lot of phrases and vocabulary so you'll have to pace yourself so that you don't become overwhelmed. Danish is comparable to English in that the way it is spelled differs from how it is pronounced. Without the audio, you will not be able to speak Danish. The audio is essential. However, the audio does sometimes go a little slow. Real life Danish is a little faster and so you'll need to expose yourself to it to get used to the speed. But this is definitely a great book to have if you intend to actually learn Danish.

Great book for learning Danish
The approach is terrific. There are some typos and a few missing word definitions but all in all I have found it most helpful in learning danish and I am not that great at learning languages.

not so good
well i got this book with cds to help me learn danish so i could speak to my friend in her native languge..well she evensaid that the way they teach new people danish is crap... I dont understand what is going on I end up having to have her explain everything they are saying in thebook so a waste of money..she is just teaching me online... i learn more just talking to her.. the book is alittle help but not recomended for you if your just learning and never spoke or heard danish... ... Read more

Product Description
Berlitz redefines the phrase book with these completely revised and redesigned full-color editions of the world's best-selling collection. Features: More than 8,000 words and phrases arranged by topic for fast and easy communication. Up-to-date language and situations.Easy, effective Berlitz pronunciation system.Comprehensive menu reader.Valuable language and culture tips.New color photos throughout.Conveniently sized for pocket or purse. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Perfect for travel
This phrase book is great for travel to Denmark.It's small size fit perfectly in the small pocket of my day pack and I was able to lightly familiarize myself with Danish.I'd have used it more often if the Danes didn't speak perfect English.

The only real issue I had with the book was that the pronunciations seemed to be off by a little bit but that may have just been due to difficulty in translating sounds that aren't common to English.

Nice book
This book didn't have a ton of phrases in it but it was good enough. It's a nice pocket size and didn't have cheap, thin pages like some of the others I've seen. The best part is the way the words are broken down to help with pronunciation. Very easy to understand but there are some sounds that we just don't make in English so it made the pronunciation harder to figure out one some words. Overall, it's a pretty good book that I'd definitely purchase again. ... Read more

Product Description
Compact Danish, a stand-alone 10-lesson (5 hours) program, teaches beginning language strategies for essential communication and traveling needs.

HEAR IT, LEARN IT, SPEAK IT®

What is the Pimsleur® difference?

The Pimsleur Method provides the most effective language-learning program ever developed. The Pimsleur Method gives you quick command of Danish structure without tedious drills. Learning to speak Danish can actually be enjoyable and rewarding.

The key reason most people struggle with new languages is that they aren't given proper instruction, only bits and pieces of a language. Other language programs sell only pieces -- dictionaries; grammar books and instructions; lists of hundreds or even thousands of words and definitions; audios containing useless drills. They leave it to you to assemble these pieces as you try to speak. Pimsleur enables you to spend your time learning to speak the language rather than just studying its parts.

When you were learning English, could you speak before you knew how to conjugate verbs? Of course you could. That same learning process is what Pimsleur replicates. Pimsleur presents the whole language as one integrated piece so you can succeed.

With Pimsleur you get:

• Grammar and vocabulary taught together in everyday conversation,
• Interactive audio-only instruction that teaches spoken language organically,
• The flexibility to learn anytime, anywhere,
• 30-minute lessons designed to optimize the amount of language you can learn in one sitting.

Millions of people have used Pimsleur to gain real conversational skills in new languages quickly and easily, wherever and whenever -- without books, written exercises, or drills. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Not native Danish speakers--maybe Swedish?
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this CD set and felt the method of instruction was quite effective.Listening to a 30-minute lesson per day on the way to work kept us engaged and interested without too much brain fatigue!But I have several major criticisms.First, I would have liked more practical words and phrases, such as "Where is the toilet?" "How much does this cost?" or "Hi, myname is ___, pleased to meet you."They would have been more useful than learning to say, "I would like to eat at the restaurant at the Hotel D'Angleterre," ($$$$), or "I would like to eat at your house," a phrase whose usefulness seems particularly limited.I would also have liked to know from the CD that there is no Danish word for please, rather than having to infer it. My second and more important criticism is that at least in the area around Copenhagen where I was visiting family, the pronunciations used here did not sound correct at all and were at times incomprehensible to native speakers. I don't think it was just me:my cousins complimented me on my ear for languages, and I learned quite a bit from them, but they were convinced by what I had learned that I was probably listening to native speakers of Swedish rather than Danish. (While I can't speak from direct experience, the languages in Scandinavia appear to be particularly closely related, and Danish speakers can readily communicate with Swedes and Norwegians, for instance.)There were two distinctly different accents on the CD, but the pronunciations were just not recognizably Danish to my cousins, at least.Finally, there were some words that were pronounced the same on the CD, but in fact are different words and pronunciations.For example, "jeg ved" (I know) and "jeg vil" (I want) sounded exactly the same to me on the CD, but in Denmark sounded like different words with subtly different pronunciations.This last may be a limitation of listening to CDs, versus learning the language in person, or may be related to the Danish/Swedish problem I mentioned.In short, while I enjoyed the method of instruction and the challenge of a new language, I found the actual usefulness limited because of the types of phrases taught and difficulties with the accents of the speakers.

i'm learning danish
This program works but the only downside is that i am a visual learner and need to see the words i'm learning so i asked my danish fiance to help me out with that part. this cd is stricly audio which was disapointing but i gave this program a shot and i'm learning the language. thats all i could ask for.

don't do it!
Unless you are incredibly terrible with languages do not waste your money on this.It will not teach you anything very useful.You end up learning about 20 very basic phrases that are not so flexible in various situations.I recommend borrowing it from the library as a first step, to get used to danish pronunciation and purchase Bente Elsworth's Teach Yourself Danish.

Great intro to Danish, wish there were a longer version too
This was my first Pimsleur course.It is remarkable how well it teaches you a spoken language - all of which you can do in your car.Because they are constantly asking you how to put together words and phrases that you know, they reinforce what you have learned and force you to invent new combinations.Very effective.Unfortunately there isn't a longer version of this available.It is just 10 lessons.

Learn Danish in the car!
I bought this CD set because I am going to Denmark soon, and I wanted to be able to at least ask where the bathroom was....:)

My mom (who is a Danish national) said that my pronunciation is great - I guess that's because I have listened to each lesson at least twice... so far anyway...It helps to have her, so I can see how her mouth is formed during words, because SOME of the Danish words I couldn't quite make out - that's why I only gave it 4 stars...well, that and the fact that people were looking at me crazy when I was sitting at traffic lights, repeating phrases...;) ... Read more

Product Description

Danish: A Comprehensive Grammar presents a fresh and accessible description of the language, concentrating on the real patterns of use in modern Danish. The volume is organized to promote a thorough understanding of Danish grammar. It offers a stimulating analysis of the complexities of the language, and provides full and clear explanations.

This edition has been fully updated to reflect changes in grammar, cultural changes and the impact of modern technology. All sections have been systematically revised, and a new section on phrases and an up-to-the-moment account of the use of the comma have been added. The examples and grammar explanations have been improved throughout.

Features include:

• a wealth of examples from present-day Danish
• particular attention to areas of confusion and difficulty
• Danish-English parallels highlighted throughout the book
• an extensive index and clear paragraph numbering for easy navigation
• cross-references in all parts of the book.

Danish: A Comprehensive Grammar is the most comprehensive and detailed Danish grammar available in English and is an essential reference source for the learner and user of Danish at all levels. It is ideal for use in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types.

Product Description
Specially written by experienced teachers for self-study or class use, the Colloquial Danish offers you a step-by-step approach to written and spoken Danish. No prior knowledge of the language is required. Includes:
· Interactive
· Clear
· Practical
· Complete - including answer key and reference section
By the end of this rewarding course you will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in Danish in a broad range of everyday situations.
Two 60-minute cassettes or CDs are available to complement the book. Recorded by native speakers, this audio material will help develop your listening and pronunciation skills. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Not readable
This book was too complicated and did not help out with pronounciation or speaking skills at all.It began at a very high level of difficulty, and didn't help my sister (who was going to Denmark for study abroad) at all.

Colloquial Danish for Beginners
Good course, which I am still working on, and I recommend getting the CD that accompanies the book (you can buy in on line), since the trick with learning Danish (as it is with English) is in the pronunciation.Good exercises and fairly good progression.Most helpful with a complete dansk-engelsk/English-Danish dictionary which you can find on-line at used booksellers.All in all it is a good way to learn current Danish.

Not for beginners...
I would not recommend this book for beginners.There is not a lot of vocabulary in each lesson, so one is left constantly looking up words in a dictionary.Also, no real introduction to grammar and pronunciation.This book is pretty good if you have some basic knowledge of the language or if you know someone that already knows the language (preferably a natvie speaker) that can help you along.

Rather Amateur and not too well organized
Let's face it, once you've zipped through Rosetta Stone Level one there is no level two or three - in Danish at least, so there's precious little out there if you want to get beyond boys jumping on or off tables and women pointing or not pointing!

This product is actually quite useful as a grammar primer - something totally lacking in most orally based instruction methods but as a tool for practising oral Danish it's rather limited - then again it's pretty cheap so I suppose you get what you pay for.

Learing Daqnish
This has been the best book I have ever used when working on learning another language. ... Read more

Product Description
Over 32,000 entries
Easy-to-use format
Word-to-word-- no definitions
Ideal for students, travelers, and business people ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Do not buy this book
This book has no pronunciation guides, and is therefore useless for the English learner of Danish.Also, the book lacks basic gender labelings, and other information that the English speaker needs to properly acquireDanish language usage.

Not for native English speakers
This appears to have been written for Danish speakers, because pronunciation cues are in the English section only!

Pronunciation is the hardest part of learning Danish, and a book that can't help you with thatis pretty much useless.

Cheap, but you get what you pay for
Save your money and get a better dictionary. This one may be fine for casual use, but a serious student of Danish would be better served by a more comprehensive dictionary.

I liked the dictionary very much.
I found this dictionary to be the most helpful reference out there for a cheap price. I recommend this dictionary to anyone who wants to learn Danish the easy way ... Read more

Product Description
Danish is the official language of Denmark, Greenland, and the Faeroe Islands.This two-way language guide offers the visitor to Denmark extensive vocabulary and phrases centered around travel-related and daily life situations.Practical cultural information on Denmark and the Danes is also included.

• Over 5,000 total entries
• Pronunciation guide
• Basic Danish grammar
• Essential phrases & vocabulary
• Ideal for the traveler, student, or businessperson
... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

For beginners
Im very disapointed. I needed a really dictionary - and I got a dictionary

for beginners or for readers of children-books.

Its not fair that Amazon don't write that

And as I am only supported by Amazon in my Kindle - please get a good

dictionary!! In fact I need it - when I use my Kindle outside my home :)

regards

Leif O. Dahl

need to know how Danish is pronounced?
okay, then don't buy this particular book. It doesn't give pronunciation, but if you know how the language should sound it would be a great way to learn phrases and objects.

Good enough to begin
When one is learning a language, there is no perfect and complete source. This book is fine for an initial contact with danish language and culture - but of course many others are needed to complete a library for danish learning.

I DIG BOOKS LIKE THIS ONE BUT..................................
unfortunately I haven't received it as yet and am still waiting to get it since the beginning of January this year,am losing faith in Amazon unless they can send me a feedback asap!
Cheers guys.

Not really useful as phasebook OR dictionary
I purchased this because it was the only Danish dictionary at my local bookseller's.Unfortunately, I have to say after a few months of having used it that it's not terribly effective in either function.The phrases are not cross-referenced in the table of contents for easy access, requiring one to page through most of the back-half trying to think of what sections might be relevant (example: try finding "please" and "thank you.")Several of the perfectly mundane words I wanted to look up ("beads," "bacon") weren't in the dictionary.

Previous reviews have mentioned the lack of pronunciation guidelines within the dictionary itself, and I too found using the 'systematic pronunciation system' far more difficult than simply trying to parrot a native speaker.Buy a Berlitz traveller's phrasebook, then cross your fingers that someday Bantam will publish a Danish dictionary. ... Read more

Product Description
This Comprehensive Reference Grammar presents a fresh and accessible description of Danish, concentrating on the way native speakers use the language today.

Included are an extensive index, numbered paragraphs, cross-references, and summary charts. Using real-life examples and jargon-free language, this volume pays special attention to the grammatical areas with which students typically have the most trouble. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Layman's review
I must preface this review by saying that I am learning the language, and am in no way qualified to judge the contents. I do speak other languages, and am bi-lingual in English and Italian. Self-taught in Italian, and lived there for 14 years. My opinion, so far is that this is the kind of tool that will make that process easier. I have been studying on my own for six months and this book has already helped me decipher the meaning out of a number of otherwise impossible grammatical binds. This is especially true for written texts. I read DR.dk news texts and listen to streaming news almost daily. It is helping me make sense out of what I read and hear.

Content may be fine but print quality is atrocious
Cavet: I am not reviewing the content of this book.

I just received this book. The print quality is really quite bad. Printed letters in bold type often touch one another and there is a diffusion between print and surrounding white space. I would get a headache if I had to read this for any extended period of time. Also, the paper is cheap quality more porous than better quality paper.

I'm returning this book immediately. Can anyone vouch for print quality of used copies published earlier?

Danish a comprehensive grammar
Excellent comprehensive book , all you want and need to knwo about the language.

An Exhaustive, Encyclopedic, Grammar Reference.
It would be difficult to imagine a more complete work on descriptive, Danish grammar, or any grammar, for that matter.You name it, it's covered here: orthography, sentence structure, verbs, adjectives, the list is very long(in fact, the very well organized index is 23 pages).Some readers have expressed the opinion that this book is very "British" but it is not.It is just very precise.For example, the terms copulatives(copulative conjuntions) and disjunctives(disjunctive conjunctions) are terms expressing the types of conjunctions used to join items and those used to separate them(as in the English "and" and "or").Many readers might not be accustomed to such terminology, but the book actually does not assume that the reader is.It explains these terms and often makes comparisons to English.This is not a book that a beginner should use to learn Danish all by itself.There are no reading lessons , for example, nor is it organized for tutorial presentation.It is a reference, but one that is very usable by students and speakers of all levels.There is also a similar volume in this series on Swedish grammar.The binding is also quite nice.It is sewn in signature.

The Bible of Danish Grammar
This is the most comprehensive book of Danish grammar I have ever read! Even my Danish friends wanted this book so they could understand their own grammar. Its perfect for beginners and a great reference book for more advanced speakers of this often times difficult language. The only problem with this book (and the reason why I gave it 4 stars) is that it is written in very high formal British English, which is different from formal American English. This can often times confuse the reader, but not to a large extent. All in all, this is an excellent book and well worth the price. I plan on using this book the rest of my life (and the rest of my exchange year here in Denmark). ... Read more

Product Description

Danish: An Essential Grammar is a reference guide to the most important aspects of current Danish as it is used by native speakers.

It presents a fresh and accessible description of the language, focusing on those areas of Danish that pose particular problems for English speakers but at the same time providing a broad general account of the language.

The Grammar is the ideal source of reference for the learner of Danish in the early and middle stages. It is suitable for independent study or for students in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types.

The complexities of Danish are set out in short readable sections. Features include:

• clear, jargon-free explanations
• many tables and diagrams for extra clarity
• separate glossary of linguistic and grammatical terms
• detailed index with key Danish and English words.

This new edition has been fully updated to reflect changes in grammar and recent cultural developments.

Customer Reviews (3)

Hopefully just a case of bad editing
This book is surprisingly unhelpful.For those taking Danish as their first foreign language the book will be confusing; it will be frustrating for those who have several languages under their belt and are familiar with grammar.For example, the genitive case is introduced without a good explanation of what the genitive case is, or even explaining what a "case" is.The phonetics section is hopelessly confused; they use the same symbols for completely different sounds ([e] for the vowels in English 'sin' and French 'les'), and symbols that don't correspond at all to how my native Danish-speaking professor pronounces things.I'm going to check out the Comprehensive version from the library and hope that this book, as a pared-down version, merely suffers from bad editing.

Piskefloed (Danish for Whipped Cream) med Kaffee
A great resource for those wanting to learn Danish! ALSO good for those wishing to compare Danish (DANSK) Swedish (SVENSK) and Norwegian (NORSK). Remember, these languages have a great deal in common!

Useful, but you should probably get the comprehensive version
DANISH: An Essential Grammar by Robin Allan, Philip Holmes, and Tom Lundskaer-Nielsen is an abridged version of the authors' DANISH: A Comprehensive Grammar (New York: Routledge, 1995). This smaller version is targeted to beginning and intermediate students of the Danish language.

The grammar gives the basic accidence and syntax of Danish. The grammar is most useful for seeing at a glance how to work with the various noun and verb paradigms of this irregularity-rich language. The book is not a substitute for a proper textbooks, and with the exception of telling time (part of the chapter on the use of numerals) no common situations are treated here.

The "An Essential Grammar" edition contains one section not present in the original "A Comprehensive Grammar", namely a guide to pronunciation. However, Danish orthography is a vicious lie, and students desparately need access to casettes if they are not able to study the language in a course with a native instructor. The book does have use a phonetic alphabet, but this is non-standard. It doesn't help very much that the phonetic transcription for the Danish letter A with ring above is just A with ring above in brackets, since the International Phonetic Alphabet has no such symbol whose pronunciation we would discern.

Matters missing in the "An Essential Grammar" version include matters of stylistics and a more detailed (and diachronic) treatment of orthography and punctuation. If you are dedicated to the Danish language and intend to follow your courses to advanced levels, I'd recommend seeking out the original "A Comprehensive Grammar", which doesn't cost all that much more and which will serve you even after the initial stages. If, on the other hand, you have learnt one of the other Scandinavian languages and just want to get the gist of how Danish is different, this volume may be a more economic purchase both in price and shelf space. ... Read more

Product Description
BERLITZ DANISH IN 60 MINUTES

Start speaking Danish in just one hour!


Get a quick start to learning basic everyday Danish words with an all-audio course including more than 250 essential words and phrases needed to start communicating no textbook needed and no grammar rules to learn! Repetition helps learners retain what they ve heard and a 16-page booklet with audio script is provided for those who want to follow along as they listen.


Start Speaking Today:

*1 audio CD (1 hour)

*Completely portable--compatible with your iPod® or other MP3 player

*Learn by listening to native speakers

*Essential everyday language

*Reference booklet included
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Basic phrases most Danes know in English
Knowing how to say "hi" and "thank you" is simple courtesy when visiting another country. This CD will give you that in 20 minutes.

Beyond that, you probably won't need much Danish. Within the major tourist districts, English is a mandatory job skill for those working there.

I was surprised at the ubiquity of English in Denmark. Any working-class Dane in a small-town train station can give you directions in good English. Only immigrants to Denmark have any trouble conversing in English, and that includes some of the taxi drivers.

For those situations, you probably want an actual phrasebook. The small reference guide that comes with the CD is not sufficient (nor intended) for those situations.

"iPod compatible" means you can import the CD through iTunes and sync the tracks to your device, like ripping any music CD, if you're comfortable with that process. The CD does not contain MP3s.

Good!
This product is exactly what it says it is - learning some common and quick Danish phrases in 60 minutes. I like how it is sectioned off, so you can replay the cd for those portions you need a little extra time on - also the speakers are clear to hear and one is given ample opportunity to repeat. ... Read more

Product Description
This two-way dictionary is ideal for both linguists and learners of Danish. Translations are accurate and supported by relevant examples. Compact and concise, the dictionary is an invaluable reference source. Entries are supplemented by a section covering aspects of Danish pronunciation and grammar. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Amazingly good dictionary
This is an amazingly complete dictionary for being so small. It has lots of colloquial phrases as well as accurate translation. Tusind tak.

Not as bad as its Norwegian counterpart, but...
I'm a computational linguist, and my company bought this book so I could build them a Danish-English online dictionary. I speak Norwegian fluently. I've spent about 3 full days with this book. I have a Danish-English dictionary by Jens Axelsen published by Gyldendal which is much better, but it's not available in the US. Here are my primary beefs:

1. Its Norwegian counterpart doesn't have the genders at all. This one has the genders, but only in Danish-English, not the other way around. If you're Danish, you don't need the genders, but if you're English-speaking, you need the genders to write, not to read.

2. You need a section that lists all the irregular verbs and their inflections like you find in the Cassels dictionaries. You also need the irregular nouns and adjectives declined someplace.

3. When it lists the translations, it always lists all the nouns first, then the verbs, etc.. It should list the most common senses first. So the first translation for 'common' is the noun referring to a central park, as in "The Boston Common". The first translation listed should be an adjective.

4. The coverage could be better. Examples of missing English entries that I feel really should have been included:
antitrust
argumentative
astronaut
bicentennial
caddy
menu (in Eng-Dan, not Dan-Eng)

5. Frequently a very good translation if left out in Eng-Dan, but present when you look it up in Dan-Eng. MENU is an extreme example. APPROACH > TILNÆRMELSE is missing, but TILNÆRMELSE is only translated as APPROACH.

*******
Another issue -- see that Danish phrase in light blue on the front cover? It's ungrammatical. It should read "DANSKE ORDBØGER" or "DANSK ORDBOG"

...but the very worst thing about it is...
Thinking about this dictionary again after several years, the most basic objection to it suddenly occurs to me: you can't lay it open on a desk!It is a huge book (with huge type, and yawning white spaces) so it's useless as a portable dictionary.But say you want to sit down and do translation with it: the cheap and stiff binding forces you have to hold the book open with both hands...and then let it flop closed while you turn back to the book you were reading or the paper you were writing...then turn away from that and prize open the dictionary again...*OR* you can cut this Gordian knot by breaking the spine in as many places as possible and, in the time between this and when all the pages fall out, special order the Gyldendal or Hippocrene dictionaries.That's the most gratifying option.

Mostly serviceable
Right now this is the most complete Danish dictionary Amazon stocks.I agree with the other reviewers about its shortcomings.While it does give the gender of Danish nouns, it doesn't give the plurals.Some common idioms are listed, but the selection seems to have been made with Danish speakers in mind.I recommend using this dictionary in conjunction with a purely Danish "retskrivnings" dictionary like Politiken's Danskordbog.If you find yourself in Denmark, buy the two-volume red Gyldendals dictionary ($80 each, special-ordered at Amazon) edited by Jens Axelsen.Gyldendals, unfortunately, doesn't give pronunciations either.If you want something to hold in your hand while you stroll through museums, buy the Berlitz.

Buy a Different One if You Can
I'm in total agreement with the other two reviews.This dictionary has the vocabulary in place--but that's where a dictiorary's job should start.It's where the Routledge dictionary ends.Really necessary in a translation dictionary are the genders, plural forms, verb forms, good pronunciation keys, and idiomatic usages; even better are cross-referencing of cognates and "false friends," entries to help you understand nuances and etymology.This dictionary is sorely lacking in all these categories--most aggravating is the lack of plural forms, verb forms, and irregular forms in general.You can use this dictioary to read Danish, but you sure can't use it to help you write the language (not unless you want to write the Danish equivalent of "Me go store and buy two bits bread").Routledge (I imagine) wouldn't have done this with an Italian or French dictionary: Danish is a small language and, with a cornered market, they did a cheap, slapdash job. Fortunately, there is a very good Danish-English Dictionary available.Unfortunately, it is published (as far as I can tell) only in Denmark.They're really good. ... Read more

Product Description
Teach Yourself Danish is the course for anyone who wants to progress quickly from the basics to understanding, speaking and writing Danish with confidence. Although aimed at those with no previous knowledge, it is equally suitable for anyone wishing to brush up existing knowledge for a holiday or business trip. Key structures and vocabulary are introduced in 18 thematic units progressing from introducing yourself and dealing with everyday situations to talking about work and shopping for presents. Teach Yourself Danish follows the journey of George Wilson, a businessman, who travels to Denmark to establish a market there for his products. He has been invited to stay with his friends who live in Copenhagen. The emphasis is on communication throughout with important language structures introduced through dialogues on the accompanying recording. There are plenty of exercises to practise the language as it is introduced and tips throughout to help with grammar. Cultural information sections give useful advice and information for anyone planning a trip to Denmark. The new edition has been updated and is now accompanied by a double CD with extra audio material.Popular features of the previous edition have been retained: English-Danish vocabulary; glossary of grammatical terms; a 'taking it further' section to direct learners to further sources of real Danish; The CDs are available separately (ISBN 0340887486) or in a pack with the book (0340887478). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good for conversational Danish
I bought this to go along with my Danish Rosetta Stone Computer Program, which I would also highly recommend.
This is a good companion to such a program, and helps with hearing the words in conversation between the people on the CD.As you listen, the speaker guides you through what you are going to hear, and then asks you questions and gives you conversational prompts to answer back in Danish.
The program does not always explain exactly how the translation works, so some of the Danish to English phrases don't seem to make sense, reminding you often that the language does not work the way English does.
For the price, I'd say this program is a good value, especially if you can't afford the Rosetta Stone program.

this book really helped
I give it 5 stars because the course took me from being an absolute beginner to watching danish television.The layout is user friendly and you don't have the hassle of needing to look words up every 2 minutes, it's all explained to you. I also own Colloquial Danish, which is not as great and will not take you as far. ... Read more

Product Description
Bestselling language courses!

From Danish to Spanish, Swahili to Brazilian Portuguese, the languages of the world are brought within the reach of any beginning student. Learners can use the Teach Yourself Language Courses at their own pace or as a supplement to formal courses. These complete courses are based on the very latest learning methods and designed to be enjoyable and user-friendly.

Prepared by experts in the language, each course begins with the basics and gradually promotes the student to a level of smooth and confident communication, including:

• Up-to-date, graded interactive dialogues
• Graded units of culture notes, grammar, and exercises
• Step-by-step guide to pronunciation
• Practical vocabulary
• Regular and irregular verb tables
• Plenty of practice exercises and answers
• Bilingual glossary

The new editions also feature:

• Clear, uncluttered, and user-friendly layout
• Self-assessment quizzes to test progress
• Website suggestions to take language study further

Product Description
For the beginning or intermediate language learners. Over 12,000 terms in each language. Wide range of contemporary vocabulary. Easy to understand definitions.Basic conversational phrases. Mini-grammar section with irregular verbs. Unique menu reader. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Non Fiction
Berlitz Danish-English Pocket Dictionary by the Berlitz Publishing Company is a handy little reference guide when you need to look up a word in Danish and find its English equivalent, and it is not obvious at a glance on the internet.Occasionally useful for checking out a book title on Librarythign too, for combining.

Anyway, not too bad.

Best thing to have in your pocket in Copenhagen (besides a condom)
Hey, I am out and proud AND this dictionary got me through the day quite well!
It helped me land a Job and a possible husband!!!!

quite good for beginners
This book is quite good for beginners, but not so good for scholars. It is good that it at least indicates pronunciation, in contrast to some Danish dictionaries, but the indication of pronunciation of Danish words is not so good as for English words, for example it does not indicate presence of the glottal stop. The dictionary claims to indicate only irregular plurals, which seems to mean change of vowel or doubling of consonants, but some Danish nouns have plurals in -e, others in -er, and this dictionary does not show which plural is used, whether -e or -er.
The grammar section is too brief, it does not indicate for example how regular verbs are conjugated. But it has a good table of irregular verbs.

IPA (Not) For Dummies
As other reviewers have pointed out, this little book doesn't have much competition.This is a reasonably useful little dictionary, and is worth its retail price.

Complaint:The English-Danish section gives the reader a pronunciation guide using the IPA.Thus, a Danish speaker has a reasonable idea of exactly how to pronounce the English words.The Danish-English section gives the reader what purports to be a "phonetic transcription," but instead of using the clear and unambiguous IPA, the editors have chosen to saddle the English speaker with a silly, dumbed-down homebrew of an approximate guide to pronunciation.This is NOT a "phonetic transcription," this is a rough guide.Danish orthography, like English orthography, can be tricky and misleading sometimes.Apparently, the editors feel that the big, scary IPA is too much for us anglophones to wrap our pretty little heads around, and that we'll be happy with only a vague idea how to pronounce those dreadful Danish words."Overraskelse" (surprise)?Just say "o(oo)-o-rahss-gerl-ser."I suppose that's close enough to make me understood, but a "phonetic transcription?"Nope.

Still, this dictionary is better than no dictionary at all, and serves its purpose well enough.The fact that the IPA is OK for Danes but not for anglophones is insulting and annoying, but (oh, well) this is a Berlitz product, after all.

cute little dictionary, but only for beginners
Good things about this dictionary:Pocket-sized, great for travel.Quick lookup, because just gives you the basic definitions you would need as a BEGINNER.

Bad things:Couldn't find a few words I needed (such as "boyfriend" and more slang-ish types of words).Only gives one or two possible translations for words that would have at least 10 definitions in an English dictionary.(Example: for the word "miss" they give you only two translations, for using with e.g. "Miss Andersen" and "I miss you," but not for "I missed the bus" etc.)

Get this dictionary only if you're a complete beginner, in which case it'll be very handy. ... Read more

Product Description
Danish: An Essential Grammar is a reference guide tothe most important aspects of current Danish as it is used by nativespeakers. It focuses on those areas of Danish that pose particularproblems for the learner but at the same time provides a broad generalaccount of the language.
The Grammar is the ideal source ofreference for the learner of Danish in the early and middle stages. Itis suitable either for independent study or for students in schools,colleges, universities and adult classes of all types. Featuresinclude:

* clear, jargon-free explanations
* many tables and diagrams for extra clarity
* detailed contents list
* separate glossary of linguistic and grammatical terms
* detailed index with key Danish and English words ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Hopefully just a case of bad editing
This book is surprisingly unhelpful.For those taking Danish as their first foreign language the book will be confusing; it will be frustrating for those who have several languages under their belt and are familiar with grammar.For example, the genitive case is introduced without a good explanation of what the genitive case is, or even explaining what a "case" is.The phonetics section is hopelessly confused; they use the same symbols for completely different sounds ([e] for the vowels in English 'sin' and French 'les'), and symbols that don't correspond at all to how my native Danish-speaking professor pronounces things.I'm going to check out the Comprehensive version from the library and hope that this book, as a pared-down version, merely suffers from bad editing.

Piskefloed (Danish for Whipped Cream) med Kaffee
A great resource for those wanting to learn Danish! ALSO good for those wishing to compare Danish (DANSK) Swedish (SVENSK) and Norwegian (NORSK). Remember, these languages have a great deal in common!

Useful, but you should probably get the comprehensive version
DANISH: An Essential Grammar by Robin Allan, Philip Holmes, and Tom Lundskaer-Nielsen is an abridged version of the authors' DANISH: A Comprehensive Grammar (New York: Routledge, 1995). This smaller version is targeted to beginning and intermediate students of the Danish language.

The grammar gives the basic accidence and syntax of Danish. The grammar is most useful for seeing at a glance how to work with the various noun and verb paradigms of this irregularity-rich language. The book is not a substitute for a proper textbooks, and with the exception of telling time (part of the chapter on the use of numerals) no common situations are treated here.

The "An Essential Grammar" edition contains one section not present in the original "A Comprehensive Grammar", namely a guide to pronunciation. However, Danish orthography is a vicious lie, and students desparately need access to casettes if they are not able to study the language in a course with a native instructor. The book does have use a phonetic alphabet, but this is non-standard. It doesn't help very much that the phonetic transcription for the Danish letter A with ring above is just A with ring above in brackets, since the International Phonetic Alphabet has no such symbol whose pronunciation we would discern.

Matters missing in the "An Essential Grammar" version include matters of stylistics and a more detailed (and diachronic) treatment of orthography and punctuation. If you are dedicated to the Danish language and intend to follow your courses to advanced levels, I'd recommend seeking out the original "A Comprehensive Grammar", which doesn't cost all that much more and which will serve you even after the initial stages. If, on the other hand, you have learnt one of the other Scandinavian languages and just want to get the gist of how Danish is different, this volume may be a more economic purchase both in price and shelf space. ... Read more

Product Description

Bestselling language courses now with audio CDs!

From Danish to Spanish, Swahili to Brazilian Portuguese, the languages of the world are brought within the reach of any beginning student. Learners can use the Teach Yourself Language Courses at their own pace or as a supplement to formal courses. These complete courses are based on the very latest learning methods and designed to be enjoyable and user-friendly.

Prepared by experts in the language, each course begins with the basics and gradually promotes the student to a level of smooth and confident communication, including:

• Up-to-date, graded interactive dialogues
• Graded units of culture notes, grammar, and exercises
• Step-by-step guide to pronunciation
• Practical vocabulary
• Regular and irregular verb tables
• Plenty of practice exercises and answers
• Bilingual glossary

The new editions also feature:

• Clear, uncluttered, and user-friendly layout
• Self-assessment quizzes to test progress
• Website suggestions to take language study further

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent, as long as you have the CD
I purchased this book in anticipation of a two month stay in Denmark.I find that it is fairly complete in the amount of vocabulary covered, and very helpful.After faithfully going through the entire book, you should be able to purchase a grammar and a dictionary and continue your studies fairly easily by studying the grammar and reading a Danish newspaper.

However, a warning: DANISH IS NOT A VERY PHONETIC LANGUAGE! It would be A WASTE OF YOUR TIME to purchase the package of the book that does NOT include the CD!You will not be understood, or understand people around you. (By the way, this is a situation unique to Danish: Norwegian and Swedish are totally phonetic languages). I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A mixture of methods is best
To begin speaking Danish immediately, the Pimsleur course is best. But you will end up with a few stock phrases and a very limited vocabulary. So after you finish Pimsleur, start to use Teach Yourself Danish (TYD). You'll be surprised at how much appreciation of grammar the Pimsleur course gives you without you having to concentrate on it. TYD provides a lot more vocabulary and examples, explains enough of the grammar to know how the language works, and should be used along side other books or tapes.

But the cassettes ought to provide MUCH MORE listening practice, and as little English chatter as possible. This is where TYD, Colloquial Danish, and Danish in 3 months all fall short: too much English on the tapes.

Note: TYD is unashamedly British-centric. It makes a good change from the usual USA-centricity of other courses (such as Pimsleur and Berlitz) and from the at-times incomprehensible American acccents on the Danish Vocabulearn tapes.

Not for impatient beginners
I could not learn to speak any danish from this book.
Buy Pimsleur's and Berlitz's instead!

I have a Question
Could someone tell me if there is a difference between this course and the audio cassette edition. Of course one comes with cassettes, but is the paperback edition more comprehensive than the "Basic Danish"course. If so, why don't they make an advanced course with audio cassettes?

Danish Learner
For an absolute beginner, this is one of the better books on offer.It explains things clearly, and from the ground up.

That said, the cassettes - absolutely necessary, since Danish pronunciation is a bear - aremaddening.They start with a stretch of English-language chatter about howwonderful the course is, a speech which becomes even more annoying withrepeated listenings.After that, they just race through a series of barelydifferentiated diologues.

I would have found it more helpful to havelearned how to pronounce some of the colloquial expressions the writtenchapters present.

That said, the written chapters are well-organized,build on each other, and are easy to follow.In a perfect world, thevocabulary would be better organized - we'd learn the verbs for sit, stand,and lie all at once, for example, instead of in three separate chapters -but I haven't found any other Danish text that does that, so perhapsthere's some kind of royal edict against it.

Note to Americans: thisbook is VERY Brit-centric.Everyone in the diologues seems to be flying infrom London and drinking tea.

A great overall intro to Danish!
There are not that many books out there for learning Danish (believe me I've looked), and this book is a real gem. Not only is it well thought out and chock full of good material, but it is interesting as well. I can only hope that Elsworth decides to do an Advanced Danish edition, because this book is perfect for those wishing to live in Denmark! ... Read more