
So I’ve decided to learn Danish.
Actually, to be honest, the decision to learn Danish was made long ago. However, it’s only now that I’ve had the time and the opportunity to learn it. And that’s what I’ve been doing, everyday for the last couple of weeks.
The idea to learn the language first came to my mind a few years ago, not as a flash of inspiration, but rather a moment of sadness.
I stood in Fiumicino airport, hand-in-hand with the woman I loved.
She was leaving. Possibly forever.
In that moment, I recalled many of the memories we had shared together. Conversations, long walks, museum tours, and tons and tons of laughs.
One memory in particular stood out—the time she tried to teach me a tongue twister in her native language, Danish:
Now, between you and me, I consider myself reasonably good at pronouncing foreign languages, but this phrase was a challenge.
I remember her smile and laughter as I struggled vainly to imitate her pronunciation. I had apparently joined the long list of foreigners that she and other Danes had jokingly tortured with that phrase.
It was fun in the moment, but the challenge of it also left me intrigued. I felt the urge to one day conquer the phrase “rød grød med fløde”—red porridge with cream—for myself.
Well, that and the rest of the language!
So today, I’d like to share with you how I have started to learn Danish. I hope that my experiences even in these few short weeks with the language can help motivate some of you to take on a Danish-learning journey of your own.
Using Visualization to Imagine a More Danish Life

I’ve always said that if you want to learn a language well, you must do it every single day.
But that’s easier said than done, I know.
Life, responsibilities, and lack of motivation often try to throw me off track, just as I’m sure they’ve done for you.
To combat this, I start every learning session by asking myself an important question:
If I could speak Danish fluently, what would I do with it?
I then take thirty seconds and try to imagine myself living the answer to that question.
It’s not always the same answer, though—some days, I imagine what it would have been like to converse with my Danish love all in her native language. Other days, I wonder how I could actively use Danish now, in the present, whenever I go to my weekly language meetups.
Those thirty seconds of visualization are an important, daily boost to my learning.
Each session acts as a shot of motivation, injected directly into my veins.
As you take up Danish (or any other language), I highly recommend you complete these visualization sessions as well.
Each time you sit down to learn, remember to ask yourself the key question:
If I could speak Danish fluently, what would I do with it?
From there, let your imagination run wild, until you can physically feel the motivation to sit down and actually start learning!
Knowing One Scandinavian Language Doesn’t Mean You Know Them All

Like people, languages come in families.
Just as you share some genetic traits of your father, mother, and siblings, so do languages share some of the traits of their ancestor and sister languages.
Danish is, together with Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese, part of the so-called Scandinavian or “Northern Germanic Languages”. Since these languages share many common traits, learning any Scandinavian language should be easier if you already have another sister language under your belt.
Or so I thought, anyway.
The thing is, I’m a fluent speaker of Swedish, one of Danish’s most popular sister languages. Even before I ever learned a word of Danish, you could put a written Danish sentence in front of me and probably be able to understand the whole thing, with little difficulty.
Here’s an example, using a sentence that means “I started learning Swedish because I think it is an interesting language”.
SWEDISH: Jag började att lära mig svenska för jag tycker att det är ett intressant språk.
DANISH: Jeg begyndte at lære svensk, fordi jeg synes, det er et spændende sprog.
ENGLISH: I started to learn Swedish because I think that it is an interesting language.
As you can see, the two languages are written quite similarly. That’s where knowing Swedish comes in handy when learning Danish.
On the other hand, knowing Swedish becomes a problem for Danish learners when it actually comes time to speak Danish!
Let me explain:
Despite being related languages, Swedish pronunciation and Danish pronunciation are quite different.
Click here to hear how the Swedish and Danish versions of our example sentence are pronounced.
Why is this a disadvantage?
Because of muscle memory.
Danish and Swedish both share words that are written the same way, but are pronounced differently.
Like the word “dag”, for example, meaning “day”.
As a Swedish speaker, I’m very used to pronouncing dag the Swedish way. It’s so automatic that I don’t even think about it.
Whenever I speak Danish now, though, I have to fight the reflex to say dag (and other words) the Swedish way, and instead do it in the new, unfamiliar Danish way.
In essence, this means unlearning all of my well-practiced Swedish muscle memory in order to build new Danish muscle memory.
This is unpleasant for two reasons: first, it creates mental interference that slows down my ability to learn Danish. Secondly, learning new Danish habits actually means that I’m risking making my Swedish skills worse.
To combat this, I will have to work to actively maintain my Swedish at the same time that I’m developing Danish. If I start learning Danish and ignore Swedish, I will create interference in both languages.
(Re)building My Language Learning Routine
When you start a new language, it is a great opportunity to revise and transform your existing language learning routine. And if you don’t have a routine, it’s an opportunity to start building one!
Danish is my fifteenth language, so I’ve got some core aspects of my routine I’d like to keep, and others that I’d like to change.
First and foremost, let’s talk about beginner resources.
Laying a Strong Foundation to Learn Danish

For any language I learn, the first product I pick up is a copy Assimil with Ease written for learners of that language.
For Danish, I use Le Danois sans Peine (the French version) because, unfortunately, no English version exists. If you don’t speak French, this means that you’ll have to rely on a different starting resource.
That’s okay, though. The exact resource isn’t the most important detail here. The important thing is what I do with that resource once I’ve started.
Once I have one—and only one!— beginner resource, I use that resource alone for the first two to three months of my learning. You can do the same with Assimil, or any other book-based language course.
This kind of focus is important. You shouldn’t see a beginner book as something to idly leaf through, but rather as a foundation upon which you will build your future language skills.
This fundamental difference allows me to grasp and absorb the fundamental structure of any language, as is currently happening with Danish.
Scheduling Smart Learning Habits
Having a good Danish resource to start with is just one piece of the puzzle.
Next, I needed to figure out when I would actually have time to learn Danish!
This is the part of the process that usually changes a bit with every new language I learn. My old “focus languages” must move on to become maintenance languages, and my new focus language must find its rightful place in the schedule. I also have new commitments and priorities that need to be accounted for, as well.
Danish right now is my top language learning priority, so I give it a place of honor atop my schedule—it’s what I do every day, first thing in the morning.
I do my Danish visualization, open my computer (for audio), crack open my copy of Assimil, and I work through it for half an hour.
For me, language learning works best in the mornings because as the first thing I do daily, it’s a hard task to forget. I also keep my Assimil book right on my desktop, so that I can’t ignore it, even if I wanted to.
What does this mean for your Danish learning?
Simple! Find the ideal learning time for you, and organize your schedule and your surroundings so that learning Danish happens reflexively, before you can even talk yourself out of it.
Staying Flexible Where it Counts
So far, I’ve shared some of the non-negotiable parts of my language process that are part of my Danish learning, including
You may wonder if the rest of my language learning is so strict.
You can breathe easy, though, because the truth is quite the opposite. I make a serious effort to keep my learning flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances.
Some days I have more energy; other days less.
Some days I have more time; other days less.
Some days I’m more or less distracted, focused, motivated, discouraged...you name it, it can vary in my day-to-day life, just as it can in yours.
So how do I handle it?
I simply stay flexible and do what I can.
If I can do more, I do more. If I have to do less, I do less. And I try not to worry about it.
Life is too short to beat yourself up over missing a little bit of Danish study.
Even if you miss a day, that’s okay! Just don’t miss two days.
Remember to do what you can, and you—and your Danish skills—will be just fine.
Let’s Learn Danish Side by Side

While this story started for the love of a Danish girl, I’m here today thanks to my love of something else—adventure!
Danish represents a new frontier for me. It brings with it new challenges, opportunities, and even a new twist on Swedish, a language I already know.
For me, Danish is also a chance to strengthen my learning process, and revise it in novel and interesting ways. To find out what works, and doesn’t work, so that I can make learning Danish my most successful language experience yet.
If you’d like to follow along with me on my Danish journey, I’ve prepared something special: a direct link to my personal Danish learning logbook.
Visit the logbook here. If you like what you see, don’t forget to leave a note in the comment section below this article!
Language interference with another language that has a similar script and possibly shared pronunciation. Are you reading Danish out loud?
Hi Osyter! Thanks for swinging by =) Yes, I try to read Danish out loud every day
What are these weekly language meetups? You always amaze us, Luca!
Hey Luca,
The logbook idea is great, thanks for allowing us to see your daily progress. If you don’t mind I have a quick question. For languages less spoken such as Danish now for yourself, after completing Assimil or whichever course you choose, what is your next step or resource that you would use, around intermediate level I imagine. For myself learning Romanian, I have finished assimil using your method with great success but have only found limited resources except TV or podcasts which are at a too high level for me. I have always wondered how to fill that gap. This is less of a problem for languages such as French or German for example with many resources. Thanks again, Jamie.
Hi Jamie!
Try this:
https://www.romanianpod101.com/
I have been using Pod 101 for Hungarian, Greek and will use it for Danish. Amazing stuff!
L
Thank you for all you’ve done!! and… the logbook is a fantastic motivation for me
Very useful post especially as I am about to start Italian after studying Spanish. Many thanks for the access to the Logbook. It’s brilliant to get an idea of your organization. Just one question tough, the Unit in the second part of the google doc correspond to the Assimil book Units?
Hi Anna and thanks for the lovely words!
Yes, I am using ASSIMIL.
If you have any other questions I am here! =)
L
Hey Luca, I hope you remember me! I am planning to learn Danish next year as well 🙂 I am very excited to learn this cool language. Let’s keep in touch
Of course I remember Tucky! You are a language machine. I see on the logbook that you keep learning on a daily basis. How is your Russian coming along? =)
Obrigado! Preciosa ajuda, com modelo simples e prático. Boa aprendizagem!
Obrigado Abilio! =)
I think this article help me come with new idea which could change my strategic plan to learn French after Italian so thank you
You are most welcome Gehan! Glad you found the article useful. L
Salut Luca !
Je tenais à te féliciter pour ton excellent travail.
Tes podcasts et tes articles sont vraiment enrichissants et source d’inspiration.
Ton expérience dans l’apprentissage des langues et ta volonté de partager cela avec le plus grand nombre est appréciable.
De mon côté, j’ai commencé l’apprentissage de l’allemand il y a deux semaines et je compte bien m’inspirer de tes conseils 🙂
Un grand merci et au plaisir de te lire.
Merci Mona! =)
Good luck with Danish!
Wanted to mention that “spændende” means “exciting” and not “interesting”. That is simply “interessant” 🙂
Thanks for the heads up!
I’m considering learning Danish too! So thank you for the tip!
Thanks =)
Hi Luca,
your logbook is very interesting. It seems your system is – day X: L1->L2 writing; day X+1: L2->L1 oral; day X+2: L2->L1 writing. But there is no break day before L2->L1 as in your Guide. Why that? Thanks, Hartmut
Hi Hartmut, thanks for the question! Yes, I have introduced an extra step which allows me to better translate back into my target language in writing the following day. The basic scheme you see on the calendar is the base, the standard version, but there are many variations and you can modify the routine in any way you like. Hope this is useful! L
Hi Luca! Thank you so much for this article and for the website itself, it’s amazing! It’s very helpful in our language learning process. I just would like to ask something about the logbook: what is the difference between the logbook online and a logbook on paper? Do you write different things in each one? Thank you so much for everything!
Hi Juan! Thanks for the comment and the nice words! mainly use Google Doc to record pretty much everything I do. A logbook on paper is just as great but using a Google online is definitely much more convenient, you can check and things on the go, both on your mobile and your computer. I use paper to jot down words and practice handwriting, but I do it mostly when I learn and when I have to get ready for the day and write a list of things I will go through, I don’t use paper for recording entries on a logbook. Hope this helps! =) L
Grazie per l’articolo, Luca
Could you remind me what “ES” means in this logbook, please?
It stands for “exercise” (Assimil has a section called “exercise” after each main dialogue – I originally wrote the whole scheme in Italian (Exercise = esercizio), that’s why I kept writing “ES”
안녕하세요 Luca!
Je suis un grand fan de votre travail. Gracias por todo lo que has hecho.
Estoy tratando de replicar esto para ver si esto me puede ayudar con mis estudios. However, I’m finding it difficult to tell how to mark the intonation of a phrase. It doesn’t come naturally for me, as it seems to come to you, to be able to hear the intonation of a sentence. For example, I can’t tell if this sentence: “he was eating many apples” goes up or down in intonation. Comment puis-je résoudre ce problème ?
Tusen takk!
I have been trying to learn Danish for years with little success, glad to see an experienced language learner like yourself tackle my L2…I’d like to see more on the exact methods you use for this. I’ve just recently found you and some other polyglots on YouTube, you have given me hope that I might be able to actually learn Danish!
I’m so glad you’re learning Danish! It’s a challenging language you dig up good content on, since it’s not as popular as other languages. Danish is my 5th language and I’m just loving the crazy pronunciation challenge!
My question is, what is your favorite content? Books, podcasts, YouTube, DVDs, etc. It was so easy to find content in Italian on YouTube, etc. (that’s how I found you!). How do I best go about it in Danish?
For Italian, all I needed was amazon.it. But there isn’t an amazon.dk to rely on. So far I’ve tracked down the tv series “Borgen” which looks interesting. I just need to find an dvd set.
I’m using Assimil from the German. I thought that would be a good idea, since they’re both Germanic languages. And, as I’m very much an audio learner, I’m using Pimsleur, too. Easy Danish on YouTube is great, too.
Ok looking forward to discovering new and interesting content from you! Thanks!
Mr. Lampariello,
I have been following for many years, and still remember looking up to you way back over a decade ago after discovering some of your videos when I was in my early teens.
I have to say, your recent revamped video style (the ones where you are sitting at your desk for instance), as well as the blog is a massive source of motivation for me today, 10 years later. You bring so much clarity and wisdom to the subjects you speak about, and I always walk away with the feeing of having a friend on this journey.
I am currently learning Romanian, and reading your blog has been and continues to be a big source of drive for me, on my own path.
Thanks once again for all the work that you do, and stay awesome!
I wish to find spanish to danish some guidance, all I can find it’s in english…