Category: Free Inquiry

As we approach the end of the semester, I thought I would do a summary post of my danish accomplishments thus far! In looking back on my first few inquiry posts, I certainly have made some progress in the world of the danish language, but have plenty more still to learn. The reality is that this semester has left less time to do things outside of school than I had initially predicted, but nonetheless I have managed to integrate this new language routine into my life. I am proud of my ability to have stuck with my language learning and I am happy to have developed a habit that I plan to keep up in the future.

I have created a summary document on Canva sharing my danish learning journey throughout this semester!

As I reflect back on this inquiry project, I will admit I was bit skeptical of how it would all pan out at the start! Being someone who really appreciates structure, I found the lack of scaffolding a bit paralyzing at first, but it forced me develop my own. Through the use of Trello as well as my own handwritten lists upon lists and a well organized planner, I was able to plan out and develop my own structure for the project. As a future teacher, this experience has given me insight into what an inquiry project might feel like for students. On one hand the freedom is liberating and exciting, and on the other it also is a bit overwhelming!

I am grateful that this class gave me a justified reason to set time aside to learn something I am passionate about. I can say without a doubt, that had I not had the accountability of this inquiry project, I would not have started learning danish again this semester. What I have discovered though is that even 5 minutes a day is progress and as cheesy as it sounds, it really has fed a part of my soul that I would otherwise have neglected. Perhaps that is the real advantage of an inquiry project! Moving forward, I plan to keep up my danish learning! I am still a ways away from where I would like to get with the language but I have definitely made some progress and look forward to improving! In the near future I am looking forward to spending a Danish Christmas with my family, partaking in all of the danish traditions over the holidays, and maybe even muttering a few words of Danish along the way!

Farvel og glaedelig jul!

This is a typical page in my journal!

This week I thought I would share something non tech-oriented but that has certainly helped me along with my danish learning the last couple of months! Alongside my Duolingo lessons, I have also kept a small book with me that jot down any rules, vocabulary etc. as I go. This has been really helpful for me to refer back to as I go along or when I go back to do a review lesson. As much as Duolingo does build on itself, there is a lot to remember and having a reference to look and catalogue my learning has been incredibly helpful!

For those of you who have been following along, you will know that I have been loving many of the features of Duolingo! My one complaint has been that you end up figuring out some of the grammatical rules on your own.  Rather than outlining the rules they are taught through examples. That is where having this book to record as I go and note the trends I see is really helpful! In doing this it does help for sure that I have learnt french before, so I am familiar with the language learning process. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend accompanying any language learning with some form of journal or notebook!

Furthermore as I move forward beyond this inquiry project and perhaps beyond Duolingo as I progress, I hope this book will prove to be a valuable resource for myself in my danish learning journey!

Hygge: a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture).

Pronounced: hyoo·guh

If you have perused any pinterest pages, bookstores or lifestyle blogs lately, you most likely have come across the word ‘hygge’. You can even buy a book on how to live hygge!

But what does ‘hygge’ really mean? A quick google search reveals the oxford language dictionary definition presented above which by all means accounts for much of what hygge means, but it is also a word that in my experience truly doesn’t exist in the english vocabulary. I grew up in a house where there was simply nothing better than being hyggeligt and the word hygge was used frequently. Although certainly enjoyable a hygge practice is much more intentional than lighting candles, cozy blankets. Hygge in my experience is much more about the practice of coming together and sharing homemade goods and conversation in the company of one another. The coziness of being comfortable and sharing space and time together. It is an informal and comfortable way of being, so yes it might involve some cozy knitted garments and blankets, alongside a calming interior Scandinavian design, candles and the works, but it is built on the foundation of connection.

For me growing up hygge times were often when my family was all at home and we had the opportunity to slow down and be in each others company. Frequently this was at the end of the day after dinner over a homemade desert and coffee, or on quiet Sunday afternoon after a weekend full of activities. Usually we were all curled up in our own spots in the living room but we were all together. Some days we might all be engaged in conversation, other times we might be in our own worlds, but we were always intentionally together. Even our dogs learned the cues for hygge time. Like us, they also enjoyed a treat at this time, an as a result, all of our dogs growing up and to this day know that once my mom turns the coffee machine on in the evening, it is a sure sign that they are getting a treat! Once they get their treat the dog always joins us in the living room too, curled up in their bed or on a lap!

So what does this all mean?

When it comes to practicing hygge, I do highly recommend it! But don’t feel as though you need to go and redesign your entire home! Hygge is much more about the time spent together in a comfortable and in some might say ‘cozy’ way. It is about sharing homemade goods collectively and enjoying these experiences together. It is a chance to be grounded and centred in the company of others.

I speak about hygge in more of an experience form rather than purely definition based because I truly don’t know if the word translates to english. It is an example of how culture can come to form a language! It is also a reminder that to truly learn a language, it helps to immersed in the culture! Fortunately, I have had this experience to some extent through my mom growing up but I would love to spend some time in Denmark fully embracing the culture and the language together!

And with that I hope I can inspire you all to find that hyggeligt feeling in your day to day! It is a practice that truly nourishes your soul!

Photo by Erol Ahmed on Unsplash

The last few weeks have been pretty stressful and busy with the culmination of many projects and due dates at this point in the semester. All that to say, I have neglected the blogging sphere a bit with my free inquiry updates. Despite my lack of blogging about it though, the Danish learning is continuing! I proudly reached a 50 day streak of learning on Duolingo and I am certainly getting a better grasp of how the language works grammatically!

I also finished the first block of lessons and have moved onto the 2nd block!

To this date I have completed the following lessons:

• Basics 1
• Basics 2
• Phrases
• Food
• Animals
• Definites
• Plurals
• Genitive

I have started to pick away at many of the lessons within the second block and look forward to making some solid progress on those! I continue to watch Brogen and am still far from truly understanding what they are saying but certain words pop out to me more and more. As I reflect on this inquiry project, I am thankful for the accountability it has provided me to really commit to something I have wanted to do for a while! In an incredibly busy school program such as this one, I am proud to have kept this habit going and look forward to keeping it going beyond this class!

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

Learning danish, continues to go well, although it is a slow process as with any language! However, I remain optimisitic and committed to my daily learning habit! As I start to progress a bit more in the language I am reflecting a bit on on my own network of danish speakers with whom I might be able to do some practicing with. Most notably, I have my mom, who is my main motivation for learning the language and the heart of danish in my life! We have already started some danish conversations on the phone, but she loses me pretty quickly! I look forward to returning home for Christmas or perhaps even for reading break to share some in person language conversing together. I can also partake in her danish community there! My most immediate connection to Denmark as a country lies in the family I have there! My cousin, who I grew up with in Vancouver, now lives in Copenhagen with his wife and child! With a little cousin who is growing up quickly I hope to make several trips over there to visit with that part of my family in the future! Although their little one will likely grow up to speak english and danish,  as both of his parents do I would love to be able to converse with him in danish! Other people in my network include one my best friends, who like me is the daughter of a danish mother and knows the language a bit through travelling there growing up!

Outside of my immediate circle, I would like to explore some opportunities to connect with other Danes here in Victoria! In a quick google search, I found that there is in fact a Danish Social Club of Victoria!  I am not sure how much danish speaking happens at their meetings, but I know that I will love being surrounded by the familiar danish culture I grew up with. Unfortunately, much of their usual meetings are not happening due to Covid-19, but I will definitely look to engage with this club once things get a bit more back to normal!

As I reflect on the people in my life who make learning this language meaningful, I am increasingly motivated to stick with it! The prospect of engaging with a greater danish community is exciting too!

Kvinden og drengen spiser brødet.

(The girl and the boy are eating the bread.)

Well that is pretty much the extent of danish for me right now! Okay, well to be fair to myself, I do know a bit more than that but my ability to say anything of great use in society remains limited! Alas, we all start somewhere!

Full disclosure, this is my second real attempt at learning danish. In 2018, I travelled to Denmark with my mom for the first time to celebrate my cousin’s wedding! It was an amazing trip and I fell in love with the country! In preparation for the trip I thought I would try to learn some danish and downloaded the Duolingo app. I grasped some basics, but ultimately much of the language I picked up was while I was in Denmark. My mom is fluent in the language and was an excellent guide as I navigated the streets and bakeries in Copenhagen.  I came back having soaked up more of the language but without much holding me accountable eventually my duolingo habit was no more.

I am not sure as of yet what other resources might be out there to learn danish and I intend on exploring those further through this inquiry but for now I have downloaded my duolingo app again, and I have gone through the Basics 1 lessons. With so many new things to navigate these days it was nice to touch base with something familiar to restart my danish language journey on. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Duolingo it is a free language learning app that you can download and whatever device you choose.

As you can see on my app, I have a bunch of lesson categories which I can click on to further explore and learn. For some of the later lessons I will need to complete previous categories to unlock them. As for now I have reviewed ‘Basics 1’ and I look forward to tackling ‘Basics 2’ this week and maybe even a few more categories!

My Current lesson progress, and future lessons

Danish to English

A pronunciation test

Auditory translation test

The app is incredibly easy to use and provides you many different modes of learning. For example in some questions you translate danish to english, in others you translate english to danish and in some questions you have to practice your pronunciation. Overall, it really does give you a lot of different avenues to practice your skills.  Another great feature of the app is the daily goals and reminders you can set for yourself to remind yourself to spend a bit of time learning your language. You can also add friends who are also using duolingo and see their progress learning their language too! If you want to get competitive you can even challenge each other to spend more time or earn more experience points!

As someone who was in late french immersion, I have only ever learnt a language in a true full immersion experience so I will admit that I am a bit skeptical of truly being able to learn a language this way. For this reason I will certainly be exploring other resources that might help to facilitate long term learning, and once I get my feet on the ground I would love to be able to practice conversing with my mom! After all, she is a big reason I am on this journey in the first place! I look forward to further exploring this world and I am grateful to have both this blog and my Trello board to help me organize my progress and thoughts as I go along!

Until next time! Farvel!