Learn how to talk about your ethnicity using the verb meaning "to be"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, Becky here, and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Basic Bootcamp Lesson 2: Talking Nationality in Danish. This is the second in a five-part series that will help you ease your way into Danish. |
| Anna: Goddag, jeg hedder Anna. I’m Anna. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce yourself and tell people where you are from. |
| Anna: This is essential when traveling to Denmark because that will be one of the first questions people want to ask you. |
| Becky: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Peter: Goddag. Mit navn er Peter. Jeg er dansk. |
| Maria: Goddag, jeg hedder Maria. Jeg er englænder. |
| Becky: Now, let's hear it with the English translation. |
| Peter: Goddag. Mit navn er Peter. Jeg er dansk. |
| Peter: Hello. My name is Peter. I'm Danish. |
| Maria: Goddag, jeg hedder Maria. Jeg er englænder. |
| Maria: Hello, I'm called Maria. I'm English. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Anna, Denmark has become a lot more ethnically diverse in the last couple of decades, hasn’t it? |
| Anna: It sure has. Today, approximately 90% of Denmark’s population are of Danish descent. The remaining 10% are immigrants or descendants of recent immigrants, mainly from Sweden, Norway, and Germany. |
| Becky: But nationalities such as Turkish, Arab, and Somali, are also represented in the Danish population, together with many others from Eastern Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East. |
| Anna: Right. Danish will definitely not be the only language you will hear during your stay, especially in the larger cities. |
| Becky: I guess we won’t want to miss the opportunity to learn about a small but beautiful country and get to know more about those nice people living there, right? |
| Anna: Definitely. Learning Danish is the first step to understanding Denmark and its people! |
| Becky: Ok, now let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Anna: Goddag [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Hello. |
| Anna: Goddag [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: Goddag [natural native speed] |
| Anna: Mit navn er [natural native speed] |
| Becky: My name is.. |
| Anna: Mit navn er [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: Mit navn er [natural native speed] |
| Anna: jeg hedder [natural native speed] |
| Becky: I'm called, I'm named |
| Anna: jeg hedder [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: jeg hedder [natural native speed] |
| Anna: Dansker [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Dane (nationality) |
| Anna: Dansker [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: Dansker [natural native speed] |
| Anna: englænder [natural native speed] |
| Becky: English (nationality) |
| Anna: englænder [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: englænder [natural native speed] |
| Anna: at være [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to be |
| Anna: at være [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at være [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Before you say your nationality, you need one phrase. It is extremely important and you will use it all the time. It is... |
| Anna: Jeg er |
| Becky: That’s right. The phrase means “I am” in English. It’s pretty straightforward. Could you say it one time, slowly? |
| Anna: Jeg er |
| Becky: So in the dialogue, we heard the speaker say this and then the word... |
| Anna: dansker |
| Becky: Which would translate as “I am Danish.” |
| Anna: That’s right. |
| Becky: So altogether that’s... |
| Anna: Jeg er dansker. |
| Becky: Listeners, listen and repeat |
| Anna: Jeg er dansker [pause]. Jeg er dansker. |
| Becky: So what was the other nationality we heard in the dialogue? |
| Anna: Englænder |
| Becky: And that means “English”. So the whole sentence “I’m English” would be... |
| Anna: Jeg er englænder. Notice the words Jeg er didn’t change. Just the word for the nationality of the person. In this case, englænder. |
| Becky: Okay, I get it! Let’s move on to the grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about nationality in Danish. |
| Anna: That’s right. We’ve learned how to say “I am Danish” and “I am English”. The main phrase here is [“Jeg er”] |
| Becky: Which means “I am”. It’s followed by a noun, and can be used to introduce your name, your nationality and your occupation. |
| Anna: For example |
| Becky: I’m Julie. |
| Anna: Jeg er Julie. |
| Becky: I’m American. |
| Anna: Jeg er amerikaner. |
| Becky: I’m a student. |
| Anna: Jeg er studerende. |
| Becky: But let’s concentrate on nationalities now. When it comes to nationality, you usually add “-er” to the name of your country or the language of your country in Danish. |
| Anna: For example, dansk |
| Becky: Means “Danish” as in the Danish language. What about the nationality? |
| Anna: It becomes dansker. The same happens to tysk, which means “German language” |
| Becky: And German nationality becomes... |
| Anna: Tysker |
| Becky: What about “Japanese” nationality? |
| Anna: Japaner |
| Becky: Let’s learn a few more nationalities! |
| Anna: Ok, Amerikaner |
| Becky: American |
| Anna: Brite |
| Becky: British |
| Anna: Kineser |
| Becky: Chinese |
| Anna: Fransk |
| Becky: French |
| Anna: Italiener |
| Becky: Italian |
| Anna: Not all nationalities end with -er obviously, but we’ve just mentioned the most common exceptions. |
| Becky: Also, you might notice when you’re in Denmark that actually when Danes refer to themselves they will usually say something else. Anna, how do you say, “I’m Danish”? |
| Anna: {Pause} Jeg er dansk. |
| Becky: Did you hear the difference? She didn’t say the last -er and kept it as the language name. Let’s hear it one more time. |
| Anna: Jeg er dansk. We tend to remove the last syllable in languages that end with k when referring to our own nationality. Other examples would be a German person that is tysk and a French, which is fransk. |
| Becky: Let’s see one last example using a nationality that doesn’t change. So what about if you’re English? |
| Anna: {Pause} Jeg er englænder. |
| Becky: Great. Now, listeners, try to make some simple sentences with your own nationality in the comments! |
| Anna: Have some fun! |
| Becky: You’ll find a list of nationalities in the lesson notes that accompany this lesson. |
Outro |
| Becky: We hope everybody isn’t too tired after this boot camp! Stay with us because it’s going to be a rewarding journey! |
| Anna: In the meantime, just check the lesson notes, keep practicing, and you’ll have these down in no time. |
| Becky: That’s all for this lesson. Bye, everyone! |
| Anna: Thanks for listening. Farvel! |
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