Learn how to give public transport directions using the conditional
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| Beginner Season 1 Lesson 13 - Finding Your Way Around Denmark |
| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to DanishClass101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 13 - Finding Your Way Around Denmark. Eric here. |
| Anna: Hej! I'm Anna. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use public transport and follow directions in Danish. The conversation takes place at a station. |
| Anna: It's between Nanna and Oliver. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Nanna: Undskyld, kan du fortælle mig, hvordan jeg kommer til Aarhus? Jeg skal på kunstmuseet. |
| Oliver: Ja, du kan tage toget eller bussen til Aarhus. |
| Nanna: Hmm, toget er for dyrt for mig. |
| Oliver: Okay, hvis du tager bussen, så når du ankommer til Aarhus, følg vejen til venstre for banegården. |
| Nanna: Okay. Og derefter? |
| Oliver: Hvis du fortsætter lige ud, vil du kunne se museet på venstre hånd. |
| Nanna: Du er vist selv fra Aarhus, er du ikke? |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Nanna: Undskyld, kan du fortælle mig, hvordan jeg kommer til Aarhus? Jeg skal på kunstmuseet. |
| Oliver: Ja, du kan tage toget eller bussen til Aarhus. |
| Nanna: Hmm, toget er for dyrt for mig. |
| Oliver: Okay, hvis du tager bussen, så når du ankommer til Aarhus, følg vejen til venstre for banegården. |
| Nanna: Okay. Og derefter? |
| Oliver: Hvis du fortsætter lige ud, vil du kunne se museet på venstre hånd. |
| Nanna: Du er vist selv fra Aarhus, er du ikke? |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Nanna: Undskyld, kan du fortælle mig, hvordan jeg kommer til Aarhus? Jeg skal på kunstmuseet. |
| Nanna: Excuse me, can you tell me how I can get to Aarhus? I’m going to the art museum. |
| Oliver: Ja, du kan tage toget eller bussen til Aarhus. |
| Oliver: Yes, you can take the train or the bus to Aarhus. |
| Nanna: Hmm, toget er for dyrt for mig. |
| Nanna: Hmm, the train is too expensive for me. |
| Oliver: Okay, hvis du tager bussen, så når du ankommer til Aarhus, følg vejen til venstre for banegården. |
| Oliver: Okay, if you take the bus, then, when you arrive in Aarhus, follow the road to the left of the railway station. |
| Nanna: Okay. Og derefter? |
| Nanna: Okay. And then? |
| Oliver: Hvis du fortsætter lige ud, vil du kunne se museet på venstre hånd. |
| Oliver: If you continue straight ahead, you’ll be able to see the museum on your left. |
| Nanna: Du er vist selv fra Aarhus, er du ikke? |
| Nanna: You must be from Aarhus yourself, aren't you? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Anna, I don't think many people ask for directions in the old-fashioned way - by asking someone else- nowadays. |
| Anna: Hm...You might be right. Today most people have smartphones and use apps to guide them from A to B. But when technology fails, you need to ask. Actually, Danes would love to help you with directions, especially if you approach them politely by saying Undskyld. |
| Eric: I see. By the way, what kind of guidance is there for tourists in Danish cities? |
| Anna: Large and medium-sized cities in Denmark often offer more and better guidance than small towns, but you still might be able to see some pretty detailed signs in places you wouldn’t expect. |
| Eric: Interesting. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Anna: at kunne [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to be able to, |
| Anna: at kunne [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at kunne [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: at fortælle [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to tell |
| Anna: at fortælle [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at fortælle [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: hvordan [natural native speed] |
| Eric: how |
| Anna: hvordan [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: hvordan [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: til [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to, for, of, until, till, at, into |
| Anna: til [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: til [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: at tage [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to take |
| Anna: at tage [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at tage [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: at ankomme [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to arrive |
| Anna: at ankomme [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at ankomme [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: at følge [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to follow |
| Anna: at følge [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: at følge [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: lige ud [natural native speed] |
| Eric: straight ahead |
| Anna: lige ud [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: lige ud [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Anna: indtil [natural native speed] |
| Eric: until, till, up to |
| Anna: indtil [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: indtil [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Anna: på venstre hånd [natural native speed] |
| Eric: on your left |
| Anna: på venstre hånd [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Anna: på venstre hånd [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is- |
| Anna: hvordan |
| Eric: which is an adverb meaning “how.” |
| Anna: hvordan is used as the equivalent of the English phrase “in what way.” |
| Eric: It’s also used in exclamations to express emotions such as indignation or wonder. Here we have an example of the word in a question. |
| Anna: Hvordan staver du til det? |
| Eric: “How do you spell it?” Anna, can we also use this adverb to say “How kind of you” in Danish? |
| Anna: No, you can’t. In that case, you need to use the adverb hvor, which usually means “where.” |
| Eric: So in Danish, “How kind of you” is… |
| Anna: Hvor venligt af dig. |
| Eric: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Anna: at ankomme |
| Eric: “To arrive.” It indicates that someone or something has come to a certain place after having traveled a certain distance. For example... |
| Anna: De ankommer altid sidst. |
| Eric: “They always arrive last.” |
| Anna: Danes often use at ankomme interchangeably with the verb at komme, meaning “to come,” when talking about someone or something arriving. |
| Eric: Anna, can you give us examples using these two verbs? |
| Anna: For example, you can say...Han ankommer med flyet i dag. |
| Eric: “He arrives by plane today” |
| Anna: or Han kommer med flyet i dag. |
| Eric: “He comes by plane today.” |
| Anna: Both sentences are grammatically correct. |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use public transport and follow directions in Danish. |
| Anna: When asking for directions, you can use the preposition til... |
| Eric: which has several meanings in English, such as “to,” “for,” “till,” and “at.” |
| Anna: Like other prepositions, til always precedes nouns or pronouns. |
| Eric: So when you want to ask someone how to get to a certain place, you can use the following phrase…. |
| Anna: Hvordan kommer jeg til …. |
| Eric: and then name the place where you need to go. Let’s break down this phrase - |
| Anna: Hvordan |
| Eric: meaning “how,” |
| Anna: Kommer |
| Eric: which is the verb “to come” in the present tense, |
| Anna: jeg |
| Eric: meaning “I” in Danish, |
| Anna: til |
| Eric: meaning in this case “to.” All together it is... |
| Anna: Hvordan kommer jeg til. |
| Eric: So, following this pattern, how would you say “How do I get to Tivoli?” in Danish? |
| Anna: Hvordan kommer jeg til Tivoli?. |
| Eric: Here is one more useful phrase for asking about directions, especially if you’re lost and don’t have the slightest idea where to go. It’s… |
| Anna: Hvor er…? |
| Eric: “Where is…?” This is one of the most common ways of asking where something is. The sentence structure is very straightforward and all you have to do now is add the place you want directions to. |
| Anna: Another way of asking is Hvor ligger…? |
| Eric: This literally means “Where lies…?” |
| Anna: It works the same way as Hvor er…? Oh, and listeners, don't forget to start your sentence with Undskyld, “Excuse me.” |
| Eric: After you ask how to get somewhere, you’ll probably be given some directions. Anna, can you give us some common expressions to indicate direction, so our listeners can reach their destinations? |
| Anna: Sure Eric, and note that many directions will include the preposition til. |
| Eric: The first phrase is - |
| Anna: gå i den retning |
| Eric: “go in that direction.” Then we have - |
| Anna: følg vejen |
| Eric: “follow the road.” Next is - |
| Anna: kryds vejen |
| Eric: “cross the road.” Another common expression is - |
| Anna: fortsæt den vej |
| Eric: “continue that way.” And finally we have - |
| Anna: gå tilbage til |
| Eric: “go back to.” Okay, and if we have to turn, what phrases would we use? |
| Anna: til højre |
| Eric: “to the right,” |
| Anna: and til venstre |
| Eric: “to the left,” Ok, let’s listen to an example applying what we just learned - |
| Anna: Undskyld. Hvor er Amalienborg? |
| Eric: “Excuse me. Where is Amalien Castle? |
| Anna: Følg vejen og gå til venstre. |
| Eric: “Follow the road and go to the left.” |
| Anna: Okay, mange tak. |
| Eric: “Okay, thank you very much.” |
| Anna: I think we’ve covered the basics of walking directions. |
| Eric: Right, but what if it’s better to take a bus or a train? |
| Anna: We might hear the phrase Tag bussen til næste stop, |
| Eric: meaning “Take the bus to the next stop.” |
| Anna: You might also hear... Tag toget til Københavns Hovedbanegård. |
| Eric: “Take the train to Copenhagen Central Station.” Listeners, you’ll find more examples for giving directions in Danish at the end of the Lesson Notes. |
| Anna: You’ll also find a review of the conjunction “if,” in Danish hvis, that will come in handy when giving or following directions. |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Anna: Farvel! |
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