Short Stories in Danish for Beginners

by Olly Richards

"Olly's top-notch language-learning insights are right in line with the best of what we know from neuroscience and cognitive psychology about how to learn effectively. I love his work - and you will too!" - Barbara Oakley, PhD, Author of New York Times bestseller A Mind for Numbers

Short Stories in Danish for Beginners has been written especially for students from beginner to low-intermediate level, designed to give a sense of achievement, a feeling of progress and most importantly - enjoyment! Mapped to A1-B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference, these eight captivating stories are designed to give you a sense of achievement and a feeling of progress when reading.

What does this book give you?

- Eight stories in a variety of exciting genres, from science fiction and crime to history and thriller - making reading fun, while you learn a wide range of new vocabulary
-Controlled language at your level, including the 1000 most frequent words, to help you progress confidently
-Authentic spoken dialogues, to help you learn conversational expressions and improve your speaking ability
-Pleasure! It's much easier to learn a new language when you're having fun, and research shows that if you're enjoying reading in a foreign language, you won't experience the usual feelings of frustration - 'It's too hard!' 'I don't understand!'
-Accessible grammar so you learn new structures naturally, in a stress-free way

Carefully curated to make learning a new language easy, these stories include key features that will support and consolidate your progress, including

A glossary for bolded words in each text
Full plot summary
A bilingual word list
Comprehension questions after each chapter.

As a result, you will be able to focus on enjoying reading, delighting in your improved range of vocabulary and grasp of the language, without ever feeling overwhelmed or frustrated. From science fiction to fantasy, to crime and thrillers, Short Stories in Danish for Beginners will make learning Danish easy and enjoyable.

Genres: Danish, Short Stories

242 pages, Paperback

Published December 3, 2019

Reviews

[Paula Balea · Rating 5 out of 5]

The literary value is not a reason to read this one, but it's perfect for improving reading skills. Appropriate for A2/B1 level.

[Mo]

Apparently the thing that finally motivated me to read this book, was reading another book that I didn't like so much (De Meeste Mensen Deugen) and thus needing some entertainment on the side.

I really liked this one, I should definitely have read it some years ago because the level is too easy for me now. But it was still good to read some Danish after having neglected it for a while.

I wasn't expecting the stories to involve mostly fantasy and impossible events, though. I preferred the ones that were most realistic.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75/5
Before I read this book, I only learned Danish on Duolingo. However, the book was the perfect fit for my Danish level. I like that the book offers short stories from various genres and that each chapter includes a short vocabulary list. Moreover, I appreciated it that the audiobook was offered for half the price. Nevertheless, I felt like the recommended way of reading the book, (reading each chapter at least two times before answering the questions to the chapter), was a bit tedious for the reader.

[sevdah]

Den anden bog har jeg læst på dansk. Det var godt for mig - jeg starter snart på niveau B2.

[Wiwi · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than worth it.
I had so much fun reading this. My favourite story remains "the knight"/"ridderen" - reminded me of the witcher

i was able to understand almost everything eventhough there were many vocabs that i haven't learned yet, but as a native german i also might have had an advantage over english speakers.

I would very much love to read an intermediate or advanced short story collection in the future or a second beginners book.

[Polly Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished this a few days ago, very pleased to have read a whole book in another language! Some of the stories were ok but some were pretty boring, but there's not much reading material out there for danish learners. Well pitched for someone coming out of the Duolingo course. I didn't use the questions after each chapter but it's nice they are there. Difficult to resist looking up every word I didn't know but a lot more fulfilling to continue reading and only look up the highlighted words in the handy end of chapter glossary.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Det var min første bog på dansk! For to år siden i en boghandel i København je troede “jeg vil gerne læse bøger på dansk” og nu ken jeg :) Ja, denne bog var nem og ikke rigtig litteratur/en roman, men jeg gjorde det!

Mange tak til min bedste ven Samantha, som har købte denne til mig :)

[Julie Mestdagh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leuk tussendoortje, vlotte verhaaltjes. Goed om Deens op te frissen maar niet "waw"

[Mathijs Smits · Rating 3 out of 5]

Op een gegeven moment wist ik het wel en werd het te makkelijk.

[Tulika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Min første dansk bog! Jeg er så glad at jeg kunne afslutte det :D

The first story of the book is written in a relatively easy Danish which is great for building confidence in beginners. The difficulty of Danish increases with each story but does not reach a level that would scare away the reader (such as me). The story themselves are not great, but they are still somewhat fun.

[SnowDevil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy learning Danish (and languages in general), but I found reading this a chore. It read more like a bunch of exercises one might find in a textbook, designed to present vocabulary or grammar points in context, rather than as real short stories. As other reviewers have said, don't pick up this book expecting any literary value - not even along the lines of nursery rhymes or traditional children's stories. There is no character development or discussion of broader themes or more nuanced concepts that the stories could feasibly address. Because the vocabulary is limited, sentence structure is also often extremely elementary - it sounds halting even to a non-native speaker, like reading a 1st grade reader "See Jane Run". For example "They were on the ships. The ships were big. There were 3 big ships." - that sort of thing. If your goal is to learn more vocabulary that you wouldn't necessarily encounter in a grammar textbook, this book will help with that goal. If your goal is to enjoy reading real, albeit elementary, literature in Danish, this book will not meet your needs.