I started learning Danish nearly twenty-five years ago, trying to impress my Danish girlfriend (now wife) while working in a cocktail bar in London. And I’m still learning!
For over fifteen years I’ve been teaching Danish, starting the day my teacher asked me to take over his Danish classes for a term, barely six months removed from graduation at UCL with a BA in Scandinavian Studies and a distinction in Danish.
All of my language learning experiences, whether in the cocktail bar or in the classroom, are fundamental to the way I teach. The many challenges I faced, particularly with Danish pronunciation, remain vivid in my mind, as do all the tricks I learned to conquer them along the way. There is a strong emphasis on colloquial Danish in my lessons, on pronunciation and on everyday terms and expressions you might encounter at work, at school, or just speaking to your Danish friends or in-laws.
Not only have I spent a decade teaching evening language classes at the University of Westminster, I’ve also served as the Danish language mentor for the NCW Emerging Translator Mentorship Programme, as a workshop facilitator for the BCLT Summer School for translators, and head of translation for the Foreign Affairs Theatre Translator mentorship. All these linguistic activities have helped me gain a unique perspective on the Danish language.