Danish language courses

Once you'll be registered as a foreign citizen living in Denmark, you'll receive a letter inviting you to attend danish language courses in order to better understand your surrounding and the local culture ... of course, the letter is in danish!
The local municipality will offer to pay most of your education fee for the first three years of your stay. Then you will have to pay the full amount fare for the courses.
If you are scared by the Danish language, watch this video ... you might get a laugh out of it.

Dansk
Kaere ...

Tilbud om danskundervisning

Ifoelge Folketregistret (CPR-registret) er De flyttet til Koebenhavns Kommune fra ... og har faaet foelgende CPR-nummer: 123456-1234.
Koebenhavns Kommune skal derfor tilbyde Dem en danskuddannelse. I danskuddannelsen undervises i dansk sprog og danske kultur- og samfundsforhold.
Danskuddannelsen kan tages baade om dagen og om aftenen.
Statsborgere fra lande, der er medlem af EU eller EOES, og fra Schweiz skal betale et gebyr for at deltage i danskuddannelse. Se venligst vedlagte pjece.
Danskuddannelsen skal normalt gennemfoeres inden for 3 aar.
Efter de 3 aar skal man normalt selv betale hele udgiften til undervisningen.
Perioden, hvor der kun skal betales et gebyr, kan dog forlaenges, hvis man selv kan dokumentere, at man ikke har haft mulighed for at deltage i undervisningen paa grund af sygdom, barsel m.v. eller paa grund af ustoettet fuldtidsbeskaeftigelse.
Vi skal goere opmaerksom paa, at der ogsaa er undervisning uden for normal arbejdstid - for at give beskaeftigede mulighed for at deltage i undervisningen.
Hvis De oensker en danskuddannelse, skal De tilmelde Dem paa en skole
Dette brev er vedlagt en liste over skoler, der tilbyder danskuddannelse i Koebenhavn. De kan ogsaa vaelge en skole uden for Koebenhavn.
Hvis De har spoergsmaal om selve danskuddannelsen, kan skolerne paa den vedlagte liste give Dem vejledning.
Hvis De har spoergsmaal til dette brev, er De velkommen til at ringe til mig.


English
Dear ...

Offer for Danish lessons

According to the National Register (CPR registry), you moved to Copenhagen from ... and was given the following ID number: 123456-1234.
Copenhagen must therefore offer you a Danish training. The Danish course teaches you about Danish language and Danish culture and society.
Danish training can be taken both by day and by evening.
Nationals of countries that are members of EU or EEA, and from Switzerland have to pay a fee to participate in Danish training. Please see the attached brochure.
Danish training shall normally be conducted within 3 years.
After the 3 years you will normally have to pay the entire cost of education.
The period when only a fee may be extended if you can prove that you have not been able to attend classes because of illness, maternity etc. or because of unsubsidised full-time employment.
We must be made clear that there also is teaching outside normal working hours- to allow people employed opportunity to attend classes.
If you wish to receive a Danish training, you have to register at a school.
This letter is attached to a list of schools offering Danish education in Copenhagen. You may also choose a school outside Copenhagen.
If you have questions about the Danish education, schools on the attached list to give you guidance.
If you have any questions on this letter, you are welcome to call me.

Literature in danish

Besides Hans Christian Andersen, there are many talented author, both historical and contemporary.

Piet Hein, famous for his "grooks"
Peter Høeg, "Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne"
Karen Blixen, "Den Afrikanske farm" and "Babettes gæstebud"
A. J. Kazinski (alias Jacob Weinreich e Anders Rønnow Klarlund)

Danish Film Industry

One of the greatest export of Denmark, after beer of course, is movies ... surprisingly!

Denmark is a tiny country with a solid film industry which produces brilliant and internationally acclaimed movies. The danish film industry easily spawns new talents in acting, directing and related technical roles.

Apparently the cinema tradition goes way back to the early 1900s when: "Despite the small size of its native market and its relatively limited resources, Denmark reigned supreme for several years (1909-14) as Europe's most prosperous film center. Its films rivaled those of Hollywood, for popularity on the screens of Paris, London, Berlin and New York." Efraim Katz, Film Encyclopedia, 1998, Collins

In the 1970s the cinema drifted towards more sexually oriented pictures and around the same time, the Danske Filminstitut (DFI) was created.

Since the 1980s the Danish filmmaking is essentially subsidized, funded and controlled by the state. Also around the same time one of their most successful and controversial star, Lars von Trier, came out of school and began making movies.

At the end of the 1980s Denmark won two Academy Awards and got one more nomination for Best Foreign Film: in 1987 the Oscar went to Babettes Gæstebud (Babette's Feast) by Gabriel Axel and in 1988 the Oscar went to Pelle Erobreren (Pelle the Conqueror) by Bille August, while in 1989 Dansen med Regitze (Memories of a Marriage) received a nomination.

In the 1990s the Danish industry made international news again with a small group of directors which formed the Dogme 95 movement (Lars von Trier, Kristian Levring, Søren Kragh-Jacobs and Thomas Vinterberg).

By the end of the 1990s Lars von Trier dominated the scene not only in Denmark, but all over the world with its second trilogy, the Golden Heart Trilogy, which includes Breaking the Waves, The Idiots, and Dancer in the Dark. They were very well received internationally, collecting a series of accolades and awards.

The beginning of the 2000s witnessed the rise of a new director star, Per Fly. His trilogy The Bench (Bænken), Inheritance (Arven) and Manslaughter (Drabet) is a fine and sad portrait of danish society.

The mid 2000s launched into stardom a new drama director, Susanne Bier, which had previously faced notoriety for a successful comedy. Her movies Brothers (Brødre), After the Wedding (Efter Brylluppet) got national and international acclaim, accolades and nominations.

Susanne Bier together with Lars von Trier is currently the most successful and exported author in Danish Industry. This allows us to say that today one of the greatest export of Denmark after beer is in fact Bier.

Film awards in Denmark
Bodil Awards and Robert Awards.

Danish film production houses
Nordisk Film, the oldest continuously operating film studio in the world.
Zentropa, co-founded by Lars von Trier
Nimbus Film

Danish people in movie history
Niels Arden Oplev, director
Bille August, director
Gabriel Axel, director
Susanne Bier, director
Per Fly, director
Henrik Ruben Genz, director
Mikael Salomon, director and cinematographer
Lone Scherfig, director
Lars von Trier, director
Thomas Vinterberg, director
Nicolas Winding Refn, director

Martin Brygmann, actor
Lars Brygmann, actor
Jesper Christensen, actor

Bodil Ipsen, actress

Bodil Kjer, actress

Nikolaj Lie Kaas, actor

Mads Mikkelsen, actor

Connie Nielsen, actress

Ghita Nørby, actress
Ulrich Thomsen, actor

Links
Det Danske Filminstitut - Danish Film Institute

Medicate yourself while in Denmark

Drugs and medicines, lægemiddel, might have a commercial name in Denmark which is different from the one you are used to. Talking to the pharmacist, farmaceut, you might mention the active pharmaceutical ingredient, aktiv substans, but in some cases they will just stare at you in awe.

Here it is a list of pharmaceutical drugs you might need (always ask for the generic product, generisk lægemiddel, to save some money):

Chlorhexidine mouthwash - Klorhexidin mundskyllevæske 0,12%
Hydrogen peroxide - Brintoverilte 3%
Sodium carbonate - Soda (Natriumcarbonat)
Sodium bicarbonate (Baking soda) - Bikarbonat (Natron)
Ibuprofen (nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug) - Ipren