A Small Speaking Practice Goal | Learn Danish in English

About This Lesson

Use A Small Speaking Practice Goal to practice Danish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

Jeg vil gerne sætte et mål for min sprogtræning.

yai vil GUR-nuh SET-tuh ed mohl foh meen SPROH-tray-ning. I want to set a goal for my language practice.

Hvilken færdighed er sværest for dig lige nu?

VEL-ken FAIR-dee-hed air SVEH-est foh dye lee-uh noo? Which skill feels hardest right now?

At tale flydende i korte samtaler.

ad TAY-luh FLOO-uh-nuh ee KOR-duh SAM-tah-luh. Speaking smoothly in short conversations.

Så vælg en lille taleøvelse hver dag.

soh velg uhn LIL-uh TAY-luh-UR-vuhl-suh vair day. Then choose one small speaking task each day.

Hvordan kan jeg følge min fremgang?

voh-DAN kan yai FUR-luh meen FREM-gang? How can I track my progress?

Optag ét svar, og lyt til det igen senere.

OB-tay ayd svah, oh LOOT til deh ee-GEN SAY-nuh-ruh. Record one answer and listen to it again later.

Den rutine lyder nem at følge.

den roo-TEE-nuh LOO-uh nehm ad FUR-luh. That routine sounds easy to follow.

Hold opgaven kort, og gentag den ofte.

hol OH-gah-vun koht, oh gen-TAY den OF-duh. Keep the task short and repeat it often.

Word by Word

Jeg “Jeg” means “I” and is the person who wants to set the goal in “Jeg vil gerne sætte et mål”. The same pronoun appears as lowercase “jeg” in “Hvordan kan jeg følge min fremgang”; capitalization changes because of its position in the sentence.

vil In “Jeg vil gerne sætte et mål”, “vil” helps express the speaker’s intention or desire. It comes before “gerne” and the infinitive “sætte”, so “vil gerne” is a useful pattern for saying what you would like to do.

gerne In “vil gerne”, “gerne” makes the expression a natural way to say that someone wants or would like to do something. Reuse the pattern “vil gerne” followed by an infinitive when expressing a wish or intention.

sætte “Sætte” means “set” in the expression “sætte et mål”, meaning to establish a goal. After “vil gerne”, it appears in the infinitive; “sætte et mål” is a reusable expression for establishing a goal.

et “Et” is the indefinite article in “et mål”, meaning “a” before this noun. It comes directly before the noun in the pattern “et” plus a noun.

mål “Mål” means “goal” in “sætte et mål”. It is the thing that the speaker wants to establish, and it commonly appears after “sætte et” when talking about setting a goal.

for In “et mål for min sprogtræning”, “for” shows what the goal concerns. The same word appears in “for dig”, where it means “for you”; “mål for” is a useful pattern for naming the area a goal relates to.

min “Min” means “my” in “min sprogtræning” and “min fremgang”. It comes before a noun to show that the noun belongs to or concerns the speaker.

sprogtræning “Sprogtræning” means “language practice” in “min sprogtræning”. Here it names the activity connected with the speaker’s goal, so it can be used after a possessive such as “min”.

Hvilken “Hvilken” means “which” in the question “Hvilken færdighed er sværest for dig lige nu?”. It comes before the noun being selected, so “Hvilken” plus a noun is a useful pattern for asking someone to choose one possibility.

færdighed “Færdighed” means “skill” in “Hvilken færdighed”. It is the ability being evaluated as difficult, and it can be used after a question word when asking about a particular skill.

er “Er” means “is” in “færdighed er sværest”, linking the skill with its description. A useful sentence pattern is a subject followed by “er” and a description.

sværest “Sværest” means “hardest” in “er sværest for dig lige nu”. It identifies the skill as the most difficult one for the person at this moment, and the pattern “er sværest for” connects the difficulty with the affected person.

dig “Dig” means “you” in “for dig”, referring to the person whose experience is being discussed. The reusable expression “for dig” means “for you” and can identify who something applies to.

lige In “lige nu”, “lige” helps express “right” or “just” now, focusing on the present moment. Learn “lige nu” as a fixed time expression for asking or talking about what applies at this moment.

nu “Nu” means “now” in “lige nu”. Together, “lige nu” refers specifically to the current moment, for example when discussing which skill is difficult at present.

At The initial “At” in “At tale flydende” marks the action “to speak” as the topic being described. The same infinitive marker appears as lowercase “at” in “nem at følge”; the pattern “at” plus an infinitive introduces an action.

tale “Tale” means “speak” in “At tale flydende”. It names the speaking activity being discussed and combines naturally with “flydende” to describe speaking smoothly.

flydende “Flydende” means “fluently” or “smoothly” in “tale flydende”. It describes the manner of speaking, and “tale flydende” is a reusable pattern for talking about fluent speech.

i “I” means “in” in “i korte samtaler”, identifying the conversations as the context for speaking. It is used before the noun phrase that names the setting or situation.

korte “Korte” means “short” in “korte samtaler”, describing the conversations. It appears directly before “samtaler” as part of the noun phrase.

samtaler “Samtaler” means “conversations” in “i korte samtaler”. It names the speaking situations, and the pattern “i” plus “samtaler” can describe speaking within conversations.

Så “Så” means “then” or “so” at the beginning of “Så vælg en lille taleøvelse”. It connects the advice to the previous answer, and “Så” followed by an instruction is useful when drawing a practical conclusion.

vælg “Vælg” means “choose” in the recommendation “Så vælg en lille taleøvelse”. It is followed by the thing to be chosen, so “vælg” plus an object is a useful pattern for giving advice.

en “En” means “a” in “en lille taleøvelse”. It introduces one non-specific noun and comes before the describing word and noun in this phrase.

lille “Lille” means “small” in “en lille taleøvelse”, describing the exercise as limited in size or scope. It appears between the article “en” and the noun “taleøvelse”.

taleøvelse “Taleøvelse” means “speaking exercise” in “en lille taleøvelse”. It names the small activity recommended for daily practice and can be used after “en lille” to name that activity.

hver In “hver dag”, “hver” means “each” or “every”. It comes before the singular time word “dag”, and “hver” plus a time expression is useful for describing a repeated schedule.

dag “Dag” means “day” in “hver dag”, which means “each day” or “every day”. The phrase gives the frequency of the speaking exercise.

Hvordan “Hvordan” means “how” in “Hvordan kan jeg følge min fremgang?”. It starts a question about the way to do something, and “Hvordan kan jeg...” is a reusable pattern for asking how an action can be carried out.

kan “Kan” means “can” in “Hvordan kan jeg følge min fremgang?”. It comes before the subject “jeg” and the infinitive “følge” when asking about possibility or a way to do something.

følge “Følge” means “track” in “følge min fremgang”, not simply physically follow someone. It appears after “kan” and takes “min fremgang” as its object; “følge” plus an object is a useful pattern for monitoring something.

fremgang “Fremgang” means “progress” in “min fremgang”. It is what the speaker wants to track, and the expression “følge sin fremgang” is useful when talking about monitoring improvement.

Optag “Optag” means “record” in the instruction “Optag ét svar”. It tells the listener to make a recording, and it is followed by the thing being recorded.

svar “Svar” means “answer” in “Optag ét svar”. It names the spoken response that should be recorded, so it can be used as the object after an instruction to record something.

og “Og” means “and” and connects the two instructions in “Optag ét svar, og lyt til det igen senere”. It is useful for joining two actions that belong to the same sequence.

lyt “Lyt” means “listen” in “lyt til det”. It gives the instruction to listen, and the construction “lyt til” is followed by the thing being listened to.

til In “lyt til det”, “til” is part of the construction meaning “listen to”. It introduces the object after “lyt”, so the reusable pattern is “lyt til” plus the thing being heard.

det “Det” means “it” in “lyt til det”, referring back to the recorded answer. It is used after “til” as the thing the listener should listen to again.

igen “Igen” means “again” in “lyt til det igen senere”, showing that the listener should repeat the listening action. It can be placed with an action to indicate that it happens another time.

senere “Senere” means “later” in “lyt til det igen senere”, placing the repeated listening at a later time. It is useful with an action when saying that the action will happen after the current moment.

Den “Den” means “that” before the noun in “Den rutine”. It points back to the routine just described, while lowercase “den” in “gentag den ofte” refers back to the task as an object.

rutine “Rutine” means “routine” in “Den rutine lyder nem at følge”. It names the repeated method of practicing and tracking progress that the speakers have just discussed.

lyder “Lyder” means “sounds” in “rutine lyder nem”, expressing the speaker’s impression of the routine. A useful pattern is a subject followed by “lyder” and a description.

nem “Nem” means “easy” in “lyder nem at følge”. It describes the routine, while “at følge” specifies the action that is easy.

Hold “Hold” means “keep” in the instruction “Hold opgaven kort”. It tells the listener to maintain the task in a short form, and the pattern “Hold” plus an object plus a description is useful for giving this kind of instruction.

opgaven “Opgaven” means “the task” in “Hold opgaven kort”. It is the task that should remain short, and it functions as the object after “Hold”.

kort “Kort” means “short” in “Hold opgaven kort”, describing the desired length of the task. In this construction it comes after the object and states the condition the task should be kept in.

gentag “Gentag” means “repeat” in “gentag den ofte”. It gives the instruction to do the task again, and it is followed by “den”, which refers to the task.

ofte “Ofte” means “often” in “gentag den ofte”, describing how frequently the task should be repeated. It can be placed with an action to express regular repetition.

Grammar Points

Imperativ: verbets stamme uden -e

Vælg taleøvelse. Lyt igen.

VELG TAY-luh-UR-vuhl-suh. LOOT ee-GEN.

Choose a speaking exercise. Listen again.

The imperative often uses the verb stem without -e, as in vælge → vælg and lytte → lyt.

Superlativ: -est

svær → sværest

SVAIR → SVEH-est

difficult → most difficult

The ending -est forms the superlative of many adjectives: svær becomes sværest.

Danish Vocabulary

flydende adv

FLOO-uh-nuh fluently

At tale flydende

færdighed noun

FAIR-dee-hed skill

Hvilken færdighed er sværest?

gerne adv

GUR-nuh gladly; would like to

Jeg vil gerne sætte et mål.

lige nu phrase

LEE-uh noo right now

lige nu

mål noun

mohl goal

et mål

samtale noun

SAM-tah-luh conversation samtaler

korte samtaler

sprogtræning noun

SPROH-tray-ning language practice

min sprogtræning

svær adj

svair difficult sværest

Hvilken færdighed er sværest for dig lige nu?

sætte verb

SET-tuh to set

Jeg vil gerne sætte et mål.

tale verb

TAY-luh to speak

At tale flydende

taleøvelse noun

TAY-luh-UR-vuhl-suh speaking exercise

en lille taleøvelse

vælge verb

VEL-guh to choose vælg

Så vælg en lille taleøvelse.

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

Speaking smoothly in short conversations.

Show Answer

At tale flydende i korte samtaler.

How can I track my progress?

Show Answer

Hvordan kan jeg følge min fremgang?

That routine sounds easy to follow.

Show Answer

Den rutine lyder nem at følge.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

to set

Show Answer

sætte

fluently

Show Answer

flydende

skill

Show Answer

færdighed

to speak

Show Answer

tale