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Suggestions for the Danish Course
Please post all your suggestions here, it will make it easier to keep an overview :)
Thank you
Greetings from Team Danish Dynamite
68 Comments
http://persephonemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/uexc_attach/heathers-ltp.gif
You are like the nicest person ever.
hej allesammen!
I have completed 16 categories of the danish course within the last 3 days so far and the more I completed the more I noticed I could understand the danish exercises a lot easier than translating the english into danish. So I was thinking about what reasons that might have. Every day I write danish to my boyfriend (very simple things) to learn more.
The more categories I finished, the more I noticed that there are indeed far more danish to english exercises than vice versa. This is by no means a bad thing. I just often feel that it would be useful to practice some more translating english into danish.
So my suggestion would be to add some more exercises for english to danish.
btw. I'm aware creating all this takes a huge effort and I'm by no means demanding anything. This is just my personal opinion that I got from doing the course. The course really helped me a lot so far and I'm really grateful for it. You guys truly have done an amazing job. I wouldn't have guessed the course would be in such a good shape in early beta stage. Well done.
mange tak :)
465
With regard to the fact that there are more danish to english exercises, I have found that this is the case with other languages too. I'd rather have more english to danish because it helps with the spelling. But I do think it is a duolingo thing in general.
But when you get far enough along, you could try the reverse course of Danish to English to practice that. (Mouse over your name at the top, click on settings, click on Learning Language, click on the down arrow inside the blue circle to the right of "I want to learn Danish" which is from English and Oh NO! I can't find it! Did they really make the Danish from English first? It seems as though most of the others started out as English from foreign language. My apologies! But I would think they will make the reverse course if they haven't already.)
as "allintolearning" pointed out this is indeed because almost everyone in denmark already speaks english to a high level, especially those 35-40ish years old and younger, and thus Danish-English would be quite unnecessary.
now I wonder if I should join the development team and help contribute towards the requests you express.
Sorry, they had one for every other language that I am learning, but let's ask if it is coming. Usually whichever course is first, the reverse is made after they are done with the first and this one is still in beta so I guess it won't be right away if they do make it, because it is not even in 1st phase of incubation. http://incubator.duolingo.com/ Perhaps too many people in Denmark already speak English? I hope one of the contributors helps us out here! If they don't plan to come out with the Danish from English, then I agree with Marinia that they should have enough of both translations in the original course. The randomness of the exercises sometimes works against us.
I'll suggest that you to include the FAQ or Faq wiki or https://www.duolingo.com/help in your sticky thread. Perhaps even add it to your immersion (when it becomes available). It will probably save you from answering a lot of repetitive questions, especially considering that this forum is new. People will learn to use it properly.
I'm Danish myself and just want to do the course to help point out things to be corrected. A lot of people have mentioned that the voice is hard to understand and I'll have to agree. Not only that but some words are pronounced completely wrong (ex "Undskyld") I'm in no way trying to be rude or diminish all the hard work the Danish have and are doing, I just want to help the course be as good as possible. Other than the voice and pronunciation issue I think the course is absolutely brilliant. Well done guys, and thank you for spreading our lovely language and culture across the globe (and internet)
I don't know how to type the pronunciation out but it's pronounced like this :) http://www.forvo.com/word/undskyld/
465
I'm really struggling with the audio. I just cannot make out what is being said. Never had this problem with any of the other courses I've done here :(
It takes a little getting used to. I really recommend listening to the slower version (turtle icon) a few times, sounding it out yourself and then trying the faster option. Also I like to put in the phrases in the Google translate tool and have them read it back to me as their TTS is a little easier to listen to at times. Good luck!
I am having so much fun learning Danish so far, thank you all for your hard work! :) I've noticed in other courses that along with the links "activity," "discussion," etc. there is a link to "words" that links to all the words one has covered so far in the course and there is also an option for flashcards. Is this something the Danish course might have in the future?
First of all, I really enjoy the course and I appreciate and thank the team for finally giving us this course. There are a lot of students in Denmark who could really be helped with their language learning.
Secondly, as a suggestion-it would be nice to include more variations to the translations as I often get wrong answers when I practically enter a correct translation but it is a bit different from the one intended by the system. Another suggestion would be to not get a wrong answer when the user makes a small typo, like missing an "l" or other letter. Especially when after hearing a sentence that you need to reproduce. Danish is particulary hard to understand.
Thank you again and I hope the course will be out of beta soon.
582
Especially with alternative and synonymous translations in future or progressive verb forms, this is a constant hiccup! I completely second this motion.
As an aside: Having Duo say, that mistakes are the best way to learn after having used a correct yet not accepted form, is bound to cause festering frustration, not joy in learning! (I know, I could shut him up, but he's generally rather nice...)
Sorry! I mean't when you translate an English sentence into Danish. There were a lot of questions like, "The turtle is eating an apple" or something. And it would have you write out Skilldpadden spiser en aeble. (. . I think that's right)
And I was wondering if there was a way to have the audio play when it lets you know you did it correctly.
Yes, after checking my answer on the "Translate this text" (English to Danish) and on the "Mark all correct translations" pages, I almost always click on the "Comments" link, even when there are no comments, so I can listen to the phrase stated in Danish to help train my ears. I wish for an audio button to appear after I click "Check" to make it easier to listen to the Danish rather than the two-step process I have to use now. (As Marinia has noted, all languages appear to work the same way -- I am simply adding my voice to request this feature in duolingo.)
I discovered by accident that the translate pages with the radio buttons offer audio if you click on the radio button twice. Before finally selecting the right answer, I often double-click on all the radio buttons, just to hear the Danish pronunciation. I was wishing for this for a long time and found it by accident.
Hej! I don't know if all the branches of the Danish tree are set in stone, but I find myself wishing that there was more vocabulary in some of the branches. For instance: I am working on clothing right now, and there is only a small set of words to learn. I found myself wishing the same thing with animals.
I also wish there was another section of common phrases, although maybe the types of phrases I'm thinking of (how's the weather?; how are you?; etc.) will be taught in other sections.
I understand not throwing too much vocabulary at us learners at once--perhaps I am just greedy and want to devour as much of this language as I can! :D
You have to remember that we have to create sentences for the vocabulary, and as early as you are in the tree there is not a lot of options. It is difficult to actually create sentences without it getting tedious. There is a lot of vocabulary in the tree, I promise. We might extend it in some places for the next version, but for now this is what we found suitable :)
That makes perfect sense. Thanks for the reply--I hope I didn't sound rude. :) I am just excited to learn so much, but I realize that there is tons of work that Team Danish must put into it. Like I said: I am greedy, but I know I must continue down the tree. XD
Thank you for everything you do for this course!
Hej! Thanks for the course, I'm really enjoying it a lot. I'm just wondering why are there so many declension differences in the list of words in the little box for the different lessons. As I am trying to write down all the different words as I go along, it can be confusing when I write them with different declensions and try to decline them wrongly when I try to use the words in different contexts.
Tak!
Please, can you set up the pronoun section of the thread collection soon. I really like to have something to refer to in one place instead of flipping through all the lessons to get to the Tips Notes which haven't been as complete as you add more with new lessons. Someone just informed me that "De" is not only "they " but a formal singular version of "you " as well, but would always be capitalized for that use.
Hi there, thanks for the hard work on the Danish course; I am enjoying it a lot!
I have one question: when you learn a new word, you sometimes only get a noun including the definite article suffix and/or the plural form. It is not always possible to work out the form of the bare noun. For example: having learned 'klokken' and 'klokker', you can't be sure if the bare noun is 'klok' or 'klokke'. Would it be possible to always give the bare noun as well, when you hover over a word?
It would be extremely hard for Duolingo to think of every possible contraction for every sentence, although very common contractions like "he's", "I'm" etc. are generally accepted. I would classify your contraction above as appropriate only in very informal writing. If you stick to slightly more formal English you'd generally be fine.
Hello, Danish Team,
I have just studied the possessives and I have a suggestion about the notes.
I'd distinguish two categories:
-sentences where the subject is the one who possesses the thing -sentences where the subject is not the one who possesses the thing
For the first case I'd introduce
min/mit/mine din/dit/dine sin/sit/sine vores jeres deres
For the second case I'd say that they are the same except for the third person singular (he/she/it) where the possessives change to
hans, hendes, dens/dets
For the first category I'd make examples such as
He/she/it eats his/her/its (own) apple (the subject is the one who owns the apple)
for the second category I'd make examples such as
I eat his/her/its apple (the subject is not the one who owns the apple: the subject takes the apple from its owner).
////////////// I think that presenting things this way will make things clearer: people in the discussions seem confused about the difference between "sin" and "hans". It would also group sin/sit/sine together with min/mit/mine and din/dit/dine which are declined the same way and keep hans, hendes, dens/dets apart to be studied on its own. ////////// One thing that is not clear to me is whether sin/sit/sine can be used as pronouns as well or just as adjectives (han har sin/ han laeser sit, etc.)
Thank you for your attention, all the best, Idraote
The lesson "present 1" is not well done: - Too many verbs to remember all of a sudden -after hundreds of "spiser" and "drikker" - Words/expressions that are never explained and must be guessed
I think it should be divided in at least two parts (better three) so that one can use strengthen skills to memorise all those new words.
Hello! I started this course and I think it would be really helpful if all the nouns could be presented in the indefinite form, e.g. instead of "krabben", it would be easier to introduce it as "en krabbe", otherwise the only way to know if it is "krabb" or "krabbe" is checking at ordnet.dk. Greetings!
Dear team, I have just started and I am learning quickly. Thank you! I really appreciate all the time and effort that has obviously gone into developing this. It will help me a lot. I do notice that words and sentences that are of use in normal working life are provided later or not at all (yet?). I would like to learn about work-related things: how to make an appointment, how to say Hi in corporate life, jobtitles, office supplies, making compliments or showing in a polite way that things are not going the way they are supposed to go, etc. And also about things like furniture, asking for directions, several kinds of stores, things like tree and garden and fence and so, etc, etc. And also if you have diner: how do you thank the host, call a waiter, pay the bill, stuff like that. And in a store: how do I ask if I may fit something on or if they have things in a different size, etc. If you are developing more, then I would care for these topics.
Thanx again! Team Danish Dynamite rocks!