Danish Course Outline
The Cactus Course Outlines provide a learning framework for the Cactus Foreign Language Evening Courses. They are designed to provide you with a good idea of what you might cover over a 10-week period, and include typical themes, grammar and vocabulary fields. They are flexible rather than prescriptive, in that our teachers may decide to adapt their learning plans to the specific level, aims and interests of their classes. Use the tabs below to view the relevant Danish course outline for your level. If you want to cover the same course outline in a shorter period of time, we also offer One-Week Online Courses and 5-week Courses.
Beginner 1
Topics & Vocabulary
- Introducing yourself
- Greeting people
- Numbers 1 to 20
- Nationalities
- Travel and tourism
- Numbers above 20
- Danish money
- Shopping
- Yes/no questions
Grammar
- Personal pronouns
- Present tense
- Asking questions
- Nouns and genders
- Articles in the singular
- Word order
- Plurals of nouns
- The use of nej, ja and jo
Cultural Content
- Invitations, offers, suggestions, requests
- Everyday Danish Culture
- Everyday speaking and polite forms
- Seasonal festivals
- The Danish diaspora
- Idiomatic expressions
- Facts about the Danish: property, holidays, climate, etc
Skills Work
- Lots of speaking/active practice
- Alphabet / Writing / Reading
- Lots of listening
- Pronunciation – key sounds
Beginner 2
Topics & Vocabulary
- Ordinal numbers
- Days and months
- Festive seasons
- Expressing good wishes
- On the phone
- Time expressions
- Apologising
Grammar
- Past tense
- Past participle
- Present perfect
- Word order
- Adjectives
- Prepositions
- Auxiliary verbs
Cultural Content
- Invitations, offers, suggestions, requests
- Everyday Danish Culture
- Everyday speaking and polite forms
- Seasonal festivals
- The Danish diaspora
- Idiomatic expressions
- Facts about the Danish: property, holidays, climate, etc
Skills Work
- Lots of speaking/active practice
- Alphabet / Writing / Reading
- Lots of listening
- Pronunciation – key sounds
Beginner 3
Topics & Vocabulary
- Likes and dislikes
- Films
- Writing letters
- Making suggestions
- Expressing enthusiasm
- Expressing promises
- Expressing regret
Grammar
- Genitive
- Possessive adjectives
- Pronouns
- Imperatives
- Nouns ending in -er
- Det as a formal subject
Cultural Content
- Everyday Danish Culture
- Everyday speaking and polite forms
- Danish table manners and eating habits
- Idiomatic expressions
- Facts about the Danish: property, holidays, climate, etc
Skills Work
- Lots of speaking/active practice
- Alphabet / Writing / Reading
- Lots of listening
- Pronunciation – key sounds
Elementary 1
Topics & Vocabulary
- Expressing duty
- Daily routines
- Planning for the future
- The weather
- The Danish titanic
- Danish school system
Grammar
- Object pronouns
- Reflexive pronouns
- ‘burde’ and expressing duty
- Adverbs ud/ude, hjem/hjemme
- Short answers
- Ikke and adverbs in subordinate clauses
- Quantifiers
- Comparative adjectives
- Countable/uncountable nouns
Cultural Content
- Everyday Danish Culture
- Danish school system
- Idiomatic expressions
- Facts about the Danish: property, holidays, climate, etc
Skills Work
- Lots of speaking/active practice
- Alphabet / Writing / Reading
- Lots of listening
- Pronunciation – key sounds
Elementary 2
Topics & Vocabulary
- Telling the time
- Describing people
- Agreeing/disagreeing
- Offering help
- Transport and directions
- Responding to offers
- Showing preference
- Expressing opinions
- Talking about the future
Grammar
- Compound nouns
- Sentences with ‘If’
- Demonstrative pronouns and adjectives
- Adjectives and nouns ending in -el. –en, -er
- Translating ‘to know’
- Who(m), which, that
- Some, any
Cultural content
- Everyday Danish Culture
- Transport in Denmark
- How Danes live
- Idiomatic expressions
- Facts about the Danish: property, holidays, climate, etc
Skills Work
- Lots of speaking/active practice
- Alphabet / Writing / Reading
- Lots of listening
- Pronunciation – key sounds
Elementary 3
Topics & Vocabulary
- Question tags
- Paying compliments
- The Danish boss
- Showing uncertainty and indifference
- Disagreeing and swearing
- Newspapers
- Danish abbreviations
Grammar
- Adverb positioning
- ‘When’
- ‘all’, ‘the whole’, ‘self’, ‘both’
- Repeating a question
- Passive with active meaning
- ‘At fa’ and ‘at have’
- ‘No’ and ‘none’
- -ing form
Cultural Content
- Everyday Danish Culture
- The Danish Constitution
- Some Danish history
- Danish state church
- Idiomatic expressions
- Facts about the Danish: property, holidays, climate, etc
Skills Work
- Lots of speaking/active practice
- Alphabet / Writing / Reading
- Lots of listening
- Pronunciation – key sounds
Intermediate 1
Topics &Vocabulary
- Making and receiving complaints
- Discussing problems and suggesting solutions
- Talking about possibilities
- Rephrasing and clarifying views
- Weighing advantages and disadvantages
- Discussing perceptions and assumptions
Grammar
- Revisiting the previous level’s grammar
- Irregular verbs
- Prepositional phrases
- Abbreviations
- Phrasal verbs
- Adverbs
Cultural Content
- Danish culture and traditions
- Danish dialect
- Working in Denmark
- Famous Danes
- Idiomatic expressions
Skills Work
- Speaking activities such as indicating preferences, agreeing and disagreeing
- Listening exercises
- Pronunciation
- Plenty of listening activities
- Writing practice such as letters, emails and short articles etc
Intermediate 2
Topics & Vocabulary
- Lifestyle and healthy living in Denmark
- Nordic gods
- Denmark’s traditions
- In the news
- Politics
- Current affairs
- Future plans and dreams
Grammar
- Revision of previous grammar points and weak areas
- Reflexive verbs
- Reported speech
- The passive voice
- Conditionals and modals
Cultural Content
- Denmark and Scandinavia
- Dialects
- Politics
- Newspapers
- Idiomatic expressions
Skills Work
- Speaking activities such as retelling current events, reporting what has been heard or said
- Pronunciation, accent improvement
- Plenty of listening activities
- Writing practice such as emails and messages on social media etc
Intermediate 3
Topics & Vocabulary
- Expressing your opinion and point of view; asking for clarifications
- Regions
- History
- Kings and Queens
- Food culture
- Films
- Scandinavia
- Facts and myths
Grammar
- Review & practice Intermediate 2
- Relative pronouns and adverbs
- Prepositions review
- Perfect participle
- Verb tenses review
- Phrasal verbs
- Time expressions
- Verbs: “tale, snakke, fortælle, sige ”
- Modal verbs
- Adjectives: comparative and superlative
Cultural Content
- Culture
- Film
- History
- Food culture
- Magazines
- The Scandinavian countries
- The commonwealth countries
Skills Work
- Speaking activities such as presenting thoughts and opinions, asking for information and clarification, giving reasons and explaining opinions, discussions
- Writing practice such as emails and letters
- Lots of listening (pop music, dialogues)
- Pronunciation
Upper Intermediate
Topics & Vocabulary
- Giving your opinion and arguments
- Travelling in Denmark
- Tourism
- Culture
- Crime
- Law and order
- In the news
- Challenges
- Moving to a new country
- Sport
Grammar
- Verbs “mener, tror, ved”
- The definite and indefinite form of nouns review
- The passive form of verbs
- Personal Pronouns
- Deponent and intransitive verbs
- Perfect participles with verbs “være” and “blive”
- Second and third conditionals
- Adverbs: “ja, godt, nok”
- Present perfect in the future
- Words for making comparisons
- Verb tense review
Cultural Content
- Travelling in Denmark
- Famous buildings
- News from newspaper and digital news
- Moving to Denmark
Skills Work
- Speaking activities such as comparing views and ideas, talking about past experiences, stating and responding to points of view
- Pronunciation
- Writing letters, articles, reviews, adverts etc
- Listening exercises
Advanced
Functional Language
- Traditions
- Festivals
- Literature
- Stereotypes
- In the office
- Consumer rights – making complaints
- Working in Denmark
- Professional life
- Education
- Employment
- Medias
Grammar
- Indefinite form of nouns review
- Verb tenses review
- Idioms
- Irregular verbs
- Adjectives review
- Word order review
- Transitive and intransitive verbs
- Demonstrative pronouns review
- Word order review
- Prepositional phrases
- Evaluative adjectives
Cultural Content
- Culture
- Traditions
- Festivals
- Literature
- Religion
- Working in Denmark
- Idiomatic expressions
- Formal and informal language
- Manners and behaviors
Skills Work
- Speaking activities such as making complaints, discuss problems and suggest solutions, expressing opinions
- Writing practice such as small novels
- Pronunciation
- Listening exercises
Proficiency
Topics & Vocabulary
- Primarily topics of students’ choice
Grammar
- Choice of grammar topics according to students’ needs
- Informal and formal language
- Idioms
Cultural Content
- Literature and film – extracts
- Personal experiences
Skills Work
- Focus on speaking, debating
- Writing practice – e.g. short stories, reviews and comments, advertisements, film scripts
- Plenty of listening activities – authentic sources, e.g. Radio, TV, films and podcasts
- Analyzing and evaluating newspapers articles
- Summarizing interviews, biographies
Understanding Language Levels
If you are taking a language course with Cactus you can find out more about our language levels and how you can track your progress using the ‘can do statements’ below. These statements outline the key things that you should be able to say and understand once you have completed each level. Can do statements are officially recognised as a set of performance-related scales describing what a learner is able to do in a foreign language, in accordance with the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) and the CEFR defined levels.
CEFR Levels
If you are taking a language course with Cactus you can find out more about our language levels and how you can track your progress using the ‘can do statements’. These statements outline the key things that you should be able to say and understand once you have completed each level. Can do statements are officially recognised as a set of performance-related scales describing what a learner is able to do in a foreign language, in accordance with the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) and the CEFR defined levels.
Beginner (A1)
- You can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type
- You can introduce yourself and others
- You can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where you live, what you do, people you know and things you have
- You can ask and give directions
- You can order food and drink
- You can make very basic travel and accommodation arrangements
- You can have a basic conversation, provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.
Elementary (A2)
- You can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas including basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography and employment
- You can communicate in simple and routine tasks, requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters
- You can describe, in simple terms, aspects of your background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need
- You can comfortably ‘get by’ when visiting the country, albeit with some difficulty.
Intermediate (B1)
- You can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.
- You can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken
- You can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest
- You can describe experiences and events
- You can talk about dreams, hopes and ambitions
- You can briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans
- You could consider working in the country using the language (e.g. bar/counter work, waiting service in cafes or basic office work).
Upper Intermediate (B2)
- You can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in your field of specialisation.
- You can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible, without strain for either party.
- You can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue, giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
- You can do business with speakers of the language in most run-of-the-mill situations.
Advanced (C1)
- You can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning
- You can express yourself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions
- You can use the language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes
- You can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, logical flow of text, and clear awareness of the audience.
Proficient (C2)
- You can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read
- You can summarise information from different spoken and written sources
- You can reconstruct arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation
- You can express yourself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely
- You can differentiate finer shades of meaning, even in the most complex situations.
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