Things are a bit hectic round there lately.
Not that its an excuse for lack of writing, but may have a bit to do with it.
It’s a important time for C at the moment, since she is close to finishing her final Danish class. Last Tuesday she did the writing 4-5 hour exam. Haven’t heard the results from the school yet, but we’re crossing our fingers. Within 3 weeks she has to do an oral test too, and if she passes both, she is done with studying obligatory Danish classes.
Guess you can figure out that she have been doing nothing much but study the last month or so. Harder than usually, which is quite a bit.
After school she got a job working in a nursing home for the summer. The spot look nice and the colleagues seemed friendly, so she really looks forward to that.
Then in August, she’s back on the school bench to get an official education within the same area. We cross our fingers that she likes it, but otherwise, there are other options. For a foreigner in Denmark the pickings are slim, unless you speak flawless Danish or have a high education (or both).
Me? – Well, I feel pretty worn out lately. Not sure if its because I need vacation, or just overload at work. Work is cool, but it has been extremely busy lately. Busy for a long time, but on the other hand, some of the assignments are interesting. Still can’t help but feel a bit shabby lately. Hopefully July’s vacation will bring back the needed strength.
Nobody study like the Chinese :-)
Happy to hear that there is still life up there in the northern part of Denmark. Hope you get your strength back soon and nothing like a good vacation to take care of that.
Thanks Kim. :-)
Poor wife, does she have to learn danish with the funny accent you have up north??(nordenfjordsk accent)I am full of admiration for her learning danish…i know how hard it is to learn chinese. What are the rules in Denmark by the way..does she HAVE to learn?
@Lisbeth: Yes – Danish may be hard enough, but having to learn it from the mumbling part of Denmark is even harder :-)
The rules are that you have to graduate a special Danish class. There are 3 different levels where 3 is hardest. That’s the one C is attending. You have to pass 5 modules with exams in the end of each. At first they are pretty easy, but the last 3 are tough. At least on level 3. The lower levels I’m not quite sure about. I would opt that a plenty of Danes would have troubles with the writing parts. It’s not only about language, but some of the material needs good thinking too. You have to read off graphs and statistics, and then make your essay fit that. It could be stuff about pollution’s influence on new energy sources, health vs. smoking and so on. All good knowledge, but it may not be the average Danes common knowledge. The good thing is that you learn stuff at the same time, but you could argue that these things may not be necessary to learn well enough Danish to get a job.
Level 3 is meant to be for foreigners that has a good knowledge of English and university level. My wife had neither, so she really has to hang in there. Fortunately she does, but it’s still harder work, than most Danes would imagine. She studies anywhere from 3-8 hours daily in average – after school. Add to that 3½ hour of school 4 days a week too. Chinese with higher education and good English level would use much less time.
Another annoying part is the lack of proper dictionaries in Danish/Chinese and Chinese/Danish. The first is available, but it’s getting pretty old and outdated. Still a big help, but C needs to add new words daily. That’s where I come in. I have to work too :-)
C could have taken the class on a lower level, but that would end up with her needing some more experience before being allowed to go to Danish educations (Gymnasium/HH/Technical School etc.). So since she somehow ended up on level 3, she decided to give it a go. It’s been tough, but may soon be well worth it. Well see.
Thanks for your interest :-)
Short and precise answer as always, Peter ;)
Hrm….