Danish 101

This is more than a podcast, as it’s a whole Danish learning package from beginner to advanced. However, it is the podcast-style audio that is unique about this learning platform, as text is spoken, then repeated at a slower pace and repeated again with a translation so you can really get your ear used to unfamiliar words.

Some of the grammar and vocabulary are then explained in English at the end. It’s very handy for brushing up language skills while on-the-go and great for beginners and intermediate learners. 

Sara & Monopolet podcast

In this podcast from DR, host Sara Bro is joined by three different well-known guests each week to help listeners solve their personal dilemmas. These vary from a hairdressing team wondering how to address their colleague’s bad table manners, to an employee concerned about the scars on her arm and whether she should cover them up at work.

This podcast isn’t recommended for beginners but it’s helpful for intermediate learners to improve their listening skills. It’s long, at 1 hour 40 minutes but each dilemma is relatively short so you don’t need to listen to the whole thing to gain an understanding. There’s a written synopsis of each person’s problem on the website, which means you won’t get completely lost if you don’t understand every word you hear.

Zetland

This is an advert-free news subscription app where you get short news overviews, in-depth articles, as well as a news podcast about the most important news of the day. The useful thing about this app is that you can choose to either read or listen to the news articles or do both, which is a great exercise for improving language understanding.

Subscription is 129 kroner a month but there are some in-depth news stories on the website you can listen to for free, with text and audio.

Baglandet

In these 30-minute podcasts, you hear hard-hitting stories from different walks of life in Denmark. Baglandet means “back country” and this podcast aims to shine a light on people who have experienced the consequences of certain political decisions.

The latest episodes are around detention centres for young people who have committed serious crimes. The series asks questions about what is being done to stop young people getting to this stage and hears from young offenders in the system. This does require a more advanced level of Danish but the stories are fascinating so it’s worth persevering and re-listening to.

Det Forenede Kongerige

If you are interested in the British music scene, this podcast is for you. Hosts Jonas Hansen and Jesper Odgaard play a whole range of music from British pop, rock and electronic while talking about its history and stories about the bands.

The hosts do speak quite quickly, so it’s helpful to have music in between the chat so your brain can have a rest from deciphering the Danish.

Hvem er…

Translated as ‘Who is…’, this podcast tells you about the person behind some of Denmark’s most well known music. Musicians such as Volbeat, Kesi and Benjamin Lasnier talk about their lives, dreams and the realities of performing. 

Although you will need to know quite a lot of vocabulary, the host does speak clearly and it’s a great way to learn more about Denmark’s music scene. There are snippets of music between the conversation but it is primarily a speaking podcast.

READ MORE: Five tips that make it easier to learn Danish