Stories, audio, and videos can all help you learn Danish when you can follow what they mean. That is the idea behind comprehensible input: learning from Danish you can mostly understand. Some easy Danish comes from Denmark's public broadcaster, DR, which writes part of its news for people who find reading or following the news hard, in a section called Ligetil.
These apps help you find Danish at your level, or make the Danish you choose easier to follow. For courses, speaking practice, and tutors, see our Danish app comparison.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
Learn Danish with a path made just for you. Start with your level, what you like, and why you want to learn. Your path grows as you learn, with new lessons that fit you. Bubblegum also has news and stories, so you can read and listen to a mix of Danish about music, food, family, or daily life.
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes each lesson for you. If a word or a sentence is hard to follow, just ask her to explain it.
The trade-off is that Bubblegum can't help with Danish you found yourself. For a show, a video, or a web page you already picked, the apps in Read and Watch Danish You Choose are the better fit.
- Read and listen to lessons, news, and stories about things you like.
- Each new lesson fits your level, interests, and goals.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading instead of using flashcards.
- Ask Poppy about a sentence while you read.
- Lesson audio uses AI voices, not recordings of Danish speakers.
- You cannot bring in your own books, shows, or articles.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Read and Listen to Stories for Learners
Duostories
Duostories is a volunteer project that brings Duolingo's short stories to more languages, with Duolingo's permission. Its Danish stories are about everyday moments, from a date to a ticket to Copenhagen. It suits beginners who like short stories with questions that check what they understood.
- Read more than 250 short stories in Danish, with audio.
- Questions inside each story check what you understood.
- Listening mode plays a story without the questions.
MobileWeb
LingQ
LingQ lets you read and listen to Danish from its library or bring in your own. It highlights the words you have not met yet and the ones you are still learning, so you can see what is new on each page.
- Start with more than 60 Mini Stories that repeat the basic patterns of Danish.
- Read and listen to H.C. Andersen's fairy tales and news from DR.
- Bring in YouTube videos, books, and songs of your own.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Watch Danish TV With Danish Subtitles
DRTV
DRTV is the streaming service of DR, Denmark's public broadcaster, and learners on Reddit often recommend it. Start with the children's shows on Ramasjang and Minisjang, then move on to series and documentaries. One adult learner on Reddit recommends Børste, a children's cartoon with three-minute episodes.
- Watch DR's series, documentaries, news, and children's shows.
- Turn on Danish subtitles to read what you hear.
- Ultra Nyt tells the news to children aged 9 to 14 in words they understand.
MobileWeb
Read and Watch Danish You Choose
These tools help you learn from Danish videos, shows, and web pages you pick yourself. They suit learners who already know what they want to watch or read.
Language Reactor
Language Reactor works with Netflix and YouTube in Chrome. Its Danish catalogue gathers videos from DR, TV 2, and Danish YouTubers, along with podcasts made for learners. It is free to install, with paid extras.
- Browse Danish YouTube videos and podcasts in one place.
- See Danish subtitles beside a translation, with a pop-up dictionary.
- Pause and replay one line when it goes too fast.
Browser extension
Readlang
Readlang helps you read Danish articles and other texts on the web. A Danish learner on Reddit says it worked well for them.
- Tap a word or short phrase on a Danish web page to see what it means.
- Review the words you looked up with flashcards.
- Flashcards
WebBrowser extension
Podcasts, Easy News, and Books
Dansk i ørerne is the podcast Danish learners on Reddit suggest most often. In short episodes, Sofie Lindholm talks about Denmark and Danes in slow, clear Danish for learners at about A2 to B2, and the text of each episode is on her website. In KOEN PÅ ISEN, Helle Krog speaks slowly and clearly about Danish words and sayings, such as why some Danes say “tak for kaffe” when they had no coffee. Dansk for Begyndere has a new episode every day about an everyday topic, at a calm but natural pace.
On DR Ligetil, you can have hard words explained and articles read aloud. DR's radio and podcast app, DR LYD, lets you change the playback speed. DR's YouTube channel P3 Essensen makes videos that explain the world we live in, and learners on Reddit watch it once they know the basics.
For books, Praxis publishes Læseværkstedet, a series of easy books in four levels for adults who find reading hard, and lists it with its books for Danish as a second language. If you live in Denmark, your library's eReolen app lends e-books, audiobooks, and podcasts. Olly Richards' Short Stories in Danish for Beginners has eight stories for beginner to low-intermediate learners, and it also comes as an audiobook.
Learn Danish in Your Language
These counts cover menu-language choices, including script variants. Other apps’ counts and full lists come from their iPhone listings, except Language Reactor (Chrome Web Store) and Readlang (its help forum). Word meanings, lesson explanations, and other platforms may differ.
| App | Supported Display Languages | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| Duostories | 1 | Full list |
| LingQ | 17 | Full list |
| DRTV | 4 | Full list |
| Language Reactor | 27 | Full list |
| Readlang | 1 | Full list |
Other Apps We Looked At (7)
- GoPouchyA Danish-only app from Copenhagen. Read stories and articles about your interests, or have the app write new ones, then tap a word to translate it and practice it in exercises and AI chats.
- Fluent FictionDanish stories as a podcast and an app. Each story is followed by a retelling that switches between Danish and English, sentence by sentence.
- Learn Danish with FabuloEasy Danish news at levels from A1 to C2, with quizzes and an AI tutor. It is new and growing.
- ErlaShort Danish stories where you can tap a sentence to translate it, plus listening practice and AI chats. It is new and growing.
- Danish with ChristinaA podcast entirely in Danish for intermediate learners, about the news and life in Denmark.
- Learn Danish with Swap LanguageA podcast from a teacher of Danish as a second language. Its beginner season tells short stories in slow, clear Danish that match the topics of Danish language schools.
- DanishTubeA YouTube channel and community for learners, with videos that help you turn the Danish you understand into Danish you can speak.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose Danish at the right level?
Pick something where you already know almost every word. In one study, readers needed to know about 98 out of 100 words in a story to follow it well. If you stop on almost every line, try something easier.
How long does it take to learn Danish?
The US Foreign Service Institute puts Danish with the languages closest to English. Its students usually need about 24 weeks to reach a professional level in speaking and listening, with about 23 hours of class and 17 hours of study on their own each week.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- DR Ligetil
- DR: Om Ligetil
- DR: Ultra Nyt, nyheder til børn
- DR: Videovejledninger til undertekster
- r/danishlanguage: Danish Children's Shows
- r/danishlanguage: Danish news audio in simple language
- r/Danish: Podcasts for someone who just started learning Danish
- r/Danish: Can anyone recommend an app for learning Danish?
- Feedspot: Best Podcasts To Learn Danish
- Dansk i ørerne
- KOEN PÅ ISEN
- Dansk for Begyndere
- DR LYD on the App Store
- P3 Essensen on YouTube
- Praxis: Læseværkstedet
- eReolen
- Hachette: Short Stories in Danish for Beginners by Olly Richards
- Hu and Nation (2000), Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension
- US Department of State: Foreign Language Training
- Bubblegum
- Duostories
- LingQ
- DRTV
- Language Reactor
- Readlang
Checked on October 8, 2026 against each app's own pages.
