The Fastest Way to Learn Danish in 2026

The fastest way to learn Danish is to spend most of your study time on Danish you can mostly understand. That kind of Danish is called comprehensible input. What you read and listen to should change as you improve, so the plan below shows what to do at each level and how to split an hour of study.

What to Do at Each Level

Find the level that sounds like you. Its bar shows how to spend an hour of study.

1. Level 1

   I'm just starting out or know only a few words.

   Read and listen · 35 minRead and listen 35 min. 15 minReview 15 min. 10 minSpeak 10 min.

   Read short Danish stories with audio, and listen to each one twice so the sounds start to feel familiar. Review the words you saved, then say a few lines out loud.

   • Duostories
   • LingQ
2. Level 2

   I can handle simple exchanges.

   Read and listen · 40 minRead and listen 40 min. 10 minReview 10 min. 10 minSpeak 10 min.

   Hide the translation and look up only the words that stop you. Listen to podcasts for learners in slow, clear Danish, and start short talks with a tutor or a friend.

   • Dansk i ørerne
   • KOEN PÅ ISEN
3. Level 3

   I follow conversations on familiar topics.

   Read and listen · 40 minRead and listen 40 min. 5 minReview 5 min. 15 minSpeak 15 min.

   Read the news in simple Danish on DR Ligetil, where you can have hard words explained and articles read aloud. Add a podcast at a calm, natural pace, and talk about what you read for longer.

   • DR Ligetil
   • Dansk for Begyndere
4. Level 4

   I understand most content but miss some nuance.

   Read and watch · 45 minRead and watch 45 min. 5 minReview 5 min. 10 minSpeak 10 min.

   Watch DR's series and documentaries on DRTV with Danish subtitles, one episode a week. Add videos from P3 Essensen, DR's YouTube channel that explains the world.

   • DRTV
   • P3 Essensen
5. Level 5

   I read complex topics but rare words slow me down.

   Read and watch · 50 minRead and watch 50 min. 10 minSpeak 10 min.

   Watch Danish series and the news without subtitles, and read articles about things you like. Look up only the words that block the story.

   • Den Danske Ordbog
6. Level 6

   I read at near-native level.

   Read and watch · 50 minRead and watch 50 min. 10 minSpeak 10 min.

   Read Danish novels and newspapers, and talk about them, for their own sake. If you live in Denmark, your library's eReolen lends e-books and audiobooks.

   • eReolen

Move up a level when your lessons start to feel easy, and move back down if you lose the thread by the third line.

How Long Does It Take to Learn Danish?

Danish takes about 24 weeks of full-time classes, or 552 class hours, to reach professional fluency, according to the U.S. Foreign Service Institute. That puts Danish in its first group, the languages it calls close to English, with Dutch, Norwegian and Swedish.

FSI students have about 23 hours of class and 17 hours of study on their own each week, so 24 weeks comes to 552 class hours, or 960 hours in all. Here is how long those take at different amounts of study a week:

These are class and study hours from full-time courses, so treat them as a rough guide. Time you spend understanding Danish on your own counts too.

What Slows Learners Down

• 🎧Reading Without ListeningDanish has around 20 vowel sounds and a catch in the throat called stød, so a word you can read may be hard to hear. Listen to everything you read.
• 🏷️Nouns Without en or etEvery Danish noun takes en or et, and you often can't tell which from the noun itself. Save each new noun with the one it came with.
• 🌊Content Far Too HardA Danish series where you know one word in five teaches you very little.

Frequently Asked Questions