Copenhagen schools? (we don’t speak Danish)

[Martinahh]

DH has been given the option to either stay in the UK, or Copenhagen or another city in another country that we really like.

Anyway, we are debating all these options!

None of us can speak Danish, but we’d learn. We have children and am wondering how it’d work. If they’d have to go to an international school (I’m imagining!) etc.

Any advice?

Also - good family neighbourhoods that are welcoming of people moving there from abroad?

I can't help directly but I am slightly fascinated by all things Danish. There is abook called "a year of living Danishly" which is a great read. It doesn't really cover schooling i don't think but still should be a useful resource.

Denmark is a bit of a weird place although Copenhagen may be different being more international.

Everyone speaks English. There is a lot of support to learn Danish but it is a very difficult language. The sounds are hard for an English speaker and the written language is not generally how spoken language sounds.

Also Danish culture is hard to make friends in. There are loads of blogs describing this but essentially many people make friends at primary and stick with them for life, making it difficult for new arrivals. Having said that there will be loads of international people to bond with.

Lastly- it's expensive!

My friend married a Danish fella and moved there about 15 years ago. She still doesn't speak a huge amount of Danish and actually works at Copenhagen International school so don't think language skills will hold you back there at all. It seems like a really great place to live.

ILs live in Copenhagen (aren’t Danish). SIL says that it’s hard to fully integrate with Danes if you don’t speak Danish. She tried hard but ended up being friends with other expats. Said they’d say one sentence to her at baby classes then slip back into chatting in Danish. Completely understandable but she found it harder than anticipated.

How old are the children? Seriously, I'd consider just going for a Danish school. They do integration school for kids who don't speak Danish well enough to go into a folkskole straight away where they stay for a year or so. It's not generally considered a great experience but it's a stepping stone to a better option. Staying in international school will mean they never learn good Danish.

I found Danish surprisingly close to English, not especially challenging to learn if you mix a lot/mostly with Danes. Probably hard in Copenhagen. Impossible if you are learning 'casually' as they will switch to English. Took about 3 years before acquaintances trusted me to understand them in Danish. It took around 5 years before I could hang on to a conversation at a party among Danes and join in. In Jutland where I lived I know a good handful of Brits who are fully fluent in Danish who moved there as adults.

They have no focus on academic achievement though in folkskole. It's about building mentally resilient, confident, capable, well-rounded, fully functioning adults. Which is fab as long as you don't plan on re-entering the more traditional education systems where they may subsequently struggle.

I'd go for Copenhagen in a heartbeat as long as you have two good incomes. And I mean good good incomes, not UK good incomes. The best place to live in that case.

WE lived in Copenhagen for a few years. How old are the kids? We put our older kids in the international school and the youngest went to Danish kindergarten and school so we got to experience both