Danish Courses

SDU is a parallel language workplace, where both Danish and English are used as working languages. This is why, in cooperation with the language centre ”AOF ” Job og Dansk (“Learn Danish”), we offer our new international employees a variety of special and customised Danish language courses. The university strongly encourages all international employees to attend the Danish Language Programme. Our courses are publicly financed but adapted to the needs of university staff.

Please note that you have to sign-up for the Danish Language Programme or postpone it no later than 30 days after you have received your Danish CPR-number. This means that by the time you have been to the International Citizen Service Center or the Citizen Service Center at Odense Kommune (or the ‘kommune’, where you live in Denmark), you need to register or postpone within the next 30 days in order to participate in the Danish Language Programme for free.

The aim of the programme is to give you a solid foundation in Danish that will allow you to carry out most of your work-related tasks at SDU. Therefore, classes are based on your everyday-life at SDU and will include practical exercises and involve collaboration with your Danish colleagues.

At a meeting on 7 June 2018, the Executive Board decided that all SDU’s international employees with a contract of min. 1 year will in the future be offered  free Danish education (does not apply to guest lecturers and guest PhDs). The cost of Danish education is paid by SDU and will be administered via SDU HR,  and the individual employee must therefore not take any further action in this context.

Please note that the right to free Danish education is arranged as a cut card and that the cut card expires after 60 months (5 years). You are thus entitled to 3½ years of Danish education within 5 years from the time of arrival.

Each module must be completed within a specified time frame. Exceeding the time frame on the individual module costs the next module and thus the possibility of completing an entire education. It is therefore important to support our international employees in maintaining the Danish education. The details of the time frames for each module will be explained by the language consultants on the different teams.

The time counts from 30 days after arrival in the country, even if you do not participate in the teaching. Time also counts in holiday periods.

Therefore, it is very important that our international employees sign up for the Danish program as soon as possible. See about registration procedure below.

In relation to spouses/partners, the university unfortunately does not have the legality to offer this group free Danish education. In Odense, this group is referred to AOF's Job og Dansk spouses offer, which is free under other legislation.

The registration takes place via Jane Vinter Moscoso,  jvmo@aofjobogdansk.dk, but it must be mentioned explicitly that is only is for spouses/partners.

No later than 2 weeks after a new foreign employee has been hired, the department secretary sends an email to Jane Vinter Moscoso,  jvmo@aofjobogdansk.dk , which ensures that the employee will be contacted by AOF Job og Dansk's language consultant as soon as possible for a visitation interview. AOF Job og Dansk's language consultant will inform about the legislation during the visitation interview.

New teams will be created at SDU on an ongoing basis. We can not guarantee that there is always just one team ready. To ensure that our employees are put on a team as soon as possible, SDU HR  has made an agreement with AOF Job og Dansk to offer employees an online Danish program (Netdansk), which is also offered by AOF Job og Dansk. Online teaching complies with current legislation and is thus a course that corresponds to class teaching. There is also a "real" teacher at the other end who corrects assignments and holds webinars.

As soon as there is a new team at SDU, the employee is offered a place there.

SDU HR is responsible for paying the deposit, and the individual employee must therefore not take any further action in this context.

If an employee has lost his right to a free Danish offer, he or she can contact Jane Vinter Moscoso,  jvmo@aofjobogdansk.dk

On 1 April 2019, the Executive Board laid down new guidelines for all international employees in indefinite positions employed per. April 1, 2019 and onwards. For this group, it is mandatory to participate actively in Danish teaching, and that within a period of 5 years from employment in the indefinite position they have acquired Danish language competencies corresponding to B2 on the European Reference Framework (CEFR). See SDU's language policy here.

In special cases, the deans may dispense in whole or in part from requirements for participation in Danish teaching, including time horizon and level. The application form can be found here.

Read the information leaflet about the Danish Language Programme.

Learn more about the Language Partnership Arrangement.

For information on Danish courses or registration, please contact Anette Møller, am@sdu.dk, at the ISO-Office.

The Danish course offered by the Municipality will take place at the Language School, AOF Job og Dansk. The Language School is situated very close to the University at Spangsbjerg Møllevej 68, 6700 Esbjerg, tel.: 7610 6350. Read more about the Language School.

Danish language course for accompanying partners at Campus Esbjerg:

For accompanying partners and employees, who want to follow extra Danish lessons, or those who no longer have the right to study under the Danish course offered by the Municipality (after 3½ years), we offer FVU free Danish lessons at Campus once a week in cooperation with the FOF Language School.

For information on Danish courses or registration, please contact Anette Møller, am@sdu.dk, at the ISO-Office.

In Kolding the Danish course offered by the Municipality is organized by Sprogskolen Kolding, Ågade 27, 6000 Kolding, tel.: +45 7979 8300. Read more about Sprogskolen.

Danish language course for accompanying partners at Campus Kolding:

For accompanying partners, FVU free Danish lessons can be organized either at Campus or at Sprogskolen Kolding.

For information on Danish courses or registration, please contact Karina Madsen Skellgaard, kmas@sdu.dk, at the ISO-Office.

The Danish course offered by the Municipality will mostly take place on campus by the provider A2B, phone.: +45 27 61 16 66.

Danish language course for accompanying partners at Campus Sønderborg:

The Danish language provider UC Plus is offering Danish courses/FVU courses for spouses.

For more information, please visit UC Plus'website.

Please contact Ms Isabella Farnleitner at if@ucplus.dk or phone +45 53 63 21 76 for more information.