Learning Danish in Denmark: lessons, practice and the official tests

Why does Danish matter beyond conversation?

Because the official Danish tests decide your residence status. Permanent residence needs Prøve i Dansk 2 (PD2). Citizenship normally needs Prøve i Dansk 3 (PD3) plus a citizenship test Nyidanmark uim.dk. So spend your money on whatever gets you through the speaking and listening parts of those tests.

The rules below come from the authorities’ pages as they stood in October 2026. They change often, so check the current rules on nyidanmark.dk before you rely on any of them.

What is the free route, in brief?

If you have a CPR number and are 18 or over, you are usually entitled to free danskuddannelse (Danish education) at a sprogcenter (language centre). The offer runs for up to five years from the date you can first begin. The school places you on one of three tracks:

• DU1: for people who cannot read and write in their own language.
• DU2: for a short school background. It ends with PD2.
• DU3: for a medium or long education. It ends with PD3, and most professionals end up here.

Self-supporting learners pay a refundable DKK 2,000 deposit per module. Entitlement, the deposit and enrolment are in our guide to the free Danish courses.

What do paid tutors and private lessons cost?

Tutoring marketplaces. On Preply and italki you browse tutor profiles, book a trial lesson and then buy lessons from the tutor you choose. Preply’s own Danish page says its tutors charge between USD 15 and USD 100 an hour, with an average of USD 50 (October 2026) Preply. The Danish tutors listed first on italki showed lesson prices of roughly USD 20 to USD 120 (October 2026) italki.

• Good for: speaking time, flexible hours, and drilling the test format with someone who knows it.
• Trade-off: the quality of what you learn depends entirely on the tutor you pick. Nobody checks your progress, and nothing ends in an official result.

Private lessons at a school. Speak charges DKK 1,100 per 45-minute lesson in person and DKK 1,000 online, sold as a course of several lessons rather than single drop-ins (October 2026) Speak. Studieskolen in Copenhagen offers tailored private lessons on a quote basis Studieskolen. A school costs much more per hour than a marketplace tutor. In return you get a trained second-language teacher who knows the Prøver.

The best mix for most people: the free class for structure and grammar, plus one paid conversation hour a week.

What about intensive courses?

An intensive course is the fastest route if you need a test result by a set date.

• Speak’s summer courses cover one module in three weeks. They are free if you are entitled to danskuddannelse. If you are not, they cost DKK 4,995 for three weeks or DKK 3,995 for two weeks (October 2026) Speak.
• Studieskolen’s crash courses meet two or three times a week so that you don’t forget material between lessons. We could not confirm a price on their page Studieskolen.
• Folk high schools (højskoler) run residential courses, some aimed at foreigners learning Danish. There are short courses of one to seven weeks and longer stays Højskolerne. Prices vary by school.

Are there evening, VUC or university options?

• Evening schools (aftenskoler). AOF has a Dansk for udlændinge (Danish for foreigners) course category AOF. Good for a habit, not test preparation.
• VUC (adult education centres) teach dansk som andetsprog (Danish as a second language) at upper-secondary level. At Frederiksberg VUC, levels C to A take one to one and a half years Frederiksberg VUC. This matters because a passed Danish-as-a-second-language subject at levels G to A, with an average of at least 02, is on nyidanmark.dk’s list of tests equivalent to PD3 Nyidanmark.
• University courses. We could not confirm a current, open Danish course for the general public at a Copenhagen university, so we have left them out. If you are a student or staff member, ask your international office.

What are apps good for, and what not?

Apps are good for vocabulary, spelling and a daily ten-minute habit. They are not good for passing the oral exam or for understanding Danes in real life. In PD3 you give a two-minute presentation, then answer questions in front of an examiner and a second assessor. The oral grade counts double in your average Dansk og Prøver. Leaning on an app instead of talking to people is the most common mistake learners make.

Where can you practise with people for free?

• Library language cafés (sprogcaféer). The Dansk snakkeklub at Nørrebro Bibliotek meets on Wednesdays from 16:00 to 18:00. Volunteers split the group by level Nørrebro Bibliotek. Most municipal libraries run something similar, so search your library’s site for “sprogcafé”.
• Language schools’ cafés. UCplus runs a free language café in central Copenhagen UCplus.
• Røde Kors (Red Cross) runs language and homework cafés across the country, plus online conversation practice with volunteers. They are aimed mainly at refugees and other migrants Røde Kors.
• Clubs and associations. See our guide to joining clubs.

Danes will switch to English the moment you hesitate. Three tactics that work:

1. Own the first sentence. Open with “Jeg øver mig på dansk” (I’m practising my Danish). People then know what you are doing.
2. Keep going in Danish even when they answer in English. Most people switch back within a sentence or two.
3. Ask outright: “Må vi tage det på dansk?” (Can we do this in Danish?).

Which official tests are there, and what does each unlock?

Levels and uses come from Dansk og Prøver (PD1, PD2, PD3). Each test has a written part and an oral part. PD2 and PD3 are passed with an average grade of at least 2.0, and the oral grade counts double. PD1 is graded pass or fail.

Permanent residence (nyidanmark.dk, last updated 17 September 2026). You need all of the basic requirements, including:

• PD2 or an equivalent test;
• eight years of legal residence;
• regular full-time work (at least 30 hours a week) for three and a half of the last four years;
• a job at the time of the decision.

On top of those, you need two of four supplementary requirements:

• PD3;
• four years of work in the last four and a half;
• the Medborgerskabsprøven, or one year of active citizenship (for example on a board or a parents’ committee);
• an average taxable income of DKK 346,155.57 (2026 level) over the last two years.

Meet all four and the residence requirement drops to four years Nyidanmark. Applications under the EU free-movement rules follow a separate route.

Citizenship (uim.dk, October 2026). As a rule you need:

• PD3 or a test on the ministry’s list;
• the Indfødsretsprøven of 2021;
• normally nine years of uninterrupted residence, and permanent residence held for two years;
• three and a half years of full-time work in the last four;
• a job when the naturalisation bill is put before parliament.

uim.dk also describes a PD2 route for applicants who have had no help under the Active Social Policy Act or the Integration Act in the last two years, and no such benefits for more than three months in the last nine years. Check whether this applies to you before planning around it uim.dk uim.dk uim.dk uim.dk.

The two civics tests are not interchangeable.

• Indfødsretsprøven (citizenship test): 45 multiple-choice questions in 45 minutes. You need 36 right, including 4 of the 5 questions on Danish values. Five questions are about current affairs from the past six months Dansk og Prøver.
• Medborgerskabsprøven (active citizen test): 25 questions in 30 minutes, 20 to pass, based on free study material Dansk og Prøver. It counts only for permanent residence, and a passed citizenship test does not replace it Nyidanmark.

Spouses joining a partner. If you get residence through spousal reunification, you must normally pass an oral A1 test within six months and an A2 test within nine months. Each test has 30 questions and you need 21 right. They are held year-round, only in Glostrup and Vejle. A module test from your language school does not count, but PD1 can replace both Dansk og Prøver Dansk og Prøver. For the rest of the family rules, see bringing family to Denmark.

How long does it realistically take?

There is no official figure for “months to PD3” and we won’t invent one. Here is what is known:

• The full danskuddannelse is designed to be completed within three years of part-time study.
• An intensive summer course covers one module in three weeks Speak.

Your pace depends mainly on two things: hours of study and speaking each week, and how close your first language is to Danish. Plan backwards from the test term you need, and remember that registration for the Prøver closes about ten weeks before the term begins.

What it costs and how to register

Sources: Dansk og Prøver. You register directly with a test centre, which is usually a language centre. Bring an original passport, residence card or EU ID card. A driving licence or a photo of your ID is not accepted Dansk og Prøver.

If you fail, you can sit the test again in the next term and pay a new fee. If illness kept you from one part, the test centre may let you carry over the part you completed, if you have a doctor’s note. Resitting just one part costs half the full fee. The civics tests have no resit for illness: you wait for the next date and pay again Dansk og Prøver Dansk og Prøver.

Foreign results do not count. The approved lists contain only Danish tests and Danish qualifications, such as the Prøver, folkeskole and gymnasium exams, and Danish-taught degrees Nyidanmark.

Common mistakes

• Missing the registration deadline. Missing it by a week can cost you six months.
• Taking the citizenship test for permanent residence. You need the Medborgerskabsprøven for that.
• Studying only from apps and then freezing in the oral exam.
• Booking a test above your level. Ask your test centre or language school first.