Ordering at the Coffee Shop - S1 Ep3

In this episode, we're heading to a Danish coffee shop. You'll learn how to order a drink or a pastry.

This episode also introduces the Danish pronunciation feature known as 'stød', one of the sounds that often makes Danish sound different from other languages.

Words of the Day

Må jeg bede om... - May I have...

Ellers andet? - Anything else?

Kanelsnegl - Cinnamon roll

Til at sidde her eller til at tage med? - For here or to go?

Det bliver... - That will be...

Main Dialogue

Customer: Hejsa.

Barista: Godmorgen.

Customer: Må jeg bede om en kaffe latte med havremælk?

Barista: Ellers andet?

Customer: Ja, en kanelsnegl, tak.

Barista: Er det til at sidde her eller til at tage med?

Customer: Til her, tak.

Barista: Det bliver 75 kroner.

Customer: Perfekt.

Barista: Værsgo.

Customer: Tusind tak.

Barista: Selv tak. Hav en god dag.

Customer: I lige måde.

Word and Phrase Variations

Different ways to order:

Må jeg bede om... - May I have...

Jeg vil gerne have... - I would like to have...

Useful things to order:

En kop kaffe - A coffee

En filterkaffe - A filter coffee

En grøn te - A green tea

En sort te - A black tea

En bolle med ost (BMO) - A bread roll with cheese

En kardemommesnurre - A cardamom bun

Useful options:

Stor - Large

Lille - Small

Sødmælk - Whole milk

Letmælk - Semi-skimmed milk

Skummetmælk - Skimmed milk

Havremælk - Oat milk

Sojamælk - Soy milk

A simple ordering formula:

Må jeg bede om + item + tak

Example:

Må jeg bede om en filterkaffe med sødmælk, tak.

Pronunciation Point

This episode introduces stød, a pronunciation feature found in many Danish words. Stød can make a word sound shorter or slightly interrupted and is one of the characteristics that gives Danish its unique sound.

Examples:

Hej - Hi

Haj - Shark

Although the words sound similar, haj contains stød while hej does not.

Don't worry if you don't master stød right away. Even many advanced Danish learners continue practicing it for years.

Transcript

Intro to the Episode

Speaker 0:01

Hi, Alsa.

Speaker 1 0:02

Hey everyone. Welcome to Daily Danish Pod, a language learning podcast for beginners focusing on everyday scenarios.

Speaker 0:10

My name is Victoria, and I will be the teacher.

Speaker 1 0:12

My name is Andrew, and I will be the learner.

Speaker 0:28

Hi Andrew.

Speaker 1 0:30

Hi Victoria. So what are we gonna be talking about today, Victoria?

Speaker 0:41

Today we'll learn how to order something at a coffee shop. This is also structure you can use in other places where you're ordering at the counter. Are you ready?

Speaker 1 0:52

I am ready. Yakla.

Speaker 0:54

Let's

Words of the Day

Speaker 0:55

begin.

Speaker 1 0:58

We will begin this episode, as always, with words of the day. These are the new words and phrases that we will have in today's dialogue. Victoria will say the word of phrase. We will leave a space for you to repeat out loud, and then I will repeat it as well. Don't forget we put the words with their English translations in the description of today's episode.

Speaker 1:16

The first phrase of the day is moya beum. It literally means may I pray for, but is understood as may I have or can I have. It's the structure considered the most polite to order something. So the phrase is moya be um. The next phrase is elas anal. It means anything else.

Speaker 1 1:47

So it's enl?

Speaker 1:52

Yes. And remember it's a question, so the inflection goes up at the end. So it las enl now a very important Danish word. Canil snile. It means cinnamon roll. Canal means cinnamon and snile means snail. This is because of the spiral shape the pastry has. Yes. Canil snile.

Speaker 1 2:22

Canil snile.

Speaker 2:25

The next phrase is a little long, but we'll break it into bits. In its entirety, it's a me. It literally means is it to sit here or is it to take with you? But understood as is it for here or to go. Repeat after me. Alright,

Test your Listening

Speaker 3:02

everyone, we're moving into the dialogue listening comprehension part. Which means that Andrew and I will go over the dialogue, and at this point, we just want you to sit back and relax and listen to us go through the dialogue at a slowed down tempo and see if you can recognize any of the words that we just introduced to you.

Speaker 1 3:20

Hi sir. Elus in Yeah In canil sni. Perfect. So I'm looking back over the script now and just taking a peek at maybe some of the things that you snuck in there. So up until now we've been saying hi. And I think we have learned this one, but you added a little haisa in there. So that's something a little bit different.

Speaker 4:22

Yes. So haisa is just a variation of hi. It can be a little cheeky. It can also be sweet and just an informal greeting.

Speaker 1 4:31

Okay, so haisa.

Speaker 4:32

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 4:34

So we learned already this expression, moi be um, and then we got our kind of first thing that we ordered, a cafe lare, but I would just call a latte, right? And there's a specific type of milk. It's not a normal milk.

Speaker 4:50

No, it's haura milk.

Speaker 1 4:54

Hauer milk.

Speaker 4:56

Yes, it's oat milk.

Speaker 1 4:58

And that's something that clearly you need to know if you live in Copenhagen, because God forbid you order cow milk here. Gotta have your oat milk. And so the last thing that I noticed here is, you know, I have this script he wrote for us in front of me, so I can see the actual numbers. Maybe at home you can look at the transcript as well. So I see the number 75, and I know that I've been here for almost five years now, and this is the trickiest thing. So this 75 kroner. Do you just want to say the number for us one more time just so the listener maybe can hear it?

Speaker 5:31

75 in Danish is femme oh health yas.

Speaker 1 5:35

Femme oh health yas.

Speaker 5:37

Yes. And in Danish, it's important to notice that you actually say the smallest number first. So it's 5 and 70.

Speaker 1 5:46

Okay. Yes. Very nice.

English Translation

Speaker 1 5:48 Speaker 5:48

Now you can listen to the dialogue with breaks and an English translation. I will read out the script, line for line in Danish. You can then try and listen for understanding, and then Andrew will say it in English. Hi, sir.

Speaker 1 6:03

Hey ya. Good morning. May I have an oat milk latte, please? Anything else?

Speaker 6:26

Yeah. In Canal Snipe.

Speaker 1 6:33

Yeah, a cinnamon roll, thanks. Is that for here? Or to take away? For here, thanks. That will be seventy-five crowns.

Speaker 7:06

Perfect.

Speaker 1 7:08

Perfect.

Speaker 7:09

That's cool.

Speaker 1 7:12

Here you go. Thanks so much. Or a thousand things.

Speaker 7:20

Sell tag.

Speaker 1 7:24

You're welcome.

Speaker 7:26

Hang on day.

Speaker 1 7:29

Have a good day.

Speaker 7:31

Ilimo.

Speaker 1 7:33

You two.

Speaker 7:35

Pronunciation point. Pronunciation point.

Speaker 1 7:40

Pronunciation point.

Speaker 7:44

Okay, let's do it.

Pronunciation Point

Speaker 7:46

We've now reached our pronunciation point, and today we'll focus on still, meaning push in Danish. It's a phonetic phenomena that shows up in many Danish words that give them a quality of sounding like they're cut short. It's sometimes referred to as glottal stop that shows up in English, such as in uh-uh, but it often more closely resembles a creaky voice, because the vocal cords don't always completely close. So to give you an example of two words that closely resemble each other, with one having stool and the other one not having stool, let's take the word for hey, which you already know. Hi doesn't have stool. But if you say the word for shark, hi, it does. I will say them next to each other so you can hear the difference. Hi, hi. Hi, hi. When practicing the stool, I like to imagine there's a little boxer in my throat throwing a punch, and it might help to exaggerate in the beginning. Sometimes some creakiness also gets sprinkled in there. But for full transparency, where I come from in Denmark, we have quite a strong pronunciation of the stool, but there are parts of Denmark, particularly the south of Denmark, and the island of Bonhart, where they don't use stull. So if you feel like trying to pronounce the stool is getting the best of you, you can always find refuge in those places. The reason why we wanted to focus on still is because it shows up in the dialogue and we found places that we'd like to practice with you. And Andrew, would you like to practice with me?

Speaker 1 9:14

I would love to.

Speaker 9:15

All right. When we mention the price, diplya. Great. And remember, in the beginning, it really helps to exaggerate.

Speaker 1 9:28

So the it's almost like you're kind of stopping it a little bit. And almost like I want to keep on talking after.

Speaker 9:33

But something cuts you off.

Practice Speaking

Speaker 9:35

Yes.

Speaker 1 9:39

In this next section, we'll go over the dialogue we've been working on up until now. Yet this time, Victoria will say the lines for both of us, and after each line, she will leave a space for you to repeat afterwards, and then I will repeat as well.

Speaker 10:47

Det bliver 75 kroner.

Speaker 1 10:53

Det bliver 50 kroner.

Culture Point

Speaker 1 11:31

What's the deal with cake culture?

Speaker 11:33

Let me tell you about cake culture. So in Denmark, Danes take their cake very seriously. I know people who only eat oats the entire day so they can eat cake.

Speaker 1 11:46

That's crazy.

Speaker 11:47

I know it is crazy. Danes take their cake very seriously, and it's also something that in the Danish workplaces is taken very seriously. There are sometimes schedules that they make, when to bring cake, and what day to do it. And usually, I mean, people can also buy the cake, but usually it's kind of like not looked down upon because everyone always appreciates whatever type of cake that you bring, but usually people bake it at home.

Speaker 1 12:15

They don't buy it at La Kehusa?

Speaker 12:17

They definitely also buy it at Lao Kehusa.

Speaker 1 12:20

Oh, one of the things about cake culture that I found super interesting and I still don't fully understand is that for your birthday, correct me if I'm wrong, you're supposed to bring the cake.

Speaker 12:31

Yeah.

Speaker 1 12:31

That's crazy to me.

Speaker 12:33

You're giving instead of receiving.

Speaker 1 12:36

Yeah, why should I have to bring a cake on my birthday? You should bring the cake for me.

Speaker 12:39

By the way, Andrew, my birthday is next week, so I expect cake now after your remark. So I'll be curious to see what you're gonna bring and if it's gonna be home baked. Now we're gonna listen to the dialogue at normal speed so you can get used to how it would sound out in the world.

Speaker 1 13:00

Hi sir. Perfect.

Word & Phrase Variations

Speaker 1 13:22

We will now have the section word and phrase variations. These are different ways you can say similar concepts and ideas related to this episode's dialogue.

Speaker 13:32

When you ask for something, in the dialogue we said moya beom. But you could also say yavigan he.

Speaker 1 13:56

And as always, if we add a tack at the end, it makes it a little bit more polite, right? Definitely.

Speaker 14:01

And a smile.

Speaker 1 14:02

So I'm not someone who particularly loves a cafe lade or a lade because it's too much milk for me. Can you teach me a couple different ways to order maybe some different types of coffee?

Speaker 14:12

Definitely. So a cup of coffee would be in cup kaffe.

Speaker 1 14:18

In cup cafe?

Speaker 14:20

Yeah. And in a sentence, it would be moya being cup kaffe.

Speaker 1 14:26

Moya beit omin cup kaffe.

Speaker 14:29

Great. Danes also love their filter coffee. So you could also ask for in filter kaffe.

Speaker 1 14:38

In filter kaffee. This was a weird word for me when I came across Denmark. It just means a drip coffee, maybe in American English, or a porover coffee or something. Yeah. So if you do like a latte or cotaro, maybe you want to have milk inside, and there's many different types of milk. We've already had the how milk, but maybe we could look at some other types of milk.

Speaker 14:59

Definitely. If we go through the cow's milk, there is soot milk.

Speaker 1 15:06

So milk.

Speaker 15:07

Soot milk is the fattiest of the milks. It's whole milk. After soot milk, we get lit milk.

Speaker 1 15:16

Lit milk.

Speaker 15:21

And scumil milk.

Speaker 1 15:23

Scommel milk.

Speaker 15:24

Skim milk. We also have soya milk.

Speaker 1 15:29

Soya milk.

Speaker 15:31

Yeah. If you don't like the coffees, then you could also order a tea. Ingrant tea, a green tea. In grant tea.

Speaker 1 15:41

In grant tea.

Speaker 15:44

Or black tea. In sort tea.

Speaker 1 15:49

In sort tea.

Speaker 15:52

If you're feeling peckish, you could order in bolm oost.

Speaker 1 15:58

In bol me ust.

Speaker 16:01

In bol me ust? It's Denmark's most well-kept secret that's now out in the open. Because a bol me oost is just a bun with cheese, and usually you can also select if you want butter on it too. And usually it would never be on the menu. It's something you had to ask for, but now it's taken every bakery by storm. It also goes under the name BMO. Okay. The next one is actually an alternative to the canilsnai, the cinnamon bun. It's incadimomus noa. Cadamomusnua is a cardamom bun. Incadimomusnua.

Speaker 1 16:39

Incatamomisnua.

Speaker 16:41

Snua. Yeah. Incatimus nua.

Speaker 1 16:48

Incatamomusnua. Great.

Speaker 16:51

Another important distinction that you could also encounter is if you want a large or a small beverage, for instance. A large would be stoa.

Speaker 1 17:03

Stoa.

Speaker 17:05

Like in stock cup cafe.

Speaker 1 17:08

In stoa cup cafe?

Speaker 17:10

Or in lile cup cafe.

Speaker 1 17:14

In lile cup cafe. So when I first moved here and wanted to try and order, what one of the things I learned was instead of saying the whole moyer bait omen cup cafe, because that took me a long time and still a hard thing for me to say. I would just say in cup cafe, tack. So you can always just say what it is you want, and then add a tack on there, and then you're getting there. They'll understand what you

Teaser for Next Episode

Speaker 1 17:39

want.

Speaker 17:40

That's all for this episode in the coffee shop. Join us next time as you'll learn to introduce yourself to a new friend.

Speaker 1 17:48

As always, we would love to hear from you, our listeners. Please comment whether you have an idea for how we can improve, scenarios you would like for us to cover, or even to just say hi, introduce yourself. We would love to know where you're from and what your motivation for learning Danish is. If you'd like to support us further, please like and subscribe. And check out our Instagram at daily Danish Pod to get updates on our work.

Speaker 18:13

This podcast was created and recorded at Union, the culture house in Narapo, Copenhagen, with funding from Funten Krim House Pro Center. The pod would not be possible without both of their help. Shout out to Omar for our logo design and Andrew Renison for creating our jingle. Hi hi.

Speaker 1 18:33

See you next time.