Learn Danish with a song http://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/file.php/2831/learn_danish_song_version02/Lea...
Povl Kjøller's "Do you want to sing together?"
In this session we are going to listen to a Danish song from the 1970s. "Cykelsangen", as it is known, was written and performed by Povl Kjøller, and it was part of a childrens’ television programme featuring the two puppets, Kaj and Andrea, a frog and a parrot. For a generation of Danes growing up in the 1970s, this and other songs by Kjøller became synonymous with a romantic, playful childhood, and a decade in which global issues such as pollution and the atomic scare were beginning to loom.
The main objective of this activity is to get a feel for the Danish language and how it sounds.
Students will also learn to produce some words in Danish.
Have you heard any Danish songs or listened to music from Denmark? Do you know any Danish singers or musicians?
Instruction
In the text-box below write a short text about the Danish music you have encountered.
S
HO W F E E D B AC K
1 af 7 06-05-2010 23:43

Learn Danish with a song http://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/file.php/2831/learn_danish_song_version02/Lea...
In this activity you will be asked to listen to the song, "Cykelsangen", and to identify instruments and voices.
Instruction
Listen to Cykelsangen and pay attention to the instruments and voices you hear. Listen to the song again if you need to. Click on the link below to listen to the song:
Cykelsangen
In the check boxes below, tick the voices and the instruments you heard in the song.
guitar
Male voice piano
Female voice
Bongo drums
Bicycle bell
Church bell
Child's voice bass violins dog barking
S HO W F E E D B AC K
Which of the following adjectives would you say fit the mood of the song scarry / uhyggelig cozy / hyggelig cute / sød chaotic / kaotisk cool / fed catchy / fængende outdated / forældet touching / rørende warm / varm cold / kold lively / levende sad / sørgelig funny / morsom
S HO W F E E D B AC K
2 af 7 06-05-2010 23:43

Learn Danish with a song http://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/file.php/2831/learn_danish_song_version02/Lea...
In this activity you are going to try out pronouncing the words from the chorus of the song.
Instruction
Below you find the lyrics to the song. Listen to the song again, and focus on identifying the individual words of the song.
Cykelsangen
Jeg er så glad for min cykel.
Jeg kommer hurtigt langt omkring, og det’ fordi på en cykel, der går det let som ingenting.
En cykel larmer ikke.
Den bruger nul benzin.
En cykel oser ikke, som andre olie-svin.
Jeg er så glad for min cykel ...
På cykel kan man være en cowboy på sin hest og svinge sig i sadlen som i det vilde vest.
Jeg er så glad for min cykel ...
Og vil du lege speedway, er cyklen helt i top.
Du brummer lidt med munden og speeder motor’n op.
Jeg er så glad for min cykel ...
På cykel kan du køre en tur med mor og far og lærken kan du høre og luften er ren og klar.
Jeg er så glad for ...
Now that you have a sense of how the individual words sound you can probably see that there isn't always a straightforward correspondance between how Danish words sound and how they look in written form. But using the written words as clues, try to sing along with the chorus while listening to the song. You may need the assistance of your tutor for some initial help.
Evaluate your own performance. Choose the statement below that best fits your experience.
3 af 7 06-05-2010 23:43

Learn Danish with a song http://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/file.php/2831/learn_danish_song_version02/Lea...
In this exercise you will be presented with a number of images that you are to decide whether or not fit your impression of the song. You should base your evaluations not so much on the meaning of the song, but the kind of images the song might have conjured in your imagination, i.e. the mood and the feel of the song.
Instruction
Click on the link to the powerpoint slideshow below to see the seven images. With each image, decide whether or not it fits the feel of the song, and consider some reasons why.
Open the slideshow
Below you are asked to write a short text about the images you found to be good or bad illustrations of your impression of the song. You don't have to mention all of the pictures.
S HO W F E E D B AC K
4 af 7 06-05-2010 23:43

Learn Danish with a song http://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/file.php/2831/learn_danish_song_version02/Lea...
Instruction
In this task you are asked to guess the meaning of some key words in each of the verses. You have the aid of words you may already have recognized and the overall meaning of the song, of which you have already formed a mental image. The song begins with the chorus. It is repeated after each verse.
Read the first verse of the song again. Form ideas about the meaning and function of the individual words in the sentences, i.e which words are nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives?
En cykel larmer ikke.
Den bruger nul benzin.
En cykel oser ikke, som andre olie-svin.
In this task you are going to guess the meaning of the phrase "En cykel larmer ikke". Check the correct box below.
A bicycle is quite lame
A bicycle is not noisy
A bicycle has an alarm
A bicycle is noisy
S HO W F E E D B AC K
Here's the second verse:
På cykel kan man være en cowboy på sin hest og svinge sig i sadlen som i det vilde vest.
Let's find out what is going on with this bicycle-riding cowboy. What does the word "hest" mean? Tick the correct box.
Guest
Bicycle
Cigarette
Dog
Horse
Hat
S HO W F E E D B AC K
5 af 7 06-05-2010 23:43

Learn Danish with a song http://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/file.php/2831/learn_danish_song_version02/Lea...
Instruction
Listen to the song again and/or read the lyrics. Read the question below and write your answer in the text box.
Based on the mood of the song, the impressions that you had of the instruments and voices and the vocabulary you have picked up, what would you say the song has to tell young people about bicycles?
S HO W F E E D B AC K
What would you say the song is promoting? Tick either the true or false column.
The song promotes organic food
The song promotes an environmental awareness
The song promotes the bicycle as a good way of doing exercise
The song promotes teaching children to ride bikes before they can ride motor bikes
The song promotes childrens's playful use of the imagination
The song promotes nuclear family values
S
HO W F E E D B AC K
6 af 7 06-05-2010 23:43

Learn Danish with a song http://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/file.php/2831/learn_danish_song_version02/Lea...
You have completed this exercise and have learned to decode a Danish song using your knowledge of the context, your sense of words and mood determined by voices and instruments. Below you can hear another song about bicycles by the Danish band Ibens. Their song is called "Jeg savner min blå blå cykel" - I miss my blue blue bike. The video is not the original one, but a funny and, at times, scarry celebration of the things you can do on a bicycle.
Instruction
(NB! If you want to save this exercise sheet for the future, I am afraid you have to make a print-out on paper, since the web-browser doesn't allow saving your own texts and selections to your computer, and we don't have a database associated with this online exercise. The idea for this exercise was to give immediate repsonse to your texts and selections through the "show feedback" options following each activity - and now, you can go back and do the exercise again and again, until you dream of bicycles and riding in the quite forest. Enjoy the song by Ibens!
7 af 7
© Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen / Department of Scandinavian Studies / University College London / 2009
06-05-2010 23:43