If you ask Ryan, an American senior product manager at ZenDesk, the answer is yes. We had a chat with this truly dedicated student, who after 18 months of intensive Danish courses at Studieskolen, soon will attend the final (and dreaded) oral exam, PD3.
environmental perspective too. Denmark, at least at the time, was making a lot of commitments to go carbon neutral, and it is something which matters to us. Additionally, it was important for us that we could move somewhere where we could work in English because we knew that it was very unlikely we will become fluent within a couple of months. Immediately, places like Madrid or Paris were put off the table. You can work in English there too, but it feels more common here in Denmark. So, we moved here in June two years ago, and we started applying for jobs. We were lucky that within the first two months we both had job offers. I am doing product management for a software company and my girlfriend is a UX designer. Competences within software technologies are much demanded now, so we were lucky. Yeah, that´s how we ended up here. Zendesk is a very international organization. How do you like it there?
Ryan, what brought you to Denmark? My girlfriend and I were living in Chicago. We had just turned 30 and we were kind of looking for adventure in life, I guess. My career was going great, but I wanted to move away from a single career focus toward a more lifestyle focus. My girlfriend felt the same way, so we asked ourselves: What if we could live anywhere we wanted to live? We started making a list of all the places where we will like to live, and Copenhagen made the top of it for a number of reasons. We are both bike lovers and it was important to us to live somewhere where we did not need a car and we could get around easily. And it just makes a lot of sense from an
I feel like I got very lucky with Zendesk, it is a great organization. We are about 60 employees in Copenhagen. 40 of them are not Danes. At the last count, we had 27 different nationalities, which is pretty cool. Then, we have offices in London, Dublin, Melbourne, San Francisco, so obviously, I get to meet many different people and travel a little bit too. It has been really rewarding.
Now, tell me. You are American. Danes do speak English very well. Zendesk has chosen to make English its corporate language. I just can´t keep asking: Why bother? Why spending time and energy to learn Danish?
so many people really struggle to learn it. My girlfriend and I are not different, we do struggle too, but we made a priority.
Well, I have coworkers who have been in Denmark long time and they don´t speak Danish at all. It seems they get along just fine. They maybe have a Danish partner, who might help them to go through the daily stuff.
Last Wednesday night, it was like 23 degrees outside and sunshine and I was sitting in Danish class while my colleagues had rented a boat and were sailing in the harbor, drinking beers. It was a bit frustrating.
My girlfriend and I - neither of us speak Danish. We entered this new country, everything was different and new, and it was a little bit intimidating and scary at first. You know, like the first time you get a letter or an email from the government, or SKAT, and you have absolutely no clue what it says. It is both intimidating and frustrating, so we thought that it might be a good idea to learn at least some Danish.
But yes, you certainly have to prioritize it. My girlfriend and I are in the same class. It helps, because then there is no “I do fun stuff while you are sitting at home studying”. We are working through this thing together.
And then, what really matters to us is to feel like we are full members of the society. Copenhagen is a place where we are trying to establish our life for at least the next five years. We are not just tourists or people on short terms contract leaving again soon. Learning Danish is a way to show that we are taking this seriously. I feel like the Danes we´ve gotten to know a bit better, it is because they see us as people who want to stay - even though we are not completely comfortable with the language yet. From your experience, how difficult is it to learn Danish? The language itself is definitely not easy. There is this thing about Danish. One, it is not because you see a word that you know how to pronounce it. Two, if you hear a word, you don´t know how that word is written. I’ve seen
Your teacher described you as a very dedicated student…?
It can be also quite a challenge when you have a full-time job. Zendesk is a company of 2,000 people, 60 of them working in Denmark. It means that I have many meetings with people in Australia and America, and those time differences are just not fun. Two nights a week, I can´t have late meetings because of Danish class, which means that I can´t talk to people in San Francisco. That can be challenging. My colleagues respect the fact that I block my evenings twice a week though, that is quite cool. They know it is important to me. I have to say that after 18 months of twice a week of Danish education, I am excited to reclaim that part of my life! We will have so much time when we are done! What we are going to do with ourselves? We try to figure out other things that we could do in order to keep practicing, like volunteering. My girlfriend and I mostly practice in Danish class now.
How many opportunities do you have to practice your Danish?
politicians is misleading. The people I work with, they get turned off on it.
I do have Danish colleagues, and I would not mind practicing with them, you know, just to improve, but the number of times where you are in a conversation with a Danish speaker or only Danish speakers is very limited. It does not really happen. We are an international workplace.
Besides, if it is thought as an incentive to motivate people through the process, I think they are barking up the wrong tree. I definitely can see the psychology behind it, but the reality is different. During the first two modules, you might be attending classes because that is the thing you do, and because you consider it as a way to meet people. The commitment is maybe not high, but then, already from module 3 or 4, people are there because they want to be there.
It is definitely tough to get the practice, but still, I get the feeling that I’m improving. You know, I think we have like phases. Sometimes I feel like I am not doing any better. But then, there are times where I am in a room and I know exactly what has been said, or I can manage a conversation with someone in Danish. It gives a slight feeling of accomplishment. The exams are coming soon, right? We are done in June, which is lucky, because we won´t be affected by the upcoming rules concerning Danish classes. We kind of just squeak out under the new rules. (Language classes will no longer be free for foreigners in Denmark, red.) What do you think about the new regulation? I know that it makes my international friends and colleagues anxious. It is not only a question of price, you know. At a certain level, it kind of feels like there is a part of Denmark that´s welcoming to foreigners, we want international professionals working here, and then there is this other part, like, Denmark is only for the Danes. Then we start thinking- maybe you people don´t want us. I don´t really believe it is true, though. I do feel welcome with the people I interact with in my daily life, but the message sent to us by the
I think the selection kind of happens by itself. It seems you are quite happy with Studieskolen? Studieskolen is a great school for white collar employees like me. The curriculum is made for global professionals with high fluency in English and a Master degree or the like. There is no huge differences between people´s level- or maybe unless you are German, then you have a clear advantage. You don´t feel like you are slowed down. The question is now: Which schools remain open, and what will the quality of the courses be like?
Thank you, Ryan!