Nothing helps me better in understanding how to pronounce a sound than a detailed explanation on its articulation. Thank you so much for this video. I find it immensely useful. Cheers!
Should not be postponed, this has really improved my understanding of spoken Danish, after practicing the pronunciation a few timey, I'm able to hear the difference with an L, finally!
FINALLY!!! after struggling with pronouncing the soft D -I get it! I still need A LOT of practice and it is far from sounding right, but I finally understand what I’m aiming for! it finally makes sense!
I think this a very accurate and precise explanation about how to articculate the danish soft d. Never the less it is trully a dificult sound to produce. Some also say that it is like a english “th” sound but inserting an “l” on it. I hope that trough a lot of practice I can master it. Thanks so much for the explanation.
Holy Syllable! Danish soft Ds as a science! Ha ha, I love your videos. Any foreigner trying to learn the Ds will end up with a disabled tongue. Det må vist være derfor, man taler om dansk tungemål. Keep up the good work!
This is an excellent explanation. When I started learning Danish, this sound was hard to figure out. Even though I kinda got the idea of it before, this video completely cleared it up and gave me a good clear sense of how to improve at it.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I have been struggling with soft D for a long time, and out of desperation I was just approximating with [ð], like the "th" in "bathe". I knew I was getting *something* wrong, I just didn't know what. Tak for alt!
I think it sounds like the first half of English L (well and tell). I live on a Copenhagen street with "gade", so I have to use this D all the time! I stop my tongue soon as the "well L" starts, clipping its tail off. So far, Danes say it sounds correct.
Hi, I concentrate to move my tongue as you said but I can only manage to open and close my mouth, I don't know how to move the middle of the tongue upword and forward. I find your video very useful and I think a video with your mouth pronouncing soft D will help me more. Thanks!
Oh god, this was such a handy exercise! The Ds always confused me a lot, like "is there a tone at all now or not or just a hint and if yes, which hint?". XD But with practising the adadadad by using the tongue placement explanation, the words afterwards were super easy to pronounce! So, thank you very very much for that practise guide! So perfect. One step closer to understanding Danish language! *_*
My language has very clear sounds (greek) and even though I can imitate accents this still seems really hard for me.I can't even place my tongue like you describe it let alone move it this way.It still sounds like a weird L to me :/
Am soooo glad to hear - well, to r e a d - that i am apparently not the o n l y o n e whose tongue seems to be, actually, physically incapable of assuming the described position necessary for correct pronunciation of the - torturous - "soft d": THANK You ({; D ...!
Paul Redmond Yeah, in the end it comes down to practice. The soft D comes naturally to me on account of Danish being my mother tongue, but there have been English sounds that I had to practice, like ""th", or the r's in "squirrel". If you feel like recoding yourself pronouncing the soft D, I'd be happy to give feedback.
What destroyed me is having heard from Danes and that it soundls like English TH for example in THIS, and also having read that phonologicians indeed use the corresponding phonetic symbol for that sound (i.e., reinforcing that it should be a voiced fricative interdental), which is scandalously untrue. It feels like everyone is crazy but me. Thanks for the video, it helped a lot. It's so obviously a sort of L, everybody unanimously agree with that except for the Danes I've seen talking about it.
CharlineLikesC A lot of new learners feel the same way and so pronounce it like an L. But an L has the tip of the tongue behind the top teeth, whereas this requires the tip to be lower. Personally I don't think it sounds like an L at all, but that's because I'm so used to the sound :p. I've heard many non-Danes make that mistake, so I thought this video might be useful.
TheDanishLessons hey- so this requires the tip of the tongue to be lower- against the bottom teeth- or like between upper and bottom teeth? thank you (: hopefully i'll get it.
+TheDanishLessons (quote >) "an L has the tip of the tongue behind the top teeth, whereas this requires the tip to be lower. Personally I don't think it sounds like an L at all" (< quote) I believe that's because you're thinking of the Danish L -- which is what we would call a "clear L" in English. English, however, also has a "dark L", where the tip of the tongue is retracted (may even be behind the _lower_ teeth) and the middle of the tongue is raised. It's the sound you get in most Londoners' pronunciation of words like "milk" -- and for many Americans it's the _only_ L there is (they don't have the "clear L" at all). That's why, to such speakers, the Danish word "med" sounds almost exactly like the way they would say the "Mel" of "Mel Gibson".
Was having a hard time but holy hell i did it!! It triggers my puking reflects but i can do it naturally (amatuerly) No wonder my gf doesn't have a puking reflex!
@@st4rpt_603 pretty sure the comment wasn't about knowing English, but the fact there was almost no hint of a (foreign, in this case Danish) accent. Which had me thinking too, is this person Danish or is English their first language. (Another language is ofcourse also possible)
I am Serb and we don't have this chaotic problem with nitpicking sounds. We have rule: one letter equals one sound and you need to write what you hear and write what you say. Man this sound is L, L an L. It is a case of turning traditional d sound in modern l with keeping letter d and calling it soft. It is a case in polish also with turning l sound in u (oo) and calling it a soft l. But it is not l it is a u sound.
It's not an L. It's close to it but not equivalent to it. There's a definite qualitative difference between the two. A Danish person saying med and an American saying Mel sound quite different.
Jemima Lionel I would love to hear your explanation. I've read and listened to several explanations now and none of them have got me to a place of confidence in knowing how to make the sound properly, and actually some of the explanations - including parts of this video - seem actually quite impossible to do.
Jemima Lionel Jemima Lionel em, I think you must've taken my comment completely the wrong way as your reply seems very rude to someone who was just asking for a little advice. No of course I'm not Danish, I'm trying to learn the language, and I thought since you don't seem to agree with the explanation given in this video that you might be able to give a better one. There was no sarcasm or anything involved if that's what you thought. And who gives a damn where my username came from - it's not meant to mean anything in particular - TH-cam made me pick a new one and I couldn't come up with anything good so just put that.
Just a someone em if you se the first coment donw, you can see that i wrote i know the feeling about explanation så buyyy... and you username, could'nt you just take your REAL name(if you have one)?
Jemima, it's a perfectly normal thing to not use your real name for such things as youtube accounts online - I'd say the vast majority of people don't... and frankly it's none of your business why I choose to not do that. Why are you being so ridiculously obnoxious? Did you ever think of being polite?
Razid and that's why danes have such a noticable accent when they speak. With rounded th sounds coming from bottom of mouth placement instead of sharper crisp sounds from top. Try saying "th"( the theater ) with tongue outside of your mouth on your top teeth. It doesn't sound the same. The English word 'heather' would sound like 'hedder' if that were the case. Its a noticeable difference to produce soft d like a th and vice versa.
+Per Pilekjær I've often heard the "'th" comparison but I'm not sure it's very accurate. Take for example the Danish word "læder". If the soft D was genuinely like a "th", then this word would be pronounced just like the English counterpart, "leather". In reality, the two words aren't pronounced the same, the Danish "d" is further back in the throat whereas the English "th" is right at the tip of the teeth. The "th" a good approximation for someone who just wants to be understood in Danish, but for someone who wants to speak Danish perfectly, thinking of a "th" takes you down the wrong track. (Har skrevet mit svar på Englelsk så andre også kan forstå det)
It's actually pronounced very similar to the English voiced "TH" as in "this." But unlike English, it should be pronounced with less friction, so don't push your tongue too hard against the upper teeth and let the air pass more freely.
Oooh, so you could approximately pronounce hedder as an English 'hair the' with a silent r.... It kinda makes sense that the soft 'd' would be similar to the English 'th' sound. 'Th' tends to be used in English where other Germanic languages use d, so the hard 'd', soft 'd' and 'th' are probably all related. (e.g. the, det, der (in German)) I understand th is also devilishly hard for non-native English speakers as just like the soft d.
Well, kind of. This video can help you further: th-cam.com/video/HU1m05oOx2g/w-d-xo.html Don't forget that there's also a "stød" in "hedd^er", so there has to be this slight "hiccup" sound after the "soft d" in this word.
![The best trilled [r] video yet!](/img/n.gif)
Nothing helps me better in understanding how to pronounce a sound than a detailed explanation on its articulation. Thank you so much for this video. I find it immensely useful. Cheers!
I glanced up from my screen ... and the looks my cats were giving me! I think they were worried their can opener was on her way out.
GODDAMN SOFT 'D' !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For me it's just a "strange 'L' " >.
+qlvecchiopaiodijeans I call it the aborted L, haha.
It is a "strange L or not-quite-L" in my opinion, too. But it happens to be written D^^
Exactly!
This video significantly improved my Danish based life- I can finally make the sound
The BEST resource on the web for this tricky sound.
Many, many thanks to you for posting!
Should not be postponed, this has really improved my understanding of spoken Danish, after practicing the pronunciation a few timey, I'm able to hear the difference with an L, finally!
FINALLY!!! after struggling with pronouncing the soft D -I get it! I still need A LOT of practice and it is far from sounding right, but I finally understand what I’m aiming for! it finally makes sense!
This is fabulous! Thank you for this video - i am dying of laughter while trying my best to manage the soft d.
I think this a very accurate and precise explanation about how to articculate the danish soft d. Never the less it is trully a dificult sound to produce. Some also say that it is like a english “th” sound but inserting an “l” on it. I hope that trough a lot of practice I can master it. Thanks so much for the explanation.
Brilliant, and much needed resource.
Very helpful!
And have now looked at all the other lessons - why oh why did you stop?!
Excellent tutor.
Wow, 6 minutes of absolute enlightenment. Mange tak!
Holy Syllable! Danish soft Ds as a science! Ha ha, I love your videos. Any foreigner trying to learn the Ds will end up with a disabled tongue. Det må vist være derfor, man taler om dansk tungemål. Keep up the good work!
Great explanation, it really helped!
I am unsurprised that the soft D was highly requested.
I love sepaking
Enaz Tdimhcs Do you sepak Danish?
This is an excellent explanation. When I started learning Danish, this sound was hard to figure out. Even though I kinda got the idea of it before, this video completely cleared it up and gave me a good clear sense of how to improve at it.
So Wonderful! I got it down Alexander! Bless you!
Fantastic explanation. I had thought the my tongue was supposed to be leaving my mouth. I feel like I'm already pronouncing it much better.
Why do you need to have such a difficult to pronounce sound denmark you're ruining my life
Having your life ruined never was so FUN, huh! You got this!
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I have been struggling with soft D for a long time, and out of desperation I was just approximating with [ð], like the "th" in "bathe". I knew I was getting *something* wrong, I just didn't know what. Tak for alt!
I think it sounds like the first half of English L (well and tell). I live on a Copenhagen street with "gade", so I have to use this D all the time! I stop my tongue soon as the "well L" starts, clipping its tail off. So far, Danes say it sounds correct.
thank you for the concise and straightforward explanation!
Never mind what I think but you are doing a grate job explaining this. :D
This has really helped as I've been struggling with this! Thank you!
Hi, I concentrate to move my tongue as you said but I can only manage to open and close my mouth, I don't know how to move the middle of the tongue upword and forward. I find your video very useful and I think a video with your mouth pronouncing soft D will help me more. Thanks!
Oh god, this was such a handy exercise! The Ds always confused me a lot, like "is there a tone at all now or not or just a hint and if yes, which hint?". XD But with practising the adadadad by using the tongue placement explanation, the words afterwards were super easy to pronounce! So, thank you very very much for that practise guide! So perfect. One step closer to understanding Danish language! *_*
My language has very clear sounds (greek) and even though I can imitate accents this still seems really hard for me.I can't even place my tongue like you describe it let alone move it this way.It still sounds like a weird L to me :/
ElberethOhGilthoniel I don't understand Gama in greek, but other than that, it does seem straight forward
ElberethOhGilthoniel keep trying
@@Kjalarrr Greek Gamma is like German "r" or at least they are quite similar.
Am soooo glad to hear - well, to r e a d - that i am apparently not the o n l y o n e whose tongue seems to be, actually, physically incapable of assuming the described position necessary for correct pronunciation of the - torturous - "soft d": THANK You ({; D ...!
Thanks, this is a major youtube of a video
Hey can you please upload more videos
They are just very good.
I guess practice will eventually make perfect.
After I master the soft D, it's plain sailing.
Mange tak!
Paul Redmond Yeah, in the end it comes down to practice. The soft D comes naturally to me on account of Danish being my mother tongue, but there have been English sounds that I had to practice, like ""th", or the r's in "squirrel". If you feel like recoding yourself pronouncing the soft D, I'd be happy to give feedback.
Paul Redmond EDIT: Actually I remember now: The sound I really struggled with was "ths", like in the word "moths".
Conveniently this is also a tutorial for how to go down on a girl
Extremely helpful! Tusind tak ;)
Tak! I have such a hard time with this because of the way my mouth is shaped! I can't do it slowly but I can almost get it when I saw it faster...
In the end, when the tong is in the right position, do u actually pronounce "d" or "L" to atchieve soft d ?
What destroyed me is having heard from Danes and that it soundls like English TH for example in THIS, and also having read that phonologicians indeed use the corresponding phonetic symbol for that sound (i.e., reinforcing that it should be a voiced fricative interdental), which is scandalously untrue.
It feels like everyone is crazy but me. Thanks for the video, it helped a lot. It's so obviously a sort of L, everybody unanimously agree with that except for the Danes I've seen talking about it.
Mange tak! I love Danish 🇩🇰😍
I am just about to learn danish and yay, I found you. Thanks for your videos! :-) I hope it won't be harder than Dutch ( currently learning it) lol
Kenisha Fey Dutch is much closer to English and easier to pronounce. Danish will likely be harder.
Mange tak, this really helped a lot :)
Since I studied French in school for a while I tend to do the "r" sound if I'm trying to pronounce the soft d too fast 😭 practice I need practice
Tusind tak! Mil gracias!
It sounds like a soft l to my ears :(
CharlineLikesC A lot of new learners feel the same way and so pronounce it like an L. But an L has the tip of the tongue behind the top teeth, whereas this requires the tip to be lower. Personally I don't think it sounds like an L at all, but that's because I'm so used to the sound :p. I've heard many non-Danes make that mistake, so I thought this video might be useful.
TheDanishLessons hey- so this requires the tip of the tongue to be lower- against the bottom teeth- or like between upper and bottom teeth? thank you (: hopefully i'll get it.
+TheDanishLessons
(quote >) "an L has the tip of the tongue behind the top teeth, whereas this requires the tip to be lower. Personally I don't think it sounds like an L at all" (< quote)
I believe that's because you're thinking of the Danish L -- which is what we would call a "clear L" in English. English, however, also has a "dark L", where the tip of the tongue is retracted (may even be behind the _lower_ teeth) and the middle of the tongue is raised. It's the sound you get in most Londoners' pronunciation of words like "milk" -- and for many Americans it's the _only_ L there is (they don't have the "clear L" at all). That's why, to such speakers, the Danish word "med" sounds almost exactly like the way they would say the "Mel" of "Mel Gibson".
I was gonna say that too, really sounds more like an L than a D
+Ynysmitwr Londoners don't even say an L in milk, they say "miok" or "miwl"
I took Danish for two years and I never got the hang of it.
I sometimes shop at Brookstone, where you bought that etch a sketch . Now where do you put the potato?
Tak! This is useful and very funny :)
Sounds like the French Gu on Talledega Nights facing off with Ricki Bobby
Well change the title to Speak instead of Sepak :)
sepak means kick in the Malay language...lol
@@iwavns And Danish is quite a normal name in Malaysia so the title very much makes sense XD
Was having a hard time but holy hell i did it!!
It triggers my puking reflects but i can do it naturally (amatuerly)
No wonder my gf doesn't have a puking reflex!
Ah: hun er dansk, nej ({; D ...?!
Mange tak for din video... It helps much
Things like Brød i just cant get right..
Thank you very much for this!
Sounds like "meh(ö)th" where "ö" is very subtle/transient, with "th" like in "the",
It is really helpful! just seriously noone found that it is speak rather than sepak? haha thats cute
I usually make a schwa and d mix. Then my soft d is a bit good
Oh, God. I think I'll stick with something easy, like Irish Gaelic. Or Hungarian. Or !Kung.
... ({; D ...!
Med sometimes sounds a bit like milk or mill
God, I heard that even Danish people have a hard time pronouncing it sometimes...
Thank fricken god I have friends that speak Danish...
How did you manage to speak such amazing English??? Are you bilingual???
At this time and age does it surprise you that people just know english? xD
@@st4rpt_603 pretty sure the comment wasn't about knowing English, but the fact there was almost no hint of a (foreign, in this case Danish) accent. Which had me thinking too, is this person Danish or is English their first language. (Another language is ofcourse also possible)
It sounds like a cross between a short a and an L.
...og man bliver så gladgladglad😉
Can I just say "jeg HI ( th) ER my name?
because it sounds more like Header/Hither. With a soft th and glottal stop. Jeg hi'er my name.
It's much like TH in english words, such as: the, those, that, these
How is it like the th?
how do you say the soft g like in bøger
+ElegantEnigma7 I cannot hear the "w" sound at all in google translate or forvo
+bob t It is not pronounced "W" Bøger is pronounced like this "Bøår" google translate pronounces it right
so the soft g is silent? or is there some faint sound?
bob t yes in bøger it is, but in bog its pronounced as a "v"
CrunchyCoconut No as a 'j'
Mange tak 👍👍👍
So, starting wit "elll", then doing the tongue twist. But don't start with "d"?
✨👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼✨ Tak!!!
I am Serb and we don't have this chaotic problem with nitpicking sounds. We have rule: one letter equals one sound and you need to write what you hear and write what you say. Man this sound is L, L an L. It is a case of turning traditional d sound in modern l with keeping letter d and calling it soft. It is a case in polish also with turning l sound in u (oo) and calling it a soft l. But it is not l it is a u sound.
It's not an L. It's close to it but not equivalent to it. There's a definite qualitative difference between the two. A Danish person saying med and an American saying Mel sound quite different.
adadadad... i hate myself for not getting it right :(
isn't just like a "l"?
Danish the language where you learn tongue gymnastics
i have an overbite so to put my tongue on my bottom teeth and on the sides of my top, my tongue is already pushed forward and i cant push it more
So your mouth/tongue are set to pronounce a 'D' but at the last moment you decide to say it like an 'L'?
That is quiet incorrect. I am danish and i do it much diffrent. It is verry hard to teach so i know the feeling.
Jemima Lionel I would love to hear your explanation. I've read and listened to several explanations now and none of them have got me to a place of confidence in knowing how to make the sound properly, and actually some of the explanations - including parts of this video - seem actually quite impossible to do.
Just a someone are you even a danish person??? And wtf is you're name "just a someone"?😝😝😝😝
Jemima Lionel Jemima Lionel em, I think you must've taken my comment completely the wrong way as your reply seems very rude to someone who was just asking for a little advice. No of course I'm not Danish, I'm trying to learn the language, and I thought since you don't seem to agree with the explanation given in this video that you might be able to give a better one. There was no sarcasm or anything involved if that's what you thought. And who gives a damn where my username came from - it's not meant to mean anything in particular - TH-cam made me pick a new one and I couldn't come up with anything good so just put that.
Just a someone em if you se the first coment donw, you can see that i wrote i know the feeling about explanation så buyyy... and you username, could'nt you just take your REAL name(if you have one)?
Jemima, it's a perfectly normal thing to not use your real name for such things as youtube accounts online - I'd say the vast majority of people don't... and frankly it's none of your business why I choose to not do that. Why are you being so ridiculously obnoxious? Did you ever think of being polite?
thanks
for Christs sake just turn the camera on yourself saying it.
For me personally (dane), the soft D is a lot like the "th" sound in english.
Razid and that's why danes have such a noticable accent when they speak. With rounded th sounds coming from bottom of mouth placement instead of sharper crisp sounds from top. Try saying "th"( the theater ) with tongue outside of your mouth on your top teeth. It doesn't sound the same. The English word 'heather' would sound like 'hedder' if that were the case. Its a noticeable difference to produce soft d like a th and vice versa.
@@Imayjustbeme22 The English th sound has nothing to do with the Danish soft d I have no idea what these people are on about..
Danish = tongue and throat gymnastics
OMG! Hardest sound to make ever! I think I'm going to give up on Danish and learn Arabic instead.
is he Danish or English
How To Sepak Danish. Sepak... sepak? XD
Would just pronouncing it as "L" be good enough?
It may sound similar to you, but to a dane it would sound very weird.. Better to to just say a hard d then
There are words where it makes a difference such as:
bal - ball
bad - bath
or
mal - paint (imperative)
mad - food
The English article 'the' starts with a sound equivalent to the Danish soft D. It isn't hard at all - unless your teacher makes it difficult ;-)
+Per Pilekjær I've often heard the "'th" comparison but I'm not sure it's very accurate. Take for example the Danish word "læder". If the soft D was genuinely like a "th", then this word would be pronounced just like the English counterpart, "leather". In reality, the two words aren't pronounced the same, the Danish "d" is further back in the throat whereas the English "th" is right at the tip of the teeth. The "th" a good approximation for someone who just wants to be understood in Danish, but for someone who wants to speak Danish perfectly, thinking of a "th" takes you down the wrong track. (Har skrevet mit svar på Englelsk så andre også kan forstå det)
It is an L. Period.
It's actually pronounced very similar to the English voiced "TH" as in "this." But unlike English, it should be pronounced with less friction, so don't push your tongue too hard against the upper teeth and let the air pass more freely.
Oooh, so you could approximately pronounce hedder as an English 'hair the' with a silent r....
It kinda makes sense that the soft 'd' would be similar to the English 'th' sound. 'Th' tends to be used in English where other Germanic languages use d, so the hard 'd', soft 'd' and 'th' are probably all related. (e.g. the, det, der (in German))
I understand th is also devilishly hard for non-native English speakers as just like the soft d.
Well, kind of. This video can help you further:
th-cam.com/video/HU1m05oOx2g/w-d-xo.html
Don't forget that there's also a "stød" in "hedd^er", so there has to be this slight "hiccup" sound after the "soft d" in this word.
I am Danish!!!!
SEPAK? SEPAK?
i give up
To me, the soft D sounds like the "th" in English "that" or the "d" in Spanish "nada."
+Lee Cox that's exactly how it's pronounced
LukasIPO it'll produce the same sound though
LukasIPO it does... unless you pronounce the th sound with the tip of your tongue on the lower teeth
I am just about to learn danish and yay, I found you. Thanks for your videos! :-) I hope it won't be harder than Dutch ( currently learning it) lol