good but you will need a dictionary
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This is a good book for learning Danish, but it has a problem that I need to point out:
The Danish letter `e` can be pronounced in five different ways;
1. as `a` in the english word 'cat'
2. as `u` in the english word 'sure'
3. as 'e' in the english word 'get'
4. as 'i' in the english word 'sit'
5. as 'e' in the english word 'see'
The only way to learn which pronunciation it has is to use a dictionary and look up the words or learn them by extensive listening to danish radio or similar. There is no grammatical rule as to how it is pronounced.
This book does not show you how it is pronounced, in fact it does not even acknowledge the existence of 3 of the 5 possible pronunciations for 'e'.
In general though, it is predominantly pronounced as #2, #4, and #5.
Although a danish person would probably understand what you mean even if you get it wrong, if you want to learn danish properly and make yourself understood well, I recommend getting a dictionary.
Other than this issue the book is very good to use, it has:
+ many reading passages
+ well-explained grammar
+ very good exercises
+ cultural notes
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An excellent resource
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The book and CDs together really do make a complete course for you to follow at home. Presentation in good within the constraints of the small format and lack of colour printing/illustration. Each chapter is very well organised and follows a logical format. Grammatical points are explained succinctly. There are exercises and dialogues and also a focus on an aspect of Danish culture within each chapter. The variety is very welcome. There is a lot of information in each chapter, and you should not expect to progress particularly quickly. The CD is essential as a guide to the deffinately different way to pronounce Danish.
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Comprehensive, easy to Learn fluency with ease
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Thanks to this book I am currently a fluent speaker of Danish providing me with insight to both other languages Norwegian and Swedish. ASfter visiting Denmark 3 times since finishing the book in 1997 and shortly emmigrating to Copenhagen I recommend this boook to any studying the language.
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