Denmark
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Country Information
- AFS Country Code: DEN
- See http://www.usa.afs.org/usa_en/view/7970 for more information on Denmark.
Placement
- Age requirement: AFS Interkultur prefer students who are between 15.0-18.0 on arrival. DEN experiences that the younger students are while visiting, the harder it is for them to socialize with the young people of Denmark.
- Language requirement: Basic English knowledge. 2/3 of our HF only has basic knowledge of English, but stus placed in such HF will always pick up Danish quickly. However most schools complain about the lack of English language because they have trouble communicating with the students. By Christmas most stus are able to speak Danish at conversational level. Please let your stus know to budget 150 US$ for payment for language classes. Thestudents will not be offered specific English classes. Some join evening classes and there will be English classes at school. But if they want to perfect their English they have come to the wrong country. We will always underline the importance of speaking and learning Danish and we will tell the students if their focus shifts from one language to another.
- Health restrictions:
- Graduates:
- Smoking: most HF do not smoke and therefore ask for non-smoking stus. Many HF have noticed, and complained, about the lack of honesty in the applications of students. If the student smokes we prefer them to be honest about it in order for us to make a better placement for every one involved. Very important students are honest about smoking habits in their application. Most host families do not smoke, but are willing to host smoking students if they refrain from smoking indoors.
- Dietary Restrictions: Most Danish households eat meat. We cannot guarantee a vegetarians host family or other kind of special diet restrictions.
- Dress:
- Location: 5% urban, 15% suburban, 80% rural. Students can be placed anywhere in Denmark (including the islands). Students must be aware that most families live in the countryside or small villages.
- Other: AFS Interkultur has found it necessary to be very strict when it comes to traveling outside Denmark. From experience we know that Denmark is often seen as a stepping-stone to Europe and therefore we would like your support when it comes to our traveling rules. Please consult our booklet "Through the Year" or do not hesitate to ask us.
Travel Information
- Visa: AFS Interkultur requests all sending partners to send a copy of the Declaration of Parental Authority signed by nats. for each of your students. We have been told by the Danish Immigration Authorities that often the applications coming from the embassies lack this form, therefore if we have the form in the stus’ files, we will fax it to Immigration straight away. This is to save time for those students whose application for residence permit get stuck in Immigration. Please find the Declaration of Parental Authority attached.
- Departure Preparation:
- Arrival & Orientation:
- Departure:
Host Families
- Transportation:
- Extracurricular: Most students will be interested in attending some sort of extra curricular activity like sports, arts or music, and in most cases this does not take place in the school. Students must be prepared to pay for the extra costs of e.g. playing soccer sports club (approx US$50-150 per activity for the winterseason, depends on the type).
- Hosted-in: most HF are found through advertising in newspapers and posters and interviews are performed. 85% of the HF are situated in rual Denmark, so some students may experience a ’double culture shock’; many things may seem far away, the streets may be empty in the evening and you spend time commuting (bus or bike). 10% are in suburban areas but the towns are still not huge and commuting is still necessary. We only have 2% of our HF in the 4 big cities of DEN (Copenhagen, Århus, Odense and Ålborg). Please note that we do please stus on the Faroe Islands and Greenland as they are part of Denmark. Culturally they are different from Denmark, but they have astonishing nature and wildlife. We will however always ask if a particular student is interested in going to the Northatlantic before placing them. In general children (Hsiblings) in Denmark are brought up with a lot of freedom, but also with a lot of personal responsibility, which means that you are responsible for your own actions and managing your spare time. Hparents place a lot of trust in their children and therefore trust them to act their age and, in that sense, be responsible. Hparents expect to be consulted when doubts and uncertainties arise, and then they discuss the matter together.
Support Information
Information needed.
Academics
- Transcript/Diploma: DEN cannot guarantee schools to give students grades. If students need to have their year in Denmark accepted as a full school year in your own country, students may ask for a statement from the school. Most schools will offers mandatory subjects and optional subjects. When it comes to optional subjects, students can choose between the subjects their Danish school offers.
- School: the school system may seem very relaxed and not too serious, but the educational system and teaching is based on analysis, debate and discussion. This is actually very demanding of the students, as they are expected to think for themselves and be mature enough to dare participate in the discussion. This is where the age matters. Please note that special requirements when it comes to specific subjects in schools cannot be met. We have a close cooperation with our partner schools, and this will involve the whole gamut from 9th to 12th grade, and from ordinary high school to technical colleges, business schools and secondary schools with special project/thematic activities. DEN cannot guarantee placements in high school, as there is not always enough availability of places, and in many cases we find that students are much better suited for other forms of school. Alternative school placements are sometimes made difficult by natural parents' reactions/expectations, so we suggest you make this possibility/opportunity clear to them from the outset. DEN cannot accept students having to hand in assignments to their home school, which we see more and more often, as it hinders integration and language acquisition. As a rule Danish students are encouraged to work independently, and the overall atmosphere at school here may give the impression of a certain laxity. It is often a cause for great confusion with exchange students, especially those from countries with a very authoritarian school system. What the students often fail to understand, despite our attempts at preparing them for it, is that they are expected to take responsibility for their own education, and that the seemingly relaxed surface is only a cover for very high expectations to their ability to adapt and function in a self-sustained way, as it were.
- Extracurricular: School trips are organized either in Autumn or Spring - cost app. 300-500$ + expenses. Trips around Denmark with the local chapter (only offered in about 50% of all chapters) cost app. 200$ + expenses. All other activities described above (Detailed description of Programme) are paid by AFS Interkultur.
- Language: Most students get a chance to have extra Danish classes after school or as an alternative to school (one day a week, usually). This is however contingent on the local chapter, and the extent of the classes - if they are available - also varies. A fair medium would be four lessons a week for two to three months; some have more, some less, and in a few areas classes are not available, in which case the school usually offers some kind of Danish lessons. Please note that due to Danish legislation the students may have to pay a fee of $200 for one module of language course. They will have to make allowances for this in their budget.
Scholarships & Sponsored Programs
See Scholarships or Sponsored Programs for Sending for more information.
General Country Information
- Description:
- Religion: 81.5% of the population of Denmark are members of the Lutheran state church.
- Climate:
- Politics:
- Language:
Program Information
- School Program:The year program in Denmark is a very intense and closely monitored experience for the students, in the sense that we try to challenge them as much as possible while giving them all the support we can. We expect the students to act as cultural ambassadors in the truest sense of the word, and try to give them the opportunities to do so. A YP stay in Denmark gives a number of students the opportunity to be placed on the Faroe Islands or Greenland, in the North Atlantic. The Faroe Islands are comprised by a number of small islands north of Scotland, and like Greenland they have a home rule system under the Danish crown. Both Greenland and the Faroe Islands offer a unique nature combined with the special atmosphere of small close knit communities. Spectacular scenery and the once-in-a-lifetime chance to get close to a culture away from the mainstream makes these two placement sites ideal for adventurous participants in the Danish Year programme. We will ask for permission to place students on either the Faroe Islands or in Greenland.
Return to the Country Information page.
For information, questions or concerns, contact the Program Information Specialist or countryinfo@afs.org.
