Fashion and fine dining on four hours sleep

While some international students struggle to meet even just a few Danes during their stay in Copenhagen, Tiffany Ng from San Francisco, USA, has managed to network her way into top fashion and entertainment circles.

But life for this full-degree student is not just a round of high-society cocktail parties.

Tiffany has found time to start her own dining and event business alongside full-time studies at the demanding elite Master’s programme in International Law, Economics and Management.

Student fights high prices with Fashion Week event

»Even a Caesar salad costs DKK 125 here. As a student I am appalled.«

Tiffany Ng, a Masters student from San Francisco studying at the University of Copenhagen voices a complaint made by the majority of international students adjusting to life here.

Good food, fair price

Now Tiffany, alongside her full time studies of International Law, Economics and Management, has started a business providing good quality food at prices even students can afford.

Do you want to be Patricia’s colleague?

Patricia Trincado is not only an active student at the University of Copenhagen, but she is also into jazz dancing.

She is also a reporter for the University Post.

Do you want to be her colleague?

We are looking for English-language writers to capture the words, pictures and sounds of life at the University.

Join our team and you will get:
• Skills – on the job training, practice and constructive criticism
• Experience – work as a journalist and a good CV
• Friends – a network of new friends and colleagues
• Pay – a small student salary

Danish class was a break from changing diapers

Urska Sadl’s first decision to learn the language came suddenly on a family visit. While her Danish sister-in-law’s two small kids milled around, proffering big questions and little insights, she was unable to respond.

Then, on maternity leave from her law PhD in Copenhagen, her motivation to learn the language was reinforced.

See a profile of Urska and her PhD here.

»I was getting bored, because I didn’t speak any Danish, and I couldn’t take part in any of the activities that mothers with children take part in,« she explains.

Study to shed light on language motives

It is the coffee break, and a friendly colleague chats with you in English. Suddenly she turns to her other colleagues, subtly switching into Danish and effectively leaving you out of the joke.

A banal, everyday situation in hundreds of lunch kitchens, coffee rooms and canteens throughout the University of Copenhagen – and a situation that is now to be the object of intense research.

No point in learning Danish

For full-degree student Riccardo Mioli from Italy, learning Danish seemed like a good idea when he first arrived in Copenhagen. Now, one year later, he has changed his mind.

»In the beginning I wanted to learn Danish. But after 6 or 7 months here, when I still didn’t know any Danish, it seemed like a waste of time to start. Now I have given up.«

It is easy to survive in Copenhagen only speaking in English, and the Danes quickly switch over if they hear someone struggling with the tricky guttural Danish pronunciation, he says.