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Christmas Eve with the family

It's Christmas Eve, and you're celebrating with your partner's parents, Hanne and Peter, for the first time. Hanne opens the door.

Medium · 5 min

Spend Christmas Eve with your partner's family: greet them, hunt for the almond in the risalamande, dance around the tree and open presents.

Scenario: Det er juleaften, og du fejrer jul hos din kærestes forældre, Hanne og Peter, for første gang. Hanne åbner døren.

Nej, hvor er det dejligt, at I er kommet! Glædelig jul! Kom indenfor, det er koldt.

Oh, it's so lovely that you're here! Merry Christmas! Come in, it's cold.

Hanne

Your response:

Glædelig jul! Tak, fordi jeg måtte komme.
polite
Merry Christmas! Thank you for having me.

How the conversation starts

One way it can go. Play the conversation above to choose your own replies and see where they take it.

Hanne

Nej, hvor er det dejligt, at I er kommet! Glædelig jul! Kom indenfor, det er koldt.

Oh, it's so lovely that you're here! Merry Christmas! Come in, it's cold.

You

Glædelig jul! Tak, fordi jeg måtte komme.

Merry Christmas! Thank you for having me.

Hanne

Det er da klart! Har du prøvet en dansk juleaften før?

Of course! Have you ever had a Danish Christmas Eve before?

You

Nej, aldrig. Hvad skal der ske i aften?

No, never. What happens tonight?

Hanne

Først spiser vi and og flæskesteg. Så kommer risalamanden, og bagefter danser vi om juletræet. Til sidst åbner vi gaverne.

First we eat duck and roast pork. Then comes the risalamande, and after that we dance around the Christmas tree. Last of all, we open the presents.

You

Det lyder hyggeligt. Jeg glæder mig!

That sounds lovely. I can't wait!

Hanne

Nå, nu har vi spist and og flæskesteg. Er alle mætte? Der er altid plads til risalamande! Og husk: Den, der finder den hele mandel, får mandelgaven.

Right, now we've had the duck and roast pork. Is everyone full? There's always room for risalamande! And remember: whoever finds the whole almond gets the almond present.

Vocabulary in this conversation

The key Danish words and phrases that appear in this dialogue.

pakke

(en)

package, parcel

gemme

save; hide

heldig

lucky

danse

to dance

sød

sweet / cute

Practise more like this

How to talk to friends and family in DanishDinners, birthdays, Christmas and your partner's kids — conversations to practise, with the phrases and what Danes expect.All practice conversations