Episode 4, Part 1: Katja Årosin from CIP talks with her three guests about how, as a manager or colleague, you can welcome and include new international colleagues. Guests: Kristine Cecile Harper, Department of Science Education, Daniel Hershcovich, Department of Computer Science, and Lisa Storm Villadsen, Department of Communication, all from UCPH.
Summary of Episode 4, Part 1 (Find the Danish summary below)
How to welcome your new international colleague – tips for linguistic, academic, and social inclusion
Introduction
What is it like to arrive at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) as an international employee? How can managers and colleagues help ensure that new international staff feel included – linguistically, academically, and socially? That’s the topic of Episode 4 of Language Use at UCPH (recorded on September 3, 2025). This episode is mainly in Danish, since we find it important that international employees have a voice in Danish as a second language.
Guests:
• Kristine Cecile Harper, Professor at the Department of Science Education (IND) and Deputy Head of Department for Teaching, UCPH
• Daniel Hershcovich, Tenure-track Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Science (DIKU), UCPH
• Lisa Storm Villadsen, Professor of Rhetoric at the Department of Communication, UCPH
Host:
• Katja Årosin, Academic Language Consultant at CIP, UCPH
Production:
• The episode was produced in the UCPH Studio in collaboration with René Lindekrone Christensen and Morten Bolvig
Arrival at UCPH
Kris mentions that she arrived at UCPH five weeks before the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. She felt lonely during her first months in Denmark, as she was isolated in her new apartment and had no one to talk to. Daniel felt truly welcome and included when he joined a highly international group at DIKU in 2019. Everyone had an international background and spoke English, and it took several months before he had a conversation with a Dane.
Varying expectations for learning Danish
Both Kris and Daniel point out they were under no obligation from management to learn Danish, but they chose to start Danish classes on their own initiative. Due to the lockdown, Kris took Danish classes on Zoom through a local language school. Daniel accepted the Department’s offer to sign up for CIP’s tailor-made Danish courses at DIKU, which were held during working hours. He also actively immersed himself in Danish society by joining a food co-op, attending meetings, and engaging in small talk in shops.
At the Department of Communication, Lisa has experienced unequivocal expectations for international staff to learn Danish to a conversational level within a certain timeframe. In line with the language policy of UCPH, these language expectations were stated in the employment contracts. However, at the department, they were still uncertain about how to implement the language policy in practice. In 2022, she initiated a workshop on language use, facilitated by CIP, which focused on expectations around language use and the responsibility of Danish-speaking colleagues to include international staff by engaging them in conversation.
Individual language learning plan and the need for tailor-made Danish courses
Kris missed having a learning plan for her own Danish acquisition. As Deputy Head of Department for Teaching, she encourages new international staff to start learning Danish as soon as possible. She informs them about Danish courses available during working hours and offers reduced teaching loads during their language learning period.
Lisa adds that Danish proficiency can be seen as an additional qualification beyond the academic expertise international staff bring. At the Department of Communication, tailor-made Danish courses – including one-on-one instruction – have proven beneficial, especially when staff need to quickly understand professional and work-related language.
Is employment at UCPH considered temporary?
Daniel notes that having your teaching loads reduced while learning Danish, may not benefit young international researchers, as the pressure to publish can reduce the researchers’ motivation to learn Danish. Many international staff view their time at UCPH as temporary, and due to time pressure, they may deprioritize language learning. The guests agree that it makes sense to have differentiated expectations for language skills depending on the position and job responsibilities.
Danish as a path to inclusion and well-being
Finally, the conversation turns to the importance of ongoing dialogue about why learning Danish is beneficial. Lisa emphasizes that knowing the local language can impact international staff’s future career opportunities at the University and generally improve their well-being.
Listen to part 2 of Episode 4
Part 2 discusses international staff members’ limited opportunities to speak Danish at work and the subsequent feeling of exclusion when they fail to understand the language spoken by colleagues, which can also be the case for international managers. But it also highlights what works well and shares practical advice on how managers and colleagues can help international staff feel included at the workplace.
Read more about the language policy at UCPH here:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Resumé af episode 4, del 1
Tag godt imod din nye internationale kollega – gode råd til sproglig, faglig og social inklusion
Indledning
Hvordan føles det at ankomme til KU som international ansat? Hvordan kan man som leder eller kollega bidrage til, at ens nye internationale kollega føler sig inkluderet – både sprogligt, fagligt og socialt? Dét og meget mere taler vi om i episode 4 af Sprogbrug på KU (optaget 3.9.25). Denne episode er primært på dansk, da vi finder det vigtigt, at internationale ansatte har en stemme på dansk som andetsprog.
Gæster:
Vært:
Produktion:
|
Ankomsten til KU
Kris fortæller, at hun ankom til KU fem uger før covid-19-nedlukningen i 2020. Hun følte sig ensom i de første måneder efter ankomsten, da hun sad alene i sin nye lejlighed under nedlukningen og ikke havde nogen at tale med. Daniel følte sig meget velkommen, da han ankom til en meget international gruppe på DIKU i 2020. Alle i gruppen havde en international baggrund og talte engelsk, og der gik flere måneder, før han talte med en dansker.
Varierende krav om dansklæring og sproglig berøringsangst
Både Kris og Daniel siger, at der ikke var forventninger til dem fra deres ledelse om, at de skulle lære dansk, men de valgte på eget initiativ at begynde til danskundervisning. På grund af covid-nedlukningen deltog Kris i sprogundervisning over Zoom gennem en lokal sprogskole. Daniel takkede ja til instituttets tilbud om at deltage i CIPs skræddersyede danskkurser på DIKU, som fandt sted i løbet af arbejdstiden. Derudover har Daniel involveret sig meget i det danske samfund, bl.a. gennem deltagelse i et madkooperativ, møder og hverdagssamtaler med folk i butikker.
På Institut for Kommunikation har Lisa derimod oplevet, at der var tydelige krav til internationale ansatte om at lære dansk på et niveau, hvor de kunne føre samtaler, inden for en vis periode. På baggrund af principperne i KU’s sprogpolitik fremgår forventningerne om tilegnelse af dansk bl.a. af internationale ansattes ansættelseskontrakter. Men på trods af de tydelige forventninger, har hun oplevet en usikkerhed og en berøringsangst i forhold til, hvordan de på instituttet skulle gribe sprogpolitikken an i praksis. Derfor tog hun i 2022 initiativ til en workshop om sprogbrug, som CIP stod for. På workshoppen fik Lisa og hendes kolleger hjælp til at rammesætte en række diskussioner om sprogbrug og forventninger til hinanden i kollegagruppen, bl.a. at man som dansktalende kollega har en vis forpligtelse til at inkludere sin nye internationale kollega ved at tale dansk med dem.
Individuelt tilpasset læringsplan og behov for skræddersyet danskundervisning
Kris savnede en læringsplan for sin egen dansklæring, og som viceinstitutleder for undervisning opfordrer hun nye internationale ansatte til at gå i gang med at lære dansk hurtigst muligt. Hun informerer dem om, at der findes tilbud om danskundervisning i arbejdstiden og giver dem reduceret undervisningstid i den periode, hvor de lærer dansk.
Lisa tilføjer, at det at kunne dansk kan ses som en ekstra kvalifikation ud over de faglige kvalifikationer, de internationale ansatte kommer med. På Institut for Kommunikation ser de, at de internationale ansatte har stor glæde af skræddersyede danskkurser, bl.a. en-til-en undervisning, når de ansatte har behov for hurtigt at kunne forstå det professionelle, arbejdsrelaterede sprog.
Betragtes ansættelsen på KU som en midlertidig fase?
Daniel pointerer, at muligheden for at få reduceret undervisningstid, når man lærer dansk, ikke nødvendigvis gavner unge internationale forskere, da motivationen for at lære dansk let kan blive presset af det store publikationskrav.
Mange internationale ansatte ser deres arbejdssituation på KU som midlertidig, og på grund af deres tidsbegrænsede stillinger, nedprioriteres sproglæringen nogle gange. Gæsterne er enige om, at det giver menig at have differentierede forventninger til internationale ansattes sprogkompetencer afhængigt af deres stilling og de funktioner og arbejdsopgaver de har.
Dansk som vej til inklusion og trivsel
Til sidst taler vi om vigtigheden af at holde en samtale i gang om, hvorfor det er godt at lære dansk. Lisa understreger, at det har betydning for internationale ansattes fremtidige karrieremuligheder på universitetet at kunne det lokale sprog, samtidig med at det generelt kan øge deres trivsel.
Lyt med i del 2 af episode 4
Lyt med i del 2 af episode 4, der handler om begrænsede muligheder for at tale dansk på arbejdspladsen og om følelsen af eksklusion, når man ikke forstår det sprog, ens kolleger taler - også når man er ansat som international leder. Men vi taler også om alt det, der virker godt, og vi deler gode råd til, hvordan man som leder eller kollega kan hjælpe sin internationale kollega med at føle sig inkluderet på arbejdspladsen.
Læs mere information om KU’s sprogpolitik her:
Implementation of the UCPH language policy – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk)