About The London Danish Language Meetup Group

Welcome to the London Danish Language Meetup group.

We are a well-established and fast-growing social group which was founded on December 20, 2003. We now have over 300 members. It is by far the world's largest Danish Meetup group and amazingly for a country with only around 5 million inhabitants, we are London's 8th largest language Meetup Group.

It will always be completelyfree both to join and to participate in this group.

One thing that all the newcomers say to me at the Meetups is "I almost did not come, I really was not sure what to expect !" - Well. hopefully by the time you have read this introduction, you will have a pretty good idea.

Firstly, it is very relaxed, just a bunch of people sitting down, having a few drinks and perhaps something to eat and a chat in whatever language they feel most comfortable.

Many of our members also belong to other Danish related clubs or organisations. I could mention the Danish-Society-London, DK-Network, the Danish Church in London and numerous Danish related Yahoo and MSN groups We also have students who attend the Danish classes at Morely College, Key Languages and the University of Westminster.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Our regular monthly Meetups usually take place on the third Tuesday of the month from 7.30pm onwards at

LOOM
Basement
Bolsover House
5-6 Clipstone St
London
W1W 6BB

http://www.loombar.co...

Directions

The closest tube is Great Portland Street on the Circle Line. Come out of the Station, cross the small side road - not the main road. Walk down Great Portland Street itself away from the station. You will find Clipstone Street on your left. LOOM is on the corner of Clipstone Street and Bolsover Street in the basement of Bolsover House. It usually takes me about 8 minutes to get to LOOM from the station at the start of the night and about 15 minutes to stroll back.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

We are well looked after at LOOM by the owner Haysham and his other members of staff. Haysham is half Egyptian and half German and is also a member of Meetup.

It is a bit quieter, cheaper and more suitable for chatting than many other London Meetup venues. There is a really good atmosphere and you can always get a seat. Most importantly, the music is not so loud that conversation in a foreign language becomes difficult. The bar is also air-conditioned

The venue has recently had a major refurbishment. Whereas previously the look was rather traditional, it has now moved firmly into the 21st century. There are blue neon lights highlighting the stairs and the overall look inside is very colourful, especially the lighting. The bar for example is a different colour every time you look at it !!

Here are some photos http://tinyurl.com/y2...

The bar snacks remain reasonably priced and tasty and our table is always well-supplied with free nibbles, IE crisps, peanuts, olives etc

At the meetings you will find the customary red Meetup signs prominently displayed in several places outside the venue. There will be more signs and Danish flags inside on the walls and on our tables. It's not a huge place, almost hyggelig in fact, with small alcoves, low lighting and candles on all the tables.

As far as the meetings go we get about a 50 / 50 mix of English and people from other countries (not just Danes). We have had Swedes, Irish, Scottish, Icelanders, Sri Lankans, Maltese, Germans, Spanish, Brazilians etc etc.

A nice blend of Danish and English is spoken but because we get quite a few beginners, about 75 % of the group conversation is in English. Everyone is welcome.

The "students" generally chat about their reasons for learning Danish, their progress (or lack of it), courses, books, Danish TV and radio stations, holidays and business trips to DK, CD Roms, dictionaries, accents and their Danish boy/girlfriends, partners and relatives.

The native Danes tend to discuss their jobs in London, reasons for being here, differences between DK and UK, Danish friends and families back home, what they miss about Denmark such as rugbrød, remoulade, hotdogs, old Danish TV shows, their summerhouses etc.

We chat about everything and anything really - There is no set agenda.

In addition to our normal monthly Meetups some of us have also been on trips to the the Scandinavian parties held at the Zoo Bar or Ruby Blue. We have been to the Nordic Bar in Newman Street and to both Lundums and Dansk Taste Danish Restaurants. Twice recently some of us met for a picnic on Hampstead Heath. We have also expanded our horizons further into Scandinavian and have been to some Swedish bars, restaurants, films and other events.

Here are some pics from our visit to Lundums http://tinyurl.com/y6...

In 2007, a new Scandinavian restaurant opened just 5 minutes from LOOM - It could not have been better planned. We have twice had a pre-meetup up meal at Scandinavian Kitchen and are certain that this will become a fairly regular occurance for Danish Meetup members. We have also visited a Finnish / Swedish bakery called the Nordic Bakery. This was also very successful.

Both in 2004 and 2005, several of the group met up in Århus for the festival week. There is a further trip occurred in September 2007. It was our best attended "foreign" trip ever with between 10 and 20 members and guests.

Some more photos can be seen here ... http://tinyurl.com/y5...

We have seen several films as a group hope to arrange further trips to the cinema in the future.

In 2005, 2006 and this year too, we attended various events at the Danish Church - a bazaar and also the Skt Hans Aften celebrations.

Although 7.30pm is the officially the start time for our monthly Meetup - It really does not matter if you cannot get there until later (or even much later) - People come and go all evening and we will definitely be there until at least closing time.

No matter what is says on the RSVP section of the website, we are currently averaging about 15-20 people a month - All ages and abilities and about a 50/50 split of Scandinavians / other nationalities and men / women.

Finally, the only thing as ask of all members, especially newcomers, is that you try and RSVP on the website to let everybody know whether you are coming or not, each month. It's no big deal if you say yes and something crops up and find you can't make it.

Far better to do that, than plan to come but not bother to RSVP at all - Nobody, particularly newcomers, will be encouraged to attend if they think they are going to get there and find just 2 or 3 people. So please RSVP -

To RSVP, simply go to the website, sign in with your email address and password and just below (and to the right) of where it says London Danish Language Meetup Group, click on the link in red saying "Monthly Meetup: Third Tuesday @ 7:30 PM" and RSVP accordingly.

Thanks for reading this far - I very much look forward to seeing you at the next meeting.

Kind Regards

Mike Starr
London Danish
Meetup Organiser

Please feel free to call me if you need any help or further information from 10.45am-16.30pm on 020-8594 1320 / 2150 or anytime on 07967 044282 - Please note that this mobile will not work once the Meetup has started because LOOM is a basement bar. If you are lost, ring LOOM itself on 020 7436 0035 and speak to Haysham, the owner.