From its headquarters in Copenhagen, Pleo works to create an attractive and flexible workplace with a high level of job satisfaction across all teams – inspired by the idea of good work–life balance. For this reason, Pleo entered into a collaboration with Studieskolen to offer Danish lessons directly at the workplace, held in a meeting room after working hours. The idea was to make it easy for people to prioritise the lessons, despite busy everyday lives with work and family commitments.

More than half of the people working at Pleo's headquarters do not have Danish as their first language. The working language at Pleo is English, so the purpose of learning Danish is primarily to get a good start in Denmark and become part of local social communities. The international members of Pleo's team work across a wide range of departments, such as customer support, legal, finance and, not least, IT.

Gilles Jeronymos, People Experience Manager, and his colleague Bianca Terenzi, Workplace Manager, were the initiators of the Danish lessons. They clearly saw the value of giving their other international colleagues a sense of belonging in Denmark through learning the language.

Based on his own experience of difficult years in Denmark

Gilles himself moved to Denmark from France ten years ago and has personal experience of how important it is to learn Danish. “It was a tough few years at the beginning when I was trying to establish my life here. But when I finally started learning Danish, I made more friends and no longer felt like a guest. That feeling is exactly what the Danish course with Studieskolen has helped create for our colleagues, and I am proud of that – especially because we have helped so many beginners get started with Danish,” says Gilles.

It is crucial that teaching meets individual needs. For this reason, colleagues took a language test at the beginning and were placed in four different groups at different levels. Participants who already had some Danish were taken further in terms of listening comprehension, grammar and pronunciation, while beginners received the right support to get off to a good start with Danish.

Danish lessons became the feel-good moment of the week

“We have received very positive feedback on the Danish lessons from our colleagues. The teachers were highly skilled and very attentive to the participants’ needs. They made sure that the lessons were engaging and relevant. One participant even told me that the Danish lessons were the feel-good moment of the week,” Gilles explains.

“The social aspect of the lessons is extremely valuable. When you attend the classes, you are in the same boat as your colleagues because Danish is difficult and everyone makes mistakes. It is a real icebreaker. You might discover, for example, that a colleague from finance is married to a Dane, has a child and would like to learn Danish – and then you can practise a little Danish together next time you meet for lunch,” Gilles says.

As a natural extension of the Danish lessons, a new tradition has emerged: every Friday, co-workers get together and have bread and cheese (bolle med ost, also known as BMO). Both Danish and international colleagues take part and enjoy spending time together.

The next step

The Danish lessons at Pleo have helped many people either get started with Danish or progress further in their learning. Afterwards, many of them have continued on a Danish course at Studieskolen together with other participants at the same level. Some are entitled to free Danish through the official Danish Education programme. Studieskolen helps them clarify their options, ensuring that everyone receives the offer that suits them best.

“I would recommend Studieskolen’s Danish lessons at the workplace as a kick-start for any company that has international team members and that wants to retain them – whether there are only a few or many,” Gilles concludes.

Read more:

Here you can read much more about tailored language training for companies.