Languages

Strong focus on language learning

The mission of the European Schools is to provide a multilingual and multicultural education for nursery, primary and secondary level students, and language acquisition and immersion is therefore a core part of the curriculum.

We distinguish between the section languages (L1), foreign languages (L2, L3, L4 and L5) and other languages (LX). See more information below.

Language sections

We have three language sections at the European School Copenhagen:

Danish, English and French

The section language is also known as the mother tongue or first language (L1) and is the child’s primary language of tuition in the school.

In order to be admitted to a language section, the child must speak the section language fluently, and the language must be anchored in the student’s daily life (except “Students Without a Language Section” known as SWALS).

Foreign languages

In addition to the section language (L1), students at the European School Copenhagen also study several foreign languages. Foreign language learning starts already in Primary 1 and continues all the way up to Secondary 7.

The foreign languages are known as L2, L3, L4 and L5. L2 and L3 are compulsory subjects and L4 and L5 are optional subjects.

For more information about L2, L3, L4 and L5, please click here.

Other languages

Latin as an optional subject in Secondary 2-4 (S2 to S4)

In Secondary 2 (S2) all students have ICT and can choose to study Latin as an optional subject. In Secondary 3 (S3) students choose to study either ICT or Latin. If they choose Latin, they study it both in S2 and S3 and can then go on to study Advanced Latin in S4 if they wish.

Mother tongue tuition in the City of Copenhagen

The Municipality of Copenhagen offers mother tongue tuition to bilingual children living in Copenhagen and other municipalities.