{"id":236,"date":"2025-06-30T15:35:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T15:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms2.aidia.dk\/?p=236"},"modified":"2025-06-30T15:35:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T15:35:00","slug":"moving-to-the-u-s-from-denmark-what-i-learned-about-language-culture-and-myself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.aidia.dk\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/moving-to-the-u-s-from-denmark-what-i-learned-about-language-culture-and-myself\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving to the U.S. from Denmark: What I Learned About Language, Culture, and Myself"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Earlier this year, I moved to the United States from Denmark to follow my wife\u2019s job. It\u2019s been an amazing experience, eye-opening, rewarding, and at times, deeply confusing. As the founder of Talkio<\/a>, I\u2019ve always felt connected to the challenges our users face. Many are people who\u2019ve moved abroad, learning a new language and trying to fit into a new culture. But living that story myself has brought a whole new level of empathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article I will share a few tips and how I go about daily live in Maryland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cHow Are You?\u201d Trap<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the first cultural puzzles I ran into was what to do when someone says, \u201cHow are you?\u201d In Denmark, that\u2019s a real question and you answer it sincerely. In the U.S., it\u2019s more of a greeting, a social reflex. The tricky part is not knowing if the other person expects an answer or not. So I found a workaround: I say it first. That way, I\u2019m in control of the situation, and the ambiguity becomes theirs to solve. It\u2019s a small shift, but it saves me from the awkward mental scramble of deciding how personal to get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Real Cost Is a Guessing Game<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another surprise was how much guesswork is involved in knowing what things actually cost. In Denmark, the price tag is the final price. Here, tax and tipping are added afterward, often catching you off guard. To keep things simple, I developed a mental rule: at restaurants, I add about 20% to the listed price to cover both tax and tip. At shops or grocery stores, I just add 5% for sales tax. It\u2019s not exact, but it helps me avoid surprises at checkout or when the bill comes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making Sense of American Measurements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the more quietly frustrating parts of moving has been adjusting to the U.S. measurement system. Temperature, weight, distance, volume, almost nothing uses the same units I grew up with. To avoid constantly checking conversion apps, I invented a mental cheat sheet. It\u2019s not precise, but it gets me close enough to feel grounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For temperature, I subtract 30 from the Fahrenheit number and divide by 2. So 70\u00b0F becomes about 20\u00b0C, which is enough to know if I need a jacket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For weight, I divide pounds by two. Ten pounds? That\u2019s roughly 5 kilos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For distance, I use 3 feet to a meter and 1.5 kilometers for a mile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For volume, I go with 1 gallon equals about 4 liters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These rough conversions are my own creation, and they\u2019ve helped me build a kind of intuitive understanding. I\u2019m still figuring out rules for inches and ounces, they\u2019re still mysterious. But over time, these strange units start to make more sense. The more I encounter them in real-life situations, the more natural they feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When English Isn\u2019t Quite Enough<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve spoken English for years – it\u2019s my second language – but there are moments when even that feels inadequate. Going to the doctor, for instance, introduced a whole new layer of complexity. Medical vocabulary, unfamiliar brand names, and a healthcare system structured completely differently from Denmark\u2019s all made it overwhelming. Some medications that are prescription-only in Denmark are sold over the counter here. Understanding insurance coverage was its own mini project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talkio has turned out to be super helpful in these moments. Before appointments, I rehearse conversations with the Talkio AI tutor. Practicing ahead of time helps me feel less anxious and more in control when it really mattered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Culture Shock and Self-Reflection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Living in the U.S. has shown me things about American culture I never noticed as a visitor. But more importantly, it\u2019s given me perspective on my own. I\u2019ve become more aware of how Danish systems, behaviors, and assumptions shape how I see the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For anyone starting over in a new place, I\u2019ll say this: it\u2019s not always easy, but it\u2019s worth it. And when it comes to language and communication, tools like Talkio can help ease the transition – not just by teaching new words, but by giving you the confidence to use them in real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best wishes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theis<\/strong> Froehlich<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, I moved to the United States from Denmark to follow my wife\u2019s job. It\u2019s been an amazing experience, eye-opening, rewarding, and at times, deeply confusing. As the founder of Talkio, I\u2019ve always felt connected to the challenges our users face. Many are people who\u2019ve moved abroad, learning a new language and trying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-talkio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.aidia.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.aidia.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.aidia.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.aidia.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.aidia.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cms.aidia.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":238,"href":"https:\/\/cms.aidia.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236\/revisions\/238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.aidia.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.aidia.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.aidia.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.aidia.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}