Learn Danish: Jeg vil gerne have skinke på brødet.

Jeg vil have translates directly to 'I want to have' and sounds very direct or demanding in Danish. Adding gerne (which means 'gladly') softens the phrase, making it polite. Together, vil gerne have is the standard way to say 'I would like' when ordering or requesting something.

Why is 'the bread' written as brødet instead of using a separate word for 'the'?

In Danish, the definite article ('the') is attached to the end of the noun instead of coming before it. Because brød is an et-word (neuter gender, et brød), you add -et to the end to make it brødet.

Doesn't vil translate to the English future tense 'will'?

It is a very common false friend! While vil can sometimes express the future, its primary meaning in Danish is 'want to'. So the literal translation of jeg vil gerne have is closer to 'I want gladly to have' rather than 'I will have'.

Why isn't there an article like en before skinke?

Just like in English, we treat skinke as an uncountable mass noun in this context. You are asking for 'ham' in general (the topping), rather than en skinke, which would mean an entire whole ham.