Learn Hardcore Danish: Jeg studerer dansk og engelsk på universitetet. - I study Danish and English at the university.

Jeg studerer literally corresponds to “I study / I am studying”.
The present tense is just the verb with a present ending (-er here), so you don’t say Jeg er studerer – that’s wrong.
Use only Jeg studerer for both “I study” and “I am studying.”

What is the difference between studerer and læser in sentences like this?

Both can translate to “study”, but there’s a nuance:

at studere = to study (often slightly more formal / academic, but very common)
at læse = to read, and in study contexts also to study (as a subject at school/university)

In practice, for subjects at university, Danes very often say:

Jeg læser dansk og engelsk på universitetet.

Your sentence Jeg studerer dansk og engelsk på universitetet is also correct and natural, just a bit more neutral/formal.

Why are dansk and engelsk not capitalized like “Danish” and “English” in English?

In Danish, names of languages and nationalities are not capitalized unless they start a sentence.

dansk = Danish (language or nationality)
engelsk = English

So you write:

Jeg studerer dansk og engelsk.
not Dansk and Engelsk in the middle of the sentence.

Why are dansk and engelsk used on their own, without a word like “sprog” (language)?

In Danish, the adjective for a language can stand alone as a noun:

dansk literally “Danish (language)”
engelsk literally “English (language)”

So:

Jeg studerer dansk = “I study Danish (the Danish language).”
You don’t need to say dansk sprog unless you really want to emphasize language.

Why is it på universitetet and not i universitetet?

Both på and i can mean “at / in”, but they’re used differently:

på universitetet = “at university”, in the sense of attending or studying at the institution
i universitetet would literally mean “inside the university building”, and is rarely used like that.

For places of study/work, Danish often uses på:

på universitetet – at university
på skolen – at (the) school
på arbejde – at work

What does the -et at the end of universitetet mean?

Danish usually attaches the definite article (the word “the”) to the end of the noun:

et universitet = a university (indefinite, neuter)
universitetet = the university (definite)

So på universitetet literally is “at the university”, but in idiomatic English this often just translates as “at university”.

Could I say på universitet instead of på universitetet?

Not really in standard Danish. Your options are:

på universitetet = at the university / at university (generic study context)
på et universitet = at a university (non-specific)

På universitet (without article) is not normal here. You need either the definite form (universitetet) or an article (et universitet).

Can I change the word order to Jeg studerer på universitetet dansk og engelsk?

No, that word order is not natural. The normal and neutral order is:

Jeg studerer dansk og engelsk på universitetet.

Typical pattern: Subject – Verb – Object(s) – Place/Time

Jeg (subject)
studerer (verb)
dansk og engelsk (objects: what you study)
på universitetet (place: where you study)

Moving på universitetet before dansk og engelsk sounds wrong in this sentence.

Why do we say Jeg studerer and not just Studerer dansk og engelsk på universitetet, like Spanish sometimes drops the subject?

Danish almost always requires the subject pronoun. You normally cannot drop jeg:

Correct: Jeg studerer dansk og engelsk på universitetet.
Incorrect (except in headlines/notes): Studerer dansk og engelsk på universitetet.

So Danish is more like English than Spanish in this respect: you must say “I study”, not just “study.”

Does Jeg studerer mean “I study” (habitually) or “I am studying” (right now)?

It can mean both, depending on context:

Jeg studerer dansk og engelsk på universitetet.
→ Usually understood as “I’m a student of Danish and English at university” (ongoing studies).
In the right context, it could also mean “I’m studying (right now)”, but if you specifically want the right now meaning, Danes often say:
- Jeg er ved at studere. (I’m in the middle of studying.)
- Jeg sidder og studerer. (I’m sitting and studying.)

Why is it engelsk instead of engelske?

Engelsk is the base adjective form. When these adjectives are used as nouns for languages, they normally stay in the base form:

dansk – Danish (language)
engelsk – English (language)

The -e form (engelske, danske) is used in other cases, e.g.:

den engelske bog – the English book
de danske studerende – the Danish students

But as language names, you use the base form (dansk, engelsk).

Can I add “both” in Danish, like “I study both Danish and English at university”?

Yes, use både … og …:

Jeg studerer både dansk og engelsk på universitetet.
= I study both Danish and English at university.

Note the pattern: både X og Y = both X and Y.

How do you pronounce Jeg studerer dansk og engelsk på universitetet?

Approximate pronunciation (in a rough English-friendly style):

Jeg ≈ “yai” or “yaih”
studerer ≈ “stu-DAIR-er” (the last -er is quite weak)
dansk ≈ “dansk” but with a softer a and the -sk as in “sk”
og ≈ usually just “o” or “å” (the g is normally silent)
engelsk ≈ “ENG-elsk” (soft e, clear ng)
på ≈ “po” with a long o sound (like “paw” without the w)
universitetet ≈ “oo-ni-ver-si-TEH-tet” (but spoken quickly and smoothly)

Spoken fast and naturally, many syllables are reduced and flow together.