Everything You Need To Learn Icelandic
Icelandic (Þýska in the language) is an Indo-European language that belongs to the North Germanic branch. Icelandic has roughly 350,000 speakers, most of whom live in Iceland, while there are also small populations in Denmark.
Icelandic is the closest living relative of Old Norse, which was also spoken in Scandinavia and is the ancestor of many modern Germanic languages such as Danish, Swedish and Norwegian.
Since Icelandic is not a language that’s widely spoken outside of Iceland, learning Icelandic will only be useful to you if you’re planning a trip there, or you’re intrigued to learn the language of the Vikings.
Icelandic learning materials are relatively scarce, but with the resources on this list, we believe there’s more than enough to get you going.
Icelandic Language Learning Books
Due to the lack of varied learning resources, if you want to learn Icelandic, one of the first steps to take is to get an Icelandic course book/study guide. A good introductory course will teach you core vocabulary and grammar concepts like noun genders, verb tenses and sentence structure.
Adding a good English-Icelandic dictionary to your collection will also be helpful, as you’ll constantly be encountering new Icelandic words, and you need a way to easily look them up and see how they’re used in different contexts.
Planning a trip to Iceland any time soon? Well, an Icelandic phrasebook will help you communicate with locals and comprehend the culture, allowing you to skip past the basics and get you speaking faster.
Icelandic Children’s Books
Icelandic kids’ books are a great tool for beginners, as they use simple language and only focus on the most basic concepts. Learners will be able to improve their Icelandic reading comprehension whilst boosting their vocabulary.
Many Icelandic books written for children are bilingual, and include both Icelandic and English texts in the same book, side by side. This makes it easier to follow the story, as you don’t have to constantly consult a dictionary just to understand what’s going on.
Icelandic Fiction
When it’s time to move on past children’s books, Icelandic books written for adults is the way to go. These stories use more advanced vocabulary and concepts, which will be helpful in expanding your knowledge of Icelandic and getting you speaking like a native.
