# Icelandic: How to learn it?



## psychohedron

Hey,
 I'm trying to learn Icelandic, i only so far know the very bare basic of the language.
 If anyone would who can speak it fluently as their native language or otherwise, it would appreciated.
 If they wanted i would be willing to teach some English if you'd like.

 Send me a PM or reply here, whichever.


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## vachecow

Is it similar to Russian?


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## Focalist

vachecow121 said:
			
		

> Is it similar to Russian?


Not at all, vc. It's a Scandinavian language, related to Faroese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish (...and English).

Sample:
Faðir vor, þú sem er á himnum. 
Helgist þitt nafn, til komi þitt ríki, 
verði þinn vilji, svo á jörðu sem á himni.​
(Compare with Old English):
Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum 
si þin nama gehalgod, tobecume þin rice 
gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum​F


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## vachecow

Thanks/sorry, thats interesting F!


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## timpeac

Focalist said:
			
		

> Not at all, vc. It's a Scandinavian language, related to Faroese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish (...and English).
> 
> 
> 
> Sample:Faðir vor, þú sem er á himnum.
> 
> Helgist þitt nafn, til komi þitt ríki,
> verði þinn vilji, svo á jörðu sem á himni.​
> 
> 
> (Compare with Old English):Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum
> 
> si þin nama gehalgod, tobecume þin rice
> gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum​F


Is that the Lord's prayer?


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## deorc

Yes, it is.

By the way, does anybody know any website where you can start learning icelandic?
I have always been curious about this language.


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## Óli Vikesá Gormsson

Komdu sæl/sæll - Hello,

Okay, for some reason the site won't let me put the website, but go to yahoo groups and look under Icelandic language groups.  There's a group (which I'm part of) that has some 350 people learning Icelandic on it. It's a great group.  

For an intro. to the Icelandic language and for other resources, search Google for "samkoma", which means "meeting place" in Icelandic. Click on the first link you see "Samkoma: The Western Icelandic Meeting Place". I'm a friend of the host of the website, who lives here in Winnipeg, Canada and heads an Icelandic-Canadian group at the Icelandic Department here at the University of Manitoba. It's the most comprehensive site you'll find on everything Icelandic. I'm not Icelandic, but Norwegian born in the states. I came here to study music. Icelandic is my minor subject. And actually English is derived from Icelandic, and not the other way around. Over half of the English vocabulary comes from Old Norse, since the Danish king Knut ruled England for several years, making many people speak the language. The city of York is a major viking settlement, once called Jórvik. It's all written in the sagas og Jómsvikinga. 

Hope to talk to you on the Icelandic group sometime...

Með kveðju (with greetings),

Ole


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## Whodunit

Isn't þ pronounced like English th, is it?


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## Óli Vikesá Gormsson

Yes, that's correct.  English has lost two letters in its modern form, and now uses "th" instead of "Þ" and "Ð", which Icelandic retains.  The first is unvoiced, the latter voiced.  E.G. - Þór, Thor.  Þing, Thing.  Bróðir, Brother.  Suður, Southern.  Norður, Northern.  And several other words are similar, since they have Norse roots.  This becomes more and more evident as one gets more into the language.  

There are numerous sites where one can listen to Icelandic - alphabet, numbers, etc. etc.  To listen to Icelandic news and watch live tv, go to Google and type RUV - Ríkisútvarpið.  It's the nation's largest news network.  For those with highspeed/cable, check out POPP TÍVÍ.  Just type or paste it onto Google.  The best domestic Icelandic search engine is "Leit".  For newspapers - check out Morgunblaðið and Vísir.  Iceland's ICC (internet country code) is "IS".  

Focalist:
"Not at all, vc. It's a Scandinavian language, related to Faroese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish (...and English)."

Skandinavia comprises of the 3 nations which all share the Scandinavian Peninsula, similar cultures, and similar languages.  Therefore, these languages - Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, are the Skandinavian languages.  Faroe Islands is an exception, as it's owned by Denmark, it's considered part of Skandinavia.  Iceland and Finland, on the other hand, are Nordic countries as Icelandic and Finnish are Nordic languages.  It's a matter of culture (and cultural isolation).  I just wanted to validate that here, as so many people are so ill-educated about this part of Europe.  Even the tourist sites and organisations will put them all together as "Skandinavian", because they want bigger organisations, higher interest, to bring people together, etc.  It's like calling the US "America", and excluding Canada.  Afterall, Canada is America too, so can we also call them "Americans"?  Why not?  And Canadians often get defensive when speaking about this topic, as they often feel left out.  I understand that.

How do you feel that some people consider México part of N. America? 

The cultures are totally different...  That's how I feel about it anyway.

Kveðja,

Ole


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## David

Araceli y Borges...birds of a feather.

I have to say, I prefer the sound of "Thy kingdom come," to "To be-come Thine Reich! (tobecume þin rice)". Some of those Germanic roots are a little eerie!


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## psychohedron

Thanks Oli! That's a great a help. I've been going through the little course on Modern Icelandic they have hosted for free on the University of Iceland's website. icelandic.hi.is


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## esme

Well, the culture in Mexico does differ from those in US and Canada, but especially in the south, people feel a strong connection to Mexico. In the South there is much of the Hispanic, especially Mexican culture, that one cannot overide. For example, in the South, especially in the southwest, (Texas, N.Mexico, Arizona, and Cali) you will find more Mexican restaurants than in all the rest of the world put together (of course, with the exception of Mexico itself). Notice I said Mexican, and not as much of any other Hispanic culture. As you go up north one finds less and less influences by Mexico and more perhaps by Canada. 

To sum all this up, I do agree with people considering Mexico as part of North America...and might I add that I have met many Mexicans that call themselves North Americans and are as fragile to the topic of being called North Americans than any Canadian.


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## reynolds352

Óli Vikesá Gormsson said:
			
		

> Iceland and Finland, on the other hand, are Nordic countries as Icelandic and Finnish are Nordic languages.  It's a matter of culture (and cultural isolation).  I just wanted to validate that here, as so many people are so ill-educated about this part of Europe.  Even the tourist sites and organisations will put them all together as "Skandinavian", because they want bigger organisations, higher interest, to bring people together, etc.



I tend to disagree about Finnish. Is it not a member of the Uralic languages? Finnish is not even Indo-European, let alone a Nordic language. It is in fact closely related to Estonian. Hungarian is similar as well.

Check out ethnologue.com for a lot more information.

Brgrds,

Adam


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## sæglópur

In regards to that internet course offered by the University of Iceland, mentioned before, I am so absolutely interested, but when I signed up, it wouldn't let me log in. This leaves me heartbroken, anyone else having that problem?Also, could we possibly get a link to this Yahoo group please? I can't seem to find it.I'm very determined. Learning this language is a huge goal of mine.


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## TarisWerewolf

sæglópur said:


> In regards to that internet course offered by the University of Iceland, mentioned before, I am so absolutely interested, but when I signed up, it wouldn't let me log in. This leaves me heartbroken, anyone else having that problem?Also, could we possibly get a link to this Yahoo group please? I can't seem to find it.I'm very determined. Learning this language is a huge goal of mine.



You have to fight with the login a bit. I think I had to sign up twice to get it to work, but I can log in now.


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## sæglópur

Ah, but I did sign up twice. Should I use a different email address? Or does that matter at all?


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