Icelandic Learning Thread

[viola]

Hi guys! So I thought, since Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian have their own threads, I would start one for Icelandic.

This can be an area for practising conversation, asking questions about grammar, sharing resources, etc. If there are people who want to organize a skype chat or something similar that can also be done here.

Here is a starting list of free resources for learning Icelandic online. If you have any additions, let me know so I can add them to the list.

Icelandic Online - http://icelandiconline.is/index.html
a website created by Háskóli Íslands (the University of Iceland) that has a series of Icelandic lessons ranging from beginner to the C1 level (thanks to Laufey for this one)

Íslenska fyrir alla - http://tungumalatorg.is/ifa/
a series of four books in pdf form with grammar exercises and listening activities

Mímir - http://www.dettifoss.org/
basic outline of Icelandic grammar/parts of speech and how to use them

BÍN - http://bin.arnastofnun.is/DMII/
a database that shows conjugations of verbs and declensions of nouns. Make sure you read the directions on the home page. Laufey mentioned in the Nordic Languages topic that it can be confusing for beginners to use, because you have to have all the proper letters and accents in order to get the word you are looking for. This is a link to translations of the different parts of speech: http://bin.arnastofnun.is/DMII/frame/ If it's still confusing, let me know, and I can do a walk through of all the parts of speech and how to find things.

Icelandic-English Dictionary - http://enis.dict.cc/
if someone finds a better one, please let me know

200ish Words in Icelandic - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x5t1FcW22GmmR54GeuxQuDU483CLzpICztTtt4Z6360/edit?usp=sharing
a thing that I made for the Language Experiment thread, I can add more words/explanations to it as well

World's Awesomest Blog about Iceland and Icelandic - http://blogs.transparent.com/icelandic/icelandic-language-blog/
This is actually Laufey's blog. Everyone should read it. It's awesome. And gives really good grammar advice.

IMX - http://www.icelandmusic.is/
basically the official website of everything you want to know about the bands and music coming from Iceland

Útvarp (radio) - http://www.visir.is/section/MEDIA02 and http://xn--rv-rka.is/ras1 or http://xn--rv-rka.is/ras-2
these sites are places where you can stream Icelandic radio for free, you can also use them to find news articles and TV (some of the TV will not work if you are outside of Iceland)

Icelandic Cinema Online - http://www.icelandiccinema.com/
this is a website that lets you rent Icelandic movies digitally, some movies are free and some cost a few euros, but most of them are offered with English subs

If you have any other questions or comments feel free to let me know, I check this forum way more often than I probably should.

[ParanormalAndroid]

Bwah, me please!
I can say "takk", and I can sing along to Hoppipolla...
Love Icelandic.

[Piney]

Bwah, me please!
I can say "takk", and I can sing along to Hoppipolla...
Love Icelandic.

I don't think I'm committed enough to learn Icelandic, but I've jokingly considered adding the flag to my signature saying "Bits and pieces from Sigur Rós songs"

[ParanormalAndroid]

I don't think I'm committed enough to learn Icelandic, but I've jokingly considered adding the flag to my signature saying "Bits and pieces from Sigur Rós songs"

This is exactly how I plan to learn Icelandic.

[Mélusine]

I can say "takk", and I can sing along to Hoppipolla...

I can only say "takk" too, and I'm too afraid of singing absolutely wrong words to try Hoppipolla ^^ (But choir on Með Blóðnasir is perfect.)

This is exactly how I plan to learn Icelandic.

Funny, I assume Sigur Rós is more magical for me because I can't understand the lyrics, so my mind can stay absolutely free and imagine anything

What is written is often different of what you're hearing, so icelandic seems... a strange and beautiful language *Go back to improve her english before everything else*

[viola]

This is exactly how I plan to learn Icelandic.

Oh my goodness! More Sigur Rós fans!! Yay! This is wonderful! And bonus points to you guys for actually being able to sing along with Jónsi's voice. I saw them in concert two years ago and it was amazing.

For the record, I have found music a wonderful way to learn languages. When I started Danish, I made sure I had some good Danish music, same thing with Swedish, Norwegian, and German. I found that if I looked up the lyrics and translations, I could learn a lot of vocabulary and remember it easily because the songs got stuck in my head. Singing along while following the written words is also a good way to start working on pronunciation.

I actually just spent the last two years of my life writing about Icelandic music, so I am quite experienced in that area. If you guys want I can post the lyrics to a song and you guys can work on translating them, it might be good vocab practice. I can help if you get stuck. We can even start with a Sigur Rós song if you want, since you already know them. The only problem with using some Sigur Rós songs is that it can sometimes be hard to understand exactly what Jónsi is saying, especially since often sings in vonlenska (hopelandic).

Let me know if you like the song idea, and if you know what songs you want (we can do bands that are not SR too). I'm going to add some links for Icelandic music in the topic post so that you can explore on your own as well.

[ParanormalAndroid]

The song idea's brilliant, and I think either Hoppipolla or Stormur would be good to start off with.
Also, is there anything you want in return? Like, another language that we know?

[JoB]

This is exactly how I plan to learn Icelandic.

Don't complain when the natives later tell you that you have a "singsong" accent, though.

[ParanormalAndroid]

Don't complain when the natives later tell you that you have a "singsong" accent, though.

Hah, very good. But, you know, performing won't be an issue.

[Mélusine]

We can even start with a Sigur Rós song if you want, since you already know them. The only problem with using some Sigur Rós songs is that it can sometimes be hard to understand exactly what Jónsi is saying, especially since often sings in vonlenska (hopelandic).

*Obliging*

[viola]

Ooooh! One of my favourites Also good idea posting the lyric video.
Here are the lyrics as seen in the video:

Verse 1:
þú vissir af mér
ég vissi af þér
við vissum alltaf að
þetta myndi enda

þú missir af mér
ég missi af þér
missum báða fætur
undan okkar

nú liggjum við á
öll ísköld og blá
skjálfandi á beinum
hálfdauðir úr kulda
ísjaki

Chorus:
þú segir aldrei neitt
þú ert ísjaki
þú ert ísilagður
þú þegir þunnu hljóði
og felur þig bakvið
ísjaka

Verse 2:
þú kveikir í mér
ég kveiki í þér
við kveikjum við bál
brennisteinar loga

það neistar af mér
það neistar af þér
neistar af okkur
brennum upp til ösku
ísjaki

To start off, ísjaki means iceberg

[Ana Nymus]

Well, no Icelandic for me right now. I'm going to stick to trying to learn one language at a time  . Maybe someday, Icelandic. But I really do love singing along to songs like that one up there, even if I don't know what exactly the words mean.

Also, if there are any Mac users out there, I just want to share with you how you get letters like ð and þ and æ, because a lot of them aren't available with the normal keyboard, and it took me forever to figure out how to get some of these letters without copying and pasting. You can switch your keyboard something like "English extended" and get a whole bunch of symbols in addition to the default keyboard. This site down below has instructions for how to do that thing:
http://symbolcodes.tlt.psu.edu/accents/codemacext.html

To get þ, use option-T
To get ð, use option-D
To get æ, use option-'
To get any of the letters with right-facing accents (líké thís) use option-e and then type the letter you want
To get ö, use option-U + O

And those are (I think) all the relevant ones. I don't know if anyone actually needed this guide, but I would've found it really useful and so I'm putting it out there.

P.S. The reason I know these things is because my crazy friend (her words, not mine) texts me in Icelandic and gets songs stuck in my head, and so now I need a ð key 

[Piney]

To get þ, use option-T
To get ð, use option-D
To get æ, use option-'
To get any of the letters with right-facing accents (líké thís) use option-e and then type the letter you want
To get ö, use option-U + O

And those are (I think) all the relevant ones. I don't know if anyone actually needed this guide, but I would've found it really useful and so I'm putting it out there.

And of course there's always the trusty 'hold down the vowel key and pick from the menu' trick.

[Ana Nymus]

True, true. But I don't think you can get þ and ð like that. Or can you? Sorry, I have to go press all the buttons on my keyboard now

[Piney]

True, true. But I don't think you can get þ and ð like that. Or can you? Sorry, I have to go press all the buttons on my keyboard now

Nah, still have to change the keyboard to US Extended for those.