Ask an Icelander (Specific Languages) Language Learning Forum

Ask an Icelander
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Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages

21 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3

tarvos
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
China
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Joined 4711 days ago
5310 posts - 9399 votes

Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

Message 17 of 21

25 January 2014 at 7:32pm | IP Logged

JonJonsson wrote:

1e4e6 wrote:

With Point 1., would they switch back to Icelandic
if the tourist cannot
speak English
(or their English is A1 at most, or A0)?

Probably not. I think people would use really simple English and talk very clearly with
gestures rather than switch to Icelandic. If the tourist obviously knows enough
Icelandic
for a simple interaction to go smoothly I think people will be pleasantly surprised and
talk Icelandic but any bumps will make them switch to English.

This is my experience with my ability to say "takk fyrir" and "bless" and "goðan
daginn"
1 person has voted this message useful

daegga
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Austria
lang-8.com/553301
Joined 4525 days ago
1076 posts - 1792 votes

Speaks: German*, English^C2, Swedish, Norwegian
Studies: Danish, French, Finnish, Icelandic

Message 18 of 21

25 January 2014 at 10:49pm | IP Logged

Stolan wrote:

I am interested now in Icelandic nouns. 30+ classes, I have to look into this.

It depends a bit on who you ask though, here is an overview over the noun classes:
http://www.samkoma.com/mimir/mimnoun.htm

If you count them, you get to 13. But if you look a little closer, you can see that
there are different patterns even within each class which often differ only at one
place. And I don't think they listed examples for all possible variations.

1 person has voted this message useful

Stolan
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4036 days ago
274 posts - 368 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Thai, Lowland Scots
Studies: Arabic (classical), Cantonese

Message 19 of 21

27 January 2014 at 7:51am | IP Logged

daegga wrote:

Stolan wrote:

I am interested now in Icelandic nouns. 30+ classes, I have to look into this.

Polish and Ancient greek are easier to predict even than Icelandic. I admire this language now alright.
1 person has voted this message useful

Henkkles
Triglot
Senior Member
Finland
Joined 4257 days ago
544 posts - 1141 votes

Speaks: Finnish*, English, Swedish
Studies: Russian

Message 20 of 21

27 January 2014 at 3:14pm | IP Logged

I thought of another question;

What is the Icelandic schwa like? As in, when you're thinking of something to say but can't really find anything so you say this vowel that helps you win more time. The same thing as the English "uhh" or the Spanish "ee".
1 person has voted this message useful

JonJonsson
Triglot
Newbie
Iceland
Joined 3975 days ago
7 posts - 31 votes
Speaks: Icelandic*, English, Danish

Message 21 of 21

01 February 2014 at 12:38pm | IP Logged

Henkkles wrote:

I thought of another question;

What is the Icelandic schwa like? As in, when you're thinking of something to say but
can't really find anything so you say this vowel that helps you win more time. The same
thing as the English "uhh" or the Spanish "ee".

Pretty much the same as English, also pronounced like the Icelandic u (so: ööh/uuh).

1 person has voted this message useful

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