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Trip to Iceland-- Speaking level? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| solocricket Tetraglot Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 3490 days ago 68 posts - 106 votes  Speaks: English*, French, Italian, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Icelandic, Korean, Polish | Message 1 of 9 09 January 2015 at 2:47pm | IP Logged |
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Hi all,
So, I'm making my first overseas trip at the end of July to Iceland! Like all sane people, I've decided to study Icelandic intensively for the next seven months, and see where that gets me. I'm kind of hoping to get to a high B2. My question is this-- I know Icelanders generally have a high level of English, so how well do you think I should be speaking so that people do not automatically switch? I'm aware this question has been asked for other Germanic languages, but I haven't seen it for Icelandic. In terms of language learning, speech is generally my least-practiced area, since I'm a book-loving introvert, but I'm willing to step up my game. I'm guessing that speech should be quite fluid, so that it doesn't sound uncomfortable to others. Any input about Icelandic or other languages would be great! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4521 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 2 of 9 09 January 2015 at 4:36pm | IP Logged |
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Icelanders have the same switch-ratio as most Scandinavians or the Dutch. They'll
pretty much all be able to do fairly well in English (if you speak Danish or another Scandi language that's a bonus when starting). In the end, my advice is, and that goes for all of the Northern European cultures, because the approach is fairly similar (and I've gotten replies in Icelandic even when I had about 10 words!), to not worry about your actual level but to work on how your impression comes across. The Icelanders will be curious about your forays into their language, and if you sound good, they'll love it. 1) spend a lot of time on the pronunciation and intonation of the language. Icelandic sounds very different, it's much more stiff in its sounds than English is and it's got a completely different sentence rhythm. This does not mean you have to be able to copy it perfectly, but you do have to be able to sound more "Icelandic". The biggest problem is usually the accent. It doesn't have to be fluid, it just has to sound non- obvious that you are an American. I think you need to set aside the first week of your learning to just getting the pronunciation right! I tend to set aside only a day or two, but I've got a pretty wide range of phonemes I can produce reliably, but particularly work on the hl/hr/hn sounds, the r sound, and the g sound. 2) Most Scandinavians, Nordics and Dutch people don't find it very obvious you are learning their language, so be prepared to answer those questions in Icelandic. In fact if you are travelling structure your vocabulary around topics you're going to encounter first, and then everything else. Quantum mechanics discussions can wait. 3) Icelandic doesn't have as many cognates with English as Dutch or French does, but their vocabulary structure is more intuitive for English speakers because it's got the same roots. Icelandic vocabulary for simple things will often be the same as the English word, but pronounced differently (or they may use an old word that English has forgotten). More advanced words tend to be Germanic only, and usually compound words. 4) Once you've got the basics down first, start learning the verb conjugations and noun declensions - unfortunately you need them in Icelandic to make sense. Some dative constructions, very common in Icelandic, don't exist in English anymore. Make sure to note what case goes with what preposition because this will be a big source of mistakes. Edited by tarvos on 09 January 2015 at 4:39pm 15 persons have voted this message useful | |
| alang Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7035 days ago 563 posts - 757 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 3 of 9 12 January 2015 at 3:28am | IP Logged |
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@ solocricket,
Which state are you in? I have the North American Icelandic directory. There could be a cultural club near you. You could contact them and see if there are any native speakers to help out. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6396 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 4 of 9 12 January 2015 at 8:08am | IP Logged |
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Ask someone to translate the following monologue into Icelandic and memorize it:
"I'm sorry if my Icelandic is bad, but this is the one time I have the opportunity to practice your wonderful language. I'd be very grateful if you would speak Icelandic to me, because I think it's a fantastic language and I really want to learn it." 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| solocricket Tetraglot Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 3490 days ago 68 posts - 106 votes Speaks: English*, French, Italian, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Icelandic, Korean, Polish | Message 5 of 9 12 January 2015 at 12:50pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the helpful responses. I'll definitely be working on pronunciation and
intonation in the coming weeks. @ alang, I'm in northeastern Pennsylvania-- thanks! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| alang Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7035 days ago 563 posts - 757 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 6 of 9 13 January 2015 at 8:39pm | IP Logged |
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I am going to pm you the information I have, as it will be specified to Pennsylvania.
The big cities like New York has more, and the province of Manitoba in Canada has the most Icelandic information. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| tristano Tetraglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 3861 days ago 905 posts - 1262 votes Speaks: Italian*, Spanish, French, English Studies: Dutch | Message 7 of 9 15 January 2015 at 1:05am | IP Logged |
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what @Tarvos said.
Plus: would you be interested in Icelandic also after you will have gone there? This is the main difference between learning how to say the most basic pleasantries and learning the language (because a language is a marathon, not a sprint). 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| solocricket Tetraglot Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 3490 days ago 68 posts - 106 votes Speaks: English*, French, Italian, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Icelandic, Korean, Polish | Message 8 of 9 30 January 2015 at 1:59am | IP Logged |
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I'm interested in Icelandic for the long haul-- I'll have a decent book supply after I
go there, I imagine. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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