How to Learn Icelandic

Before you begin the meat of the course, it would be extremely beneficial to go over some effective learning strategies, tips, and tricks that will help you learn better and quicker.

Even if you consider yourself a language learning pro, consider giving this lesson a read or at least skim the headings.

Set realistic expectations

The number one killer of language learning aspirations is unrealistic expectations.

No single course or collection of courses, no matter how meticulously designed or how committed the student, can encompass everything; it cannot resolve every potential confusion or cater itself precisely to each student's optimal learning style. Regrettably, this course is not exempt from these limitations.

Mastering a language, be it Spanish, Icelandic, or even a programming language like C++, is a formidable endeavor. It involves absorbing new vocabulary, grappling with new grammatical structures, and altering the way you see and experience the world around you. Even things that you assumed were universal may be challenged or presented differently in another language. This is part of what makes learning languages fun and exciting but also what makes it difficult.

That said, there may be times during this course when you feel overwhelmed and convinced that the content will never make sense. You might even start blaming yourself and thinking you are not smart enough to learn Icelandic. However, I assure you that, given time and dedication, you can do it. Although progress may be slower or faster depending on your experience, age, or dedication, anyone can successfully learn any language. If a baby can do it, so can you! Expect to face stumbling blocks, setbacks, and moments of frustration, but as long as you persist, progress will be made.

In light of these future struggles, it's important not to anticipate instantaneous mastery of Icelandic. Icelandic is an exceptionally intricate language that necessitates several years of dedicated study to truly master. It's more pragmatic to set achievable goals: ones that fuel your enthusiasm for learning and sustain your motivation to continue. The old adage is not correct for language learning: do not aim for the moon hoping to land among the stars; you will not land in the stars; rather, you will be set adrift in space and never run into anything. Instead, consider aiming for a stable orbit or even just securing a bit of rocket fuel first. Then, the moon may be a little more achievable.

Write it down, Review it

People who are learning something often discover that physically writing down information that they learn can greatly aid their memory and recall. This is not universal, but the general trend is backed by several credible scientific studies.

You have different options for jotting down your learning. You might opt for a notebook organized by day, or you might prefer a computer note system organized by topic. You might choose to make uncomplicated flashcards, or you could even go for a sophisticated method like the German Zettelkasten. Your personal style matters here. The point is that having a written account of what you've learned turns out to be quite rewarding; it helps you remember the information you've absorbed much faster. What is less important is the method that you choose.

FIXME: Like with flashcards, the best notes are made to be reviewed and referred to again and again.

Moreover, the act of writing things down provides you with a valuable resource: you create a reference that you can revisit, revise, and explore anew with a more knowledgeable perspective later on.

Just remember, if you write something down and then never look at it again, it ceases to be beneficial. Daily reviews are ideal, but not always realistic. Try to review your notes as often as possible.

What's more, not every verb table or newly learned definition will reappear in the course; in fact, they will do so infrequently. It's simply not feasible, given the course's scope and the need to progress, to review everything. But I do know that learning isn't always a straight path. It's unrealistic to expect yourself or anyone else to grasp everything right away, let alone retain that information indefinitely. That is where your notes come in.

While I'll certainly bring back topics or reference previous lessons as needed, and while there is a quiz to help you review after every module, this course anticipates that you'll engage in the practice of putting pen to paper and reviewing independently, especially for charts, structures, and vocabulary. While I do not expect you to know every tip and trick of how to analyze everything you've written right away nor remember every vocabulary word the first time you see it, every previously mentioned element is your responsibility to store and put forth a decent effort into remembering.

At certain times in the course, I will suggest how to review or think about a certain topic. Please note that these are always suggestions, and your own learning journey might demand a different approach. That's completely fine. Find what works for you and do it!

Do not think in English letters

This final adage is a little more specific, but it is extremely important to help you avoid a common pitfall if this is your first time learning a foreign language. Allow me to give a short anecdote from a real learner experience.

I once had a student named Jane who was trying to translate a simple phrase into Icelandic: "I am eating." In her attempt, she wrote "Ég er borðuð," when the correct translation would have been "Ég er að borða." To try to help her learn, I asked her what thought process led her to choose the word "Borðuð." She explained that she was seeking a form of the word "Borða" (meaning eat) that ended in "-ing," and, unsuccessful, came across the form "Borðuð" under the label "Lýsingarháttur þátíðar" on a website. The label contained the letters "-ing" so that was good enough for her.

The purpose of sharing this story is not to ridicule or belittle Jane (she is, in fact, an excellent student), but rather to shed light on the issue of approaching language from a strictly English mindset. Translation between languages should never rely on letter-matching between the words in two languages; instead, a focus on grammatical function and desired meaning should be taken.

When translating any sentence from language (X) to language (Y), it's vital to ask yourself certain questions:

1. What parts of speech are the words in language X?

2. What do the words in language X do grammatically, and what do they mean?

3. How does language Y address this grammatical function while keeping the same meaning?

In the case of Jane, the following could have been good answers to what the word "Eating" was doing in her sentence:

1. "He" is a subject pronoun. "Is" is the verb "To be" conjugated to "He." "Eating" is another verb form.

2. "He" is the subject of the sentence and the verb "To be." "Is" is the present tense form of "To be" conjugated to the subject of the sentence, "He." "Is" and "Eating" come together from the progressive tense, signifying a continuous action.

3. Icelandic also uses progressive tenses to talk about continuous actions. The Icelandic structure to form the progressive tense is a conjugated verb and then an infinitive verb.

At no point in either the questions or the answers was there a reference to the letters in words because, simply put, that is not how translating between languages works. Ultimately, the letters do not matter; what matters is what words they form and what those words do grammatically.

While you likely cannot deconstruct sentences, words, and their grammar as I did above quite yet, getting into the mindset of breaking things down like this will prove very fruitful once you start to gain these abilities.