I'd love to help out if there are people looking to get a native speaker's, non-academic, perspective on some topics, so please leave me a comment and I'll try to cover it!
I have a few questions, re some of the Icelandic pronunciation rules! Is the word kjallara pronounced chatlara with a CH sound like the CH in the English word chips? I was wondering about sounds such as KJ (if it’s pronounced as a CH sound) and SJ (if it’s pronounced as a SH sound like in the English word shores, or like a normal SY sound) and the G in words such as gæs / mörgæs (if it’s a DGY sound like the DG in the English word bridge, or a normal G sound like the G in the English word gotten) and the K in kæra / ákæra etc (if it’s a CH sound or a SH sound, or a normal K sound like the K in the English word keep) and the HJ in hjúkrunar (if it’s a SH sound or a CH sound, or a normal HY sound) and also the KJ in kjúklingur and kjöt (if it’s a CH sound) because I couldn’t find any videos explaining these sounds so far, and, I didn’t know if I should trust G translate when it comes to the pronunciation of these words, so I was very confused about these sounds! However, I know the main sounds (including the vowels and consonants etc) very well, so these are probably the only sounds / diphthongs that I wasn’t sure about, and I thought that it would be a good idea to ask speakers of Icelandic about these particular sounds, just to make sure, because sometimes I am not sure about the sounds I hear, and I also don’t know how reliable G translate is, especially when it comes to less used sounds and less used words, as I’ve noticed that some things don’t get translated 100% accurately, especially if it’s a less used verb or a less used noun etc!
Icelandic is a fascinating language. When I learned it is the closest sounding language to what was spoken by Vikings hundreds of years ago I immediately wanted to learn it. Thank you
Icelandic is so magical and amazing, just like Norse, being two of the most gorgeous and most alpha languages ever, and the other Norse languages are also gorgeous, and, I have been so obsessed with Icelandic and Norse and the other Norse languages, ever since I discovered them last year, as the words are so pretty, and so are the sound patterns and the sounds and the pronunciation rules, like, these languages are otherworldly, and they’re definitely the languages that are the most fun to learn and speak and hear and see etc, and the other prettiest languages also! Icelandic and Norse are two is the prettiest and coolest and most unique and refined and heavenly languages and also two of the most poetic and modern and perfect languages ever created, as pretty as Dutch / English / Norwegian / Gothic / Faroese / Danish, having the best word endings and the best letter combinations and the best pronunciation rules / sounds / sound patterns ever and the most magical and elvish sound and the most organized aspect as well as the most pretty words and the prettiest words ever, and, Icelandic / Norse / Dutch / Norwegian / Gothic etc should also be an universal language like English, as they are equally gorgeous and artistic, they are definitely a must-learn for every learner! Norse & Icelandic are also the most alpha languages ever that are also the hottest ever, while Icelandic & Dutch are also the most romantic languages ever with the hottest pronunciation rules and sounds and sound patterns, so they are way too pretty not to know, and I highly recommend learning them and the other prettiest languages 2gether! The 6 modern Celtic languages Welsh / Breton / Cornish / Manx / Irish / Scottish Gaelic are also magical and elvish and gorgeous, so they are also great options! I highly recommend learning them 2gether,, like I do, which saves a lot of years and makes the learning process way more fun, as learning many pretty and easy languages at the same time is the most efficient & fun way of learning! I have over 50 target languages, having started learning languages on my own like one year ago, and I am upper intermediate level in Icelandic and Norse and German and advanced level in Norwegian and upper advanced level in Dutch and intermediate level in Welsh and mid intermediate level in Swedish / Portuguese / French / Italian!
By the way, Skáld songs are the best introduction to Norse / Icelandic and some of the other Norse / Germanic / Nordic languages as they all have super pretty melodies that perfectly fit these heavenly languages, so they are very áddìctive, so I highly recommend listening to all the Skáld songs (all the lyrics videos can also be found on yt) and learning all the lyrics, which are a great way to start learning these gorgeous languages - I also recommend learning all the Icelandic words from the Go Learn vocab videos, as there are thousands of words that they cover, so one can get to an upper intermediate level by learning all the words from the vocab videos!
Re learning Icelandic, here are some of the most important sounds + pronunciation rules in Icelandic, as Icelandic has one of the easiest / prettiest / coolest pronunciations ever, having a category 1 pronunciation with super cool modern sounds! - the eth letter ð is an approximant of the letter D (a less obvious D similar to the D in the Spanish word nada and like the TH in the English words this and that) and the thorn letter þ is an approximant of T (a less obvious T that’s sort of lisped, and it is the same sound as the TH in the English words think and thing, though it sounds closer to a normal T sound in Icelandic) More pronunciation rules and sounds in Icelandic... - the HV is pronounced KV - the NN is pronounced as a TN if it comes after Æ and after EI / EY and after a long vowel such as Á / É / Í / Ó / Ú (but it is a normal N sound if it comes after the short vowels A / E / I / O / U and in inn word combinations, and I recommend adding a very soft breathy H sound to the ‘inn’ word ending in masculine words to make it a bit different from the word ending ‘in’ which is the feminine word ending, like I do, as I pronounce the inn more like ihn in masculine nouns and masculine adjectives that have the inn word ending, which represents the definite article in nouns, tho there are also three articles that aren’t added to the noun, namely hinn and hin and hið, so, one can say hinn stormur or stormurinn and hinn storm or storminn as both mean the storm in nominative and accusative) - the LL is usually pronounced TL in most words and if the LL is at the end of the word it sounds more like a weak T sound - the RN is pronounced with an extra soft ‘nasal’ T sound between the R and the N (so a word like þarna sounds like thartna) - the FL / FN letter combinations are pronounced PL / PN (so F becomes a P sound if it’s before an L or an N) - the G is ultra soft in short words like ég and mig etc, so it is pronounced more like an H sound (so ég sounds like yeh) and the G in the middle of the words is kinda soft (in words like segja / saga / segir etc it is a soft G that is still a G sound and not an H) and the Gs and GGs can also sound like Ks in many of the words if they are at the end of the word or even in the middle of the word and sometimes even at the beginning of the word (same as in Old Norse) tho Gs are usually pronounced like a normal G sound if they are at the beginning of the word (except for a few words) - the KK / TT etc is pronounced more like HK / HT as a soft breathy H sound is included before the K / T sound when there is a double consonant and even when there are two different consonants (for example, ekki sounds like ehki and óútreiknanlegt sounds like outreihnanleht etc) - the letter F is usually pronounced like a V if it’s in the middle of the word or at the end of the word (so leyfa sounds like leyva) and it is pronounced like a normal F sound if it’s at the beginning of the word or very close to the beginning of the word (for example, if a words starts with af, the af is pronounced af, not av) The diphthongs and umlauts and vowels in Icelandic... - AU is pronounced EOI (normal e sound + normal o sound + normal i sound said 2gether fast in one sound) - EI / EY are pronounced EI / EY (same as they are spellt) - the Æ / æ is usually pronounced ai in most Icelandic words (but hvenær seems to be pronounced kvenar and not really kvenair, so it depends on the word) - Ö is an EO sound (normal e sound + normal o sound said 2gether in one sound, like the œ in the French word cœur) - Ó is usually pronounced OU - O is usually pronounced UO and sometimes as an O sound (depending on the word) - Ú is a normal u sound - U is a more rounded YU sound (like the u in the French word mur and it is also the same sound as the Ü in Hungarian and German and the same sound as the UU in Dutch in words like muur and duur) tho in some words it is pronounced like a normal U sound (especially at the beginning of the word in words like ungur, and when there are multiple Us in the same word it’s usually the last U that is pronounced like YU and most other Us are pronounced like a normal U sound in that kind of words) - Á is an AU sound in almost every word (there are only a few exceptions) - A is a normal a sound and the A before NG / NK is pronounced like an AU sound just like the Á (so að ganga sounds like ath gaunga and it means to walk) - É is an YE sound (normal i sound + normal e sound) - E is a normal e sound (full e sound) - Í / Ý is a normal i sound - I / Y is a half i sound (this sound is very similar to how the i is pronounced in most English words like fit and chips and this, so it’s sort of like a weak i that goes more towards an e sound, but it isn’t a full e sound, and it isn’t a full i sound either, so it’s right between an i sound and an e sound)
I also have the right Norse pronunciation, which is the most logical, and by the way, I will use DH for the TH sound in the English words this and that, which is the approximant of D and not the approximant of T like the TH in the English word think, and I will use AO for the ‘closed’ A sound that is like an A and O sound said 2gether in one sound (similar to the A sound in Hungarian) that melts into a soft O sound! For example... - hvat sounds like hvat or vat or kvat - mæra sounds like mera - ávast sounds like avast - nágrindr sounds like naogrind:r - líkligr sounds like liklig:r or likliguhr - frænda sounds like freinda or freoynda or frenda - þat sounds like that - ræðir sounds like reidhir - hárr sounds like haruhr or har:r (could have also been har / harr) - gæfr sounds like gev:r or gevuhr - hverfa sounds like hverva or verva or kverva (any of them or all 3 could’ve been used) Also... - hæll sounds like heyl - saltr sounds like solt:r - mæla sounds like mala - drápa sounds like drapa or dropa - kæra sounds like kaera or kaira - ferr sounds like fer:r - jafna sounds like yavna - hœgri sounds like heoyri - girðing sounds like girdhing - hádegi sounds like haodegi - ørendislaust sounds like eorendislaust The word... - verr sounds like ver - ekki sounds like eki or ehki - þverra sounds like thverra - gegna sounds like gekna - vefja sounds like vevya - yfir sounds like ɪvɪr as in Icelandic - ætla sounds like etla - ofn sounds like ovn - náliga sounds like naoliga - sauma could have been pronounced either saima or seoyma like in Icelandic or both or even sauma as it is written - ofleti sounds like ofleti The emphasis of stress in Norse languages such as Norse and Icelandic etc is always at the beginning of the word - for compound words made of multiple smaller words, one should add a bit of stress at the beginning of each word that the compound word is made of and the most stress always at the beginning of the compound word... I don’t think there was any fixed way of pronouncing the diphthongs, and it’s most likely that the pronunciation of diphthongs such as AU would differ depending on the word, including pronunciations such as ai / au / ao / eoy / oy / ey etc, and it may have also differed depending on the region and accent, and the Æ in Norse can have many pronunciations, depending on the word, so it can sound like e / ei / a / eoy / oey / uey / ai / ea / ae etc, depending on what sound sounds best and the most natural and easiest to say in each word, so one should use one’s intuition a lot in Norse... The Rs are always different depending on the region and depending of the speaker in every language, but in Germanic languages, a soft normal R is usually used by most speakers and by younger speakers, and I highly recommend using a soft normal R in Norse and in all other languages that aren’t English as soft Rs have the best and most refined sound, soft Rs that are pronounced as fast as possible being the types of Rs that truly suit such refined languages as Norse and the other Germanic languages, whereas hard or prolonged or thrilled Rs sound very harsh and unrefined... By the way, it’s also important to know that in Norse and Icelandic the G is usually pronounced like a K sound, especially at the end of the word, and in many words the G is pronounced K even in the middle of the word, and there are also some words where the G is pronounced as a K even when it is at the beginning of the word, so it is normal to hear a lot of K sounds when there is a G in spelling - for example, lots of speakers of Icelandic will pronounce even the G in góðan (góðan daginn) as a soft K sound, without even realizing, and this pronunciation rule comes from Norse!
(Very important, if one is a native speaker of English, one should know that, when I say normal A sound, I mean AH which is the original one-sound sound of the letter A, and when I say normal E sound I mean EH, and so on, so I don’t mean the way one calls the letters in English when saying the alphabet, and I used mostly the original vowel sounds that are also used in Latin, as English has these, but it also has multiple other pronunciations of the same letter / vowel, which are the more modern sounds and are usually diphthongs and not just one sound only, however, most languages only use the original vowel sounds that are one-sound only per vowel, so that’s why I am explaining the sounds in Icelandic from the perspective of a speaker of Latin etc that uses only the original one-sound sound of each vowel, so I am technically using a phonetic spelling to explain the sounds in Icelandic and Norse, so when I say EI / EY sound, for example, I mean ei like the ei in the English word eight, which sounds exactly the way as it is spellt, and when I say normal I / Y sound I mean the short version of the EE sound in the English word seen, so I don’t mean AI like when one says the English letter i when saying the alphabet!)
Even not knowing the language (Im native Russian-speaker, in best terms with English and German, do know Swedish basics, so actually I can get some pieces of the book) it's comfy listening to you. So calming. My mom used to read books aloud to me when I was a little child, though my father didn't. Really miss this experience, it's quite significant and unique, in perception of a human life. Спасибо.
This was great. Hearing it spoken in a natural way (and not as fast as native speakers having a conversation speak) and being able to see the words really helps. A challenge I've found when learning is that when an Icelander speaks at their normal speed, many of the syllables seem to merge into one sound. Maybe we do that in English too but don't notice. Takk fyrir Ívar.
You do it more than you think, and basic examples of that are "gonna, gon,, trynna, wanna, y'all, I'ma, aight", but the English language is full of contractions, syllable omissions, and other grammatical twist like "yous, he do, ain't" or the frequent omission of the verb "you right?". Depending on the speaker, English is sometimes a nightmare, and I've been living in English speaking countries for 12 years being a second language teacher.
English is literally the easiest language ever created in every way, it’s not a nightmare at all, it only feels that way to ppl that aren’t native speaker level yet and that use very incorrect learning methods, including learners that are trying to find a shortcut and that aren’t learning each word with its pronunciation and spelling from vocab videos (as they should) and that aren’t revising the words (or aren’t revising the words enough times over a longer period of time) and aren’t learning each word automatically, so, they don’t know the words automatically yet, which is why it feels ‘hard’ to them! And it is also because most learners are only learning a few new words a day (which is akin to passive learning and can take over a decade to get to a native speaker level) instead of loading hundreds and thousands of words into one’s hern regularly and revising them regularly until each word can be instantly processed and automatically remembered, which is the right way of learning new languages! Also, most learners aren’t getting enough éxpòsure to the language and aren’t learning enough tens of thousands of words automatically, so, they aren’t going to understand most of what natives say if they don’t know the actual words, and all the idioms and phrases and slang etc, as English has way more idioms and phrases and slang and way more base words than any other language, so one should learn at least 35.000 base words to understand a lot of words, though I highly recommend learning over 100.000 base words, if one wants to understand almost everything on any tops! I highly recommend learning the prettiest languages ever English / Icelandic / Norse / Dutch / Norwegian / Gothic / Faroese / Danish to a writer level, or at least a native speaker level, by watching every single video and movie with subs in the target languages, and also learning as many lyrics as possible, and watching and rewatching tons of vocab videos and all sorts of videos on grammar and idioms etc, which is the only way to learn a new language or many new languages (that are pretty and easy like the Germanic languages and the modern Celtic languages and a few others) in a few years, by actively learning as many words as possible, as opposed to learning them in a passive-like way, which is a very slow processes that can take over 15 years, just as when one was learning the first language that one was made to learn, as most reach a native speaker level in the first language that they were made to learn by the time they finish high school or college, depending on how many movies and eBooks etc they watch and read, as most words one learns are learnt from movies and eBooks and also from daily interactions and from school etc! There’s no way to deny that English is the easiest language to use / spell / read / pronounce / learn and the easiest to type on every device with the lightest spelling, a language cannot even be any easier than that, so it’s not possible to make an easier language that is a perfect or almost perfect and logical language like English with gorgeous words and a lot of diverse pretty word endings and modern and cool sounds, wherein each word combination and sentence sounds right!
Technically, any language is going to feel ‘hard’ to a beginner or intermediate, but when it comes to pretty and easy languages such as the Germanic languages, it is just a feeling that one has as a beginner or intermediate because one doesn’t know all the words automatically yet and because one doesn’t know how the new languages work, but one that is native speaker level can easily see how easy it is to use English and other Germanic languages, compared to the truly hard and impossible languages that are objectively hard, and even compared to the first language that one was made to learn! For example, ppl that have learnt English fluently (and that used a good learning technique and learned each word with its pronunciation and spelling) always switch to English when they have to explain more complex things in detail, that one cannot explain in the first language, as English is also the most expressive language that has the most natural flow and fluidity, so it’s just so easy to naturally form sentences fast, and it’s so easy to express all sorts of complex ideas in English that cannot even be expressed properly in other languages, and English is naturally easier to learn automatically, which can be observed even on yt, and if one uses the right learning methods and if one learns English to a native speaker level at least, one will immediately notice how easy it is to use English, compared to any other languages one knows, including the first language! However, all Germanic languages are objectively very easy category 1 and category 2 languages with the most organized aspect and the lightest spelling and the most memorable words that are very easy to learn, as they have the prettiest words and almost only gorgeous words, and one naturally remembers the prettier and more distinctive words faster, so one cannot say Germanic languages are objectively ‘hard’ as the Germanic languages are literally the easiest language ever! I don’t think ppl that say or that think that a Germanic language is ‘hard’ or a ‘nightmare’ have even seen a truly hard language that is objectively hard and impossible, which is any language that is category 6 to category 10 with impossible characters or odd scripts that are very hard to read and get used to and that have unnecessarily complicated pronunciation with tones etc, and languages that have mostly non-pretty words that are hard to memorize, as non-pretty words naturally require way more repetitions to be learnt and are naturally hard to remember, and languages that only have short words that sound the same and look the same, which makes it impossible for a learner to differentiate between them! Now, those types of languages are the languages that would be a true nightmare, not the easiest language ever English!, even though lots of ppl don’t realise that yet!
@@FrozenMermaid666as a linguist, I find it very hard to deal with expressions such us “prettiest languages”, or categories. Languages aren’t divided into those categories you talk about because the difficulty isn’t in the languages by themselves, but the native language the learner has. It’s not the same learning English for a German speaker, than learning English for a Cantonese speaker. The same way that it doesn’t take that long for a Mandarin speaker to learn Japanese than for speakers of any European language. Also, assuming than a language is prettier than any other is simply elitist, because it deems other languages as ugly or second class only because they sound different to you. You might have more affinity with some languages rather than others, but it’s only your opinion, so please don’t generalize. And finally, the only languages that are “created” are languages like Esperanto or Elvish. The other ones aren’t created, they originated and evolved here or there, like this or like that.
@@FrozenMermaid666 not bad advice on how to learn these languages for sure, but objectively English is not the easiest! the spelling alone, for example, is confusing even to English speakers because it combines spelling rules from a variety of languages basically at random. It's not at all impossible, but definitely not the easiest either (especially for people who speak languages like korean which have no relation to english; for french or german speakers it would be much easier because of grammatical structures and/or cognates). also (no offense) but did you write this with ai? lol
I'd love to learn Icelandic and bought some books, but the lack of resources is disheartening. There are no language courses outside Iceland, and the few you can find are online, with the interaction restrictions they entail. So far, I have been learning Icelandic songs (Friðrik Dór, Bríet, Ásgeir, Huginn, Jon Jonsson, Aron Can), so listening to you reading in Icelandic is very enjoyable, apart from soothing. Einar Georg Einarsson, Ásgeir´s father, reads some poetry in a couple of songs by Ólafur Arnalds and his son, and they are my favorite part. Icelandic has something special, something mythological in it. It's like the ancestors talking to us. Sorry if I sound cheese, but that's how I feel.
Great to hear you speaking in your mother tongue again, Ívar. I remain intrigued, though, as to how you've come to be able to express yourself in English as well as, and sometimes better than, the average educated native speaker - to the extent that it's easy to forget that you're not!
@@ivargu After re-watching an earlier video, I have to conclude that you are indeed an educated native English speaker - probably an American descendant of 19th-century Icelandic immigrants - lurking behind a superbly-cultivated Icelandic accent & a carefully-manicured Hollywood-style Viking appearance. As for the Icelandic-language bits, they're probably just voice-overs, rendered convincing through either innate or trained miming skills. 'Not an actor', my rass!
You could compare one sentence in Icelandic to what it would be in Old Norse, or print a sentence from one of the sagas and below it in Icelandic and below that in English to show the differences. If this is what you are asking for.
I'm not learning Icelandic, though the language interests me and I like the sound of it. This was really good. You sounded very clear, and having the text on screen like that was very helpful. Good job!
this is awesome, thank you for making this video! I loved listening to you read even though I don't understand a word. Icelandic is such a beautiful language
I really enjoyed this! I'm slowly learning Icelandic as a hobby, like many others, when I learned that Icelandic is the closest to Old Norse in the modern age. It started off as a fascination with Viking-era culture, beliefs, and practices, but evolved into a greater appreciation for Iceland itself and it's unique place in the world - the Land of Fire and Ice. One of my favorite bands is Skálmöld, and they have an album, Með Vættum, that I really like, because it's something uniquely Icelandic, talking about the four guardians of Iceland - Birds, Dragons, Giants, and Bulls - and a created heroine, Þórunn Auðna, that sort of embodies the spirit of Iceland. I hope to visit Iceland someday and appreciate it's bleak but bountiful beauty and it's difficult, yet familiar, language and people.
Thank you!!!❤ Although, I cannot understand enough yet, I expect listening will help me improve, thank you. Thank you, thank you!! I loved ❤ the voices!!
Very useful indeed...! The world needs MORE learner-level Icelandic materials. I've been getting good results from the Reykjavik University website Icelandic Online ( free and really well structured), and if you dig around on YT there are (jurassic) episodes of Talar Pu Islensku :) but not much more. Icelandic TV news is available but people talk too fast for beginners like me, so the kind of material you read here is GREAT. Many thanks!
@@jonkirk2118 many thanks for this. It all helps because my reading is not too bad for a beginner but the spoken word is a very different zone for my abilitiies!
I think you're greatly understating what RÚV has to offer. Very little of the domestic programming is geoblocked, and it's all subtitled. So for instance the weekly Landinn programme comprises half a dozen or so bite-sized chunks on a whole range of topics, with an even wider range of speakers, all using everyday spoken language. One big advantage of what Ívar has done here, though, is that UA-cam allows you to slow it down. The price you pay is that 0.75 speed puts a couple of beers inside him, 0.5 tops that up with more than just a sniff of brennivín - and if you go for quarter speed he's downed the whole bottle. Then again, he's entering into the spirit of Christmas ...
Hello Ívar, Icelandic is a fascinating language, absolutely my favorite among the Nordic languages! So I sat down in my armchair, I put on my headphones and I listened with pleasure to the story read by you. Thank you!
Thanks for this video, Ívar. I learned how to pronounce the alphabet thanks to one of your other videos and this was so useful for my trip. Now I can watch the text on screen and although I don't understand it... I can see why the the words are pronounced the way they are. Maybe in 2024, I will learn some actual vocab and grammar. I love the Moomins! I found reading song lyrics helpful but, I guess you might need permissions and stuff...
Yeah, the intellectual property rights are always going to be the issue with these things, as there isn't anything in the public domain that reflects modern speech.
Short modern icelandic poems would be very well recieved. Poetry requires slow reading and careful attention from listeners. Hopefully the poets would welcome attention from ears in distant lands, so if you ask them first nobody will get over-protective about copyright the way English publishers always do!
Takk! This was so interesting and useful to me. I've never commented before but I really love your channel and you make me feel at ease while learning this beautiful language. I would absolutely love more videos like these if they're not too much trouble to create for you. I was so happy I could understand full sentences here without even being familiar with the source material! Thank you once again. 🩵
Thank you for your . I know that maybe for you is a piece of cake, but for me means a lot todive in this langusge, icelandic sounds so .. hm.. interesting and quite relaxing .
In another island too, Sri Lanka, they speak another conservative indo-european language. It would be interesting to see how many common words these two languages have....
I love this! Takk Fyrir! I just did a trip to Finland and learned all about the Moomins so this was a great choice! As a language learner (I have a BA in Spanish), listening to the words and rhythm of the language spoken by a native speaker is super important to in order to replicate it. I love how you have the text to follow along too. Thanks for this and look forward to more. I am also jealous of how well you speak English! But I guess that pretty normal in Iceland? I was in Reykjavik this October and was lucky to attend the Women’s Strike this year. Some young boys walked by and asked me something in Icelandic. I replied, “eg skil ekki islensku,” and they jumped right into English without skipping a beat! I was so impressed! I wish the US would implement language requirements in early education, like Iceland and much of Europe does. But that’s a whole other topic! Thanks again!😊
Glad you enjoyed this. Oh the women's strike this year had a massive turnout. Great you got a chance to participate :) It's kind of you to comment so positively on my language skills. It is more "thanks" to media than education that especially the younger generation here has really embraced english. I was surprised a few weeks ago when I found out that my youngest child, aged 6 - who hasn't started any formal english education - can actually manage a basic conversation with someone in english... all from watching netflix, and youtube :D
Wow that’s great! One good thing that comes out of watching TV! 😂 I’m struggling to find Icelandic movies and shows. I’ve seen Katla and Entrapped several times but would love to watch more. Any recommendations? 😊
@@MelLovesIceland "The Valhalla Murders" was a terrific recent eight part series. Lots of the same actors from Trapped with Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir in the starring role.
❤❤ As one of those someones studying, takk kærlega fyrir þetta! Það er mjög gagnlegt! I’d love you to talk about favorite authors (íslenskir höfundar) ❤🤩
In April we will be travelling to your lovely country, and I'm trying to learn to pronounce & perhaps understand your language; At least be able to say place names, yes & no, etc. I hate being "that American" that doesn't even make an effort to speak a native language when visiting. But Icelandic? What the WHAT? Even slowing the video down isn't helping me match the sounds with the letters. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like the letter "g" is almost always silent?) I can speak some French, German, a little Spanish, some Russian even, but THIS is SO DIFFERENT! I apologize in advance to anyone I may offend on our future excursion in April. That being said....thanks for the video, and CHEERS!
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that there aren't any truly silent letters in Icelandic... although I am sure somebody can bring examples and correct me ;) Suffice to say that it is rare. They do however become quite subdued or mixed in with other sounds, so I know exactly what you are referring to. A 'g' at the end of a word sometimes becomes a soft exhalation that is barely noticeable. That being said enjoy your trip and don't worry too much about it. People will appreciate the gesture of trying :)
Þetta var mjög gott frá þér. Þessi myndband hjálpar mér örugglega að æfa mig í íslensku. Mér finnst mjög erfitt að skilja Íslendinga af því að þeir tala mjög hratt.😅 Ég óska þér og fjölskyldunni þinni gleðilegra jóla og góðs nýs árs.
@@ivargu I would definitely watch it if you do. I asked because I saw a video from another channel, Ecolinguist, where an old norse speaker said some sentences and an icelandic, among others, tried to guess what he said. In all the examples, icelandic was almost the same, just a few tiny differences.
I m a polyglot and I know the basics of almost all European languages, incl Finnish, hungarian n Albanian.. I m also studying Persian n Chinese nowadays. When someone tells me that Chinese is very difficult, I laugh a lot remembering my days learning Icelandic.. I still can t really understand much of it 😢 it s too little info on it, very difficult pronunciation, very unique n long words.. I speak Swedish btw and it still doesn't help a lot 😮 so yeah.. If U want a challenge, learn icelandic... P. S. Chinese is not difficult if U avoid learning those funny pictures of theirs 😅😅 otherwise it s very very very difficult and I would not advice U to learn that crazy stuff 🤪
Chinese was the first language I started learning, just took the class because it wasn't Spanish French or German. Within two years I was navigating life in China no problem (okay, SOME problems in my two months, but mostly I did alright), and I could have done it sooner had the opportunity come. Becoming truly fluent seems like a real burden, but functional basics are so easy to learn without getting bogged down with conjugation.
I'd love to help out if there are people looking to get a native speaker's, non-academic, perspective on some topics, so please leave me a comment and I'll try to cover it!
back in the days ivar was goood and sucess in life
I have a few questions, re some of the Icelandic pronunciation rules! Is the word kjallara pronounced chatlara with a CH sound like the CH in the English word chips? I was wondering about sounds such as KJ (if it’s pronounced as a CH sound) and SJ (if it’s pronounced as a SH sound like in the English word shores, or like a normal SY sound) and the G in words such as gæs / mörgæs (if it’s a DGY sound like the DG in the English word bridge, or a normal G sound like the G in the English word gotten) and the K in kæra / ákæra etc (if it’s a CH sound or a SH sound, or a normal K sound like the K in the English word keep) and the HJ in hjúkrunar (if it’s a SH sound or a CH sound, or a normal HY sound) and also the KJ in kjúklingur and kjöt (if it’s a CH sound) because I couldn’t find any videos explaining these sounds so far, and, I didn’t know if I should trust G translate when it comes to the pronunciation of these words, so I was very confused about these sounds! However, I know the main sounds (including the vowels and consonants etc) very well, so these are probably the only sounds / diphthongs that I wasn’t sure about, and I thought that it would be a good idea to ask speakers of Icelandic about these particular sounds, just to make sure, because sometimes I am not sure about the sounds I hear, and I also don’t know how reliable G translate is, especially when it comes to less used sounds and less used words, as I’ve noticed that some things don’t get translated 100% accurately, especially if it’s a less used verb or a less used noun etc!
Icelandic is a fascinating language. When I learned it is the closest sounding language to what was spoken by Vikings hundreds of years ago I immediately wanted to learn it. Thank you
Icelandic is so magical and amazing, just like Norse, being two of the most gorgeous and most alpha languages ever, and the other Norse languages are also gorgeous, and, I have been so obsessed with Icelandic and Norse and the other Norse languages, ever since I discovered them last year, as the words are so pretty, and so are the sound patterns and the sounds and the pronunciation rules, like, these languages are otherworldly, and they’re definitely the languages that are the most fun to learn and speak and hear and see etc, and the other prettiest languages also!
Icelandic and Norse are two is the prettiest and coolest and most unique and refined and heavenly languages and also two of the most poetic and modern and perfect languages ever created, as pretty as Dutch / English / Norwegian / Gothic / Faroese / Danish, having the best word endings and the best letter combinations and the best pronunciation rules / sounds / sound patterns ever and the most magical and elvish sound and the most organized aspect as well as the most pretty words and the prettiest words ever, and, Icelandic / Norse / Dutch / Norwegian / Gothic etc should also be an universal language like English, as they are equally gorgeous and artistic, they are definitely a must-learn for every learner!
Norse & Icelandic are also the most alpha languages ever that are also the hottest ever, while Icelandic & Dutch are also the most romantic languages ever with the hottest pronunciation rules and sounds and sound patterns, so they are way too pretty not to know, and I highly recommend learning them and the other prettiest languages 2gether!
The 6 modern Celtic languages Welsh / Breton / Cornish / Manx / Irish / Scottish Gaelic are also magical and elvish and gorgeous, so they are also great options!
I highly recommend learning them 2gether,, like I do, which saves a lot of years and makes the learning process way more fun, as learning many pretty and easy languages at the same time is the most efficient & fun way of learning!
I have over 50 target languages, having started learning languages on my own like one year ago, and I am upper intermediate level in Icelandic and Norse and German and advanced level in Norwegian and upper advanced level in Dutch and intermediate level in Welsh and mid intermediate level in Swedish / Portuguese / French / Italian!
By the way, Skáld songs are the best introduction to Norse / Icelandic and some of the other Norse / Germanic / Nordic languages as they all have super pretty melodies that perfectly fit these heavenly languages, so they are very áddìctive, so I highly recommend listening to all the Skáld songs (all the lyrics videos can also be found on yt) and learning all the lyrics, which are a great way to start learning these gorgeous languages - I also recommend learning all the Icelandic words from the Go Learn vocab videos, as there are thousands of words that they cover, so one can get to an upper intermediate level by learning all the words from the vocab videos!
Re learning Icelandic, here are some of the most important sounds + pronunciation rules in Icelandic, as Icelandic has one of the easiest / prettiest / coolest pronunciations ever, having a category 1 pronunciation with super cool modern sounds! - the eth letter ð is an approximant of the letter D (a less obvious D similar to the D in the Spanish word nada and like the TH in the English words this and that) and the thorn letter þ is an approximant of T (a less obvious T that’s sort of lisped, and it is the same sound as the TH in the English words think and thing, though it sounds closer to a normal T sound in Icelandic)
More pronunciation rules and sounds in Icelandic...
- the HV is pronounced KV
- the NN is pronounced as a TN if it comes after Æ and after EI / EY and after a long vowel such as Á / É / Í / Ó / Ú (but it is a normal N sound if it comes after the short vowels A / E / I / O / U and in inn word combinations, and I recommend adding a very soft breathy H sound to the ‘inn’ word ending in masculine words to make it a bit different from the word ending ‘in’ which is the feminine word ending, like I do, as I pronounce the inn more like ihn in masculine nouns and masculine adjectives that have the inn word ending, which represents the definite article in nouns, tho there are also three articles that aren’t added to the noun, namely hinn and hin and hið, so, one can say hinn stormur or stormurinn and hinn storm or storminn as both mean the storm in nominative and accusative)
- the LL is usually pronounced TL in most words and if the LL is at the end of the word it sounds more like a weak T sound
- the RN is pronounced with an extra soft ‘nasal’ T sound between the R and the N (so a word like þarna sounds like thartna)
- the FL / FN letter combinations are pronounced PL / PN (so F becomes a P sound if it’s before an L or an N)
- the G is ultra soft in short words like ég and mig etc, so it is pronounced more like an H sound (so ég sounds like yeh) and the G in the middle of the words is kinda soft (in words like segja / saga / segir etc it is a soft G that is still a G sound and not an H) and the Gs and GGs can also sound like Ks in many of the words if they are at the end of the word or even in the middle of the word and sometimes even at the beginning of the word (same as in Old Norse) tho Gs are usually pronounced like a normal G sound if they are at the beginning of the word (except for a few words)
- the KK / TT etc is pronounced more like HK / HT as a soft breathy H sound is included before the K / T sound when there is a double consonant and even when there are two different consonants (for example, ekki sounds like ehki and óútreiknanlegt sounds like outreihnanleht etc)
- the letter F is usually pronounced like a V if it’s in the middle of the word or at the end of the word (so leyfa sounds like leyva) and it is pronounced like a normal F sound if it’s at the beginning of the word or very close to the beginning of the word (for example, if a words starts with af, the af is pronounced af, not av)
The diphthongs and umlauts and vowels in Icelandic...
- AU is pronounced EOI (normal e sound + normal o sound + normal i sound said 2gether fast in one sound)
- EI / EY are pronounced EI / EY (same as they are spellt)
- the Æ / æ is usually pronounced ai in most Icelandic words (but hvenær seems to be pronounced kvenar and not really kvenair, so it depends on the word)
- Ö is an EO sound (normal e sound + normal o sound said 2gether in one sound, like the œ in the French word cœur)
- Ó is usually pronounced OU
- O is usually pronounced UO and sometimes as an O sound (depending on the word)
- Ú is a normal u sound
- U is a more rounded YU sound (like the u in the French word mur and it is also the same sound as the Ü in Hungarian and German and the same sound as the UU in Dutch in words like muur and duur) tho in some words it is pronounced like a normal U sound (especially at the beginning of the word in words like ungur, and when there are multiple Us in the same word it’s usually the last U that is pronounced like YU and most other Us are pronounced like a normal U sound in that kind of words)
- Á is an AU sound in almost every word (there are only a few exceptions)
- A is a normal a sound and the A before NG / NK is pronounced like an AU sound just like the Á (so að ganga sounds like ath gaunga and it means to walk)
- É is an YE sound (normal i sound + normal e sound)
- E is a normal e sound (full e sound)
- Í / Ý is a normal i sound
- I / Y is a half i sound (this sound is very similar to how the i is pronounced in most English words like fit and chips and this, so it’s sort of like a weak i that goes more towards an e sound, but it isn’t a full e sound, and it isn’t a full i sound either, so it’s right between an i sound and an e sound)
I also have the right Norse pronunciation, which is the most logical, and by the way, I will use DH for the TH sound in the English words this and that, which is the approximant of D and not the approximant of T like the TH in the English word think, and I will use AO for the ‘closed’ A sound that is like an A and O sound said 2gether in one sound (similar to the A sound in Hungarian) that melts into a soft O sound!
For example...
- hvat sounds like hvat or vat or kvat
- mæra sounds like mera
- ávast sounds like avast
- nágrindr sounds like naogrind:r
- líkligr sounds like liklig:r or likliguhr
- frænda sounds like freinda or freoynda or frenda
- þat sounds like that
- ræðir sounds like reidhir
- hárr sounds like haruhr or har:r (could have also been har / harr)
- gæfr sounds like gev:r or gevuhr
- hverfa sounds like hverva or verva or kverva (any of them or all 3 could’ve been used)
Also...
- hæll sounds like heyl
- saltr sounds like solt:r
- mæla sounds like mala
- drápa sounds like drapa or dropa
- kæra sounds like kaera or kaira
- ferr sounds like fer:r
- jafna sounds like yavna
- hœgri sounds like heoyri
- girðing sounds like girdhing
- hádegi sounds like haodegi
- ørendislaust sounds like eorendislaust
The word...
- verr sounds like ver
- ekki sounds like eki or ehki
- þverra sounds like thverra
- gegna sounds like gekna
- vefja sounds like vevya
- yfir sounds like ɪvɪr as in Icelandic
- ætla sounds like etla
- ofn sounds like ovn
- náliga sounds like naoliga
- sauma could have been pronounced either saima or seoyma like in Icelandic or both or even sauma as it is written
- ofleti sounds like ofleti
The emphasis of stress in Norse languages such as Norse and Icelandic etc is always at the beginning of the word - for compound words made of multiple smaller words, one should add a bit of stress at the beginning of each word that the compound word is made of and the most stress always at the beginning of the compound word...
I don’t think there was any fixed way of pronouncing the diphthongs, and it’s most likely that the pronunciation of diphthongs such as AU would differ depending on the word, including pronunciations such as ai / au / ao / eoy / oy / ey etc, and it may have also differed depending on the region and accent, and the Æ in Norse can have many pronunciations, depending on the word, so it can sound like e / ei / a / eoy / oey / uey / ai / ea / ae etc, depending on what sound sounds best and the most natural and easiest to say in each word, so one should use one’s intuition a lot in Norse...
The Rs are always different depending on the region and depending of the speaker in every language, but in Germanic languages, a soft normal R is usually used by most speakers and by younger speakers, and I highly recommend using a soft normal R in Norse and in all other languages that aren’t English as soft Rs have the best and most refined sound, soft Rs that are pronounced as fast as possible being the types of Rs that truly suit such refined languages as Norse and the other Germanic languages, whereas hard or prolonged or thrilled Rs sound very harsh and unrefined...
By the way, it’s also important to know that in Norse and Icelandic the G is usually pronounced like a K sound, especially at the end of the word, and in many words the G is pronounced K even in the middle of the word, and there are also some words where the G is pronounced as a K even when it is at the beginning of the word, so it is normal to hear a lot of K sounds when there is a G in spelling - for example, lots of speakers of Icelandic will pronounce even the G in góðan (góðan daginn) as a soft K sound, without even realizing, and this pronunciation rule comes from Norse!
(Very important, if one is a native speaker of English, one should know that, when I say normal A sound, I mean AH which is the original one-sound sound of the letter A, and when I say normal E sound I mean EH, and so on, so I don’t mean the way one calls the letters in English when saying the alphabet, and I used mostly the original vowel sounds that are also used in Latin, as English has these, but it also has multiple other pronunciations of the same letter / vowel, which are the more modern sounds and are usually diphthongs and not just one sound only, however, most languages only use the original vowel sounds that are one-sound only per vowel, so that’s why I am explaining the sounds in Icelandic from the perspective of a speaker of Latin etc that uses only the original one-sound sound of each vowel, so I am technically using a phonetic spelling to explain the sounds in Icelandic and Norse, so when I say EI / EY sound, for example, I mean ei like the ei in the English word eight, which sounds exactly the way as it is spellt, and when I say normal I / Y sound I mean the short version of the EE sound in the English word seen, so I don’t mean AI like when one says the English letter i when saying the alphabet!)
Even not knowing the language (Im native Russian-speaker, in best terms with English and German, do know Swedish basics, so actually I can get some pieces of the book) it's comfy listening to you. So calming.
My mom used to read books aloud to me when I was a little child, though my father didn't. Really miss this experience, it's quite significant and unique, in perception of a human life. Спасибо.
This was great. Hearing it spoken in a natural way (and not as fast as native speakers having a conversation speak) and being able to see the words really helps. A challenge I've found when learning is that when an Icelander speaks at their normal speed, many of the syllables seem to merge into one sound. Maybe we do that in English too but don't notice. Takk fyrir Ívar.
You do it more than you think, and basic examples of that are "gonna, gon,, trynna, wanna, y'all, I'ma, aight", but the English language is full of contractions, syllable omissions, and other grammatical twist like "yous, he do, ain't" or the frequent omission of the verb "you right?". Depending on the speaker, English is sometimes a nightmare, and I've been living in English speaking countries for 12 years being a second language teacher.
English is literally the easiest language ever created in every way, it’s not a nightmare at all, it only feels that way to ppl that aren’t native speaker level yet and that use very incorrect learning methods, including learners that are trying to find a shortcut and that aren’t learning each word with its pronunciation and spelling from vocab videos (as they should) and that aren’t revising the words (or aren’t revising the words enough times over a longer period of time) and aren’t learning each word automatically, so, they don’t know the words automatically yet, which is why it feels ‘hard’ to them!
And it is also because most learners are only learning a few new words a day (which is akin to passive learning and can take over a decade to get to a native speaker level) instead of loading hundreds and thousands of words into one’s hern regularly and revising them regularly until each word can be instantly processed and automatically remembered, which is the right way of learning new languages!
Also, most learners aren’t getting enough éxpòsure to the language and aren’t learning enough tens of thousands of words automatically, so, they aren’t going to understand most of what natives say if they don’t know the actual words, and all the idioms and phrases and slang etc, as English has way more idioms and phrases and slang and way more base words than any other language, so one should learn at least 35.000 base words to understand a lot of words, though I highly recommend learning over 100.000 base words, if one wants to understand almost everything on any tops!
I highly recommend learning the prettiest languages ever English / Icelandic / Norse / Dutch / Norwegian / Gothic / Faroese / Danish to a writer level, or at least a native speaker level, by watching every single video and movie with subs in the target languages, and also learning as many lyrics as possible, and watching and rewatching tons of vocab videos and all sorts of videos on grammar and idioms etc, which is the only way to learn a new language or many new languages (that are pretty and easy like the Germanic languages and the modern Celtic languages and a few others) in a few years, by actively learning as many words as possible, as opposed to learning them in a passive-like way, which is a very slow processes that can take over 15 years, just as when one was learning the first language that one was made to learn, as most reach a native speaker level in the first language that they were made to learn by the time they finish high school or college, depending on how many movies and eBooks etc they watch and read, as most words one learns are learnt from movies and eBooks and also from daily interactions and from school etc!
There’s no way to deny that English is the easiest language to use / spell / read / pronounce / learn and the easiest to type on every device with the lightest spelling, a language cannot even be any easier than that, so it’s not possible to make an easier language that is a perfect or almost perfect and logical language like English with gorgeous words and a lot of diverse pretty word endings and modern and cool sounds, wherein each word combination and sentence sounds right!
Technically, any language is going to feel ‘hard’ to a beginner or intermediate, but when it comes to pretty and easy languages such as the Germanic languages, it is just a feeling that one has as a beginner or intermediate because one doesn’t know all the words automatically yet and because one doesn’t know how the new languages work, but one that is native speaker level can easily see how easy it is to use English and other Germanic languages, compared to the truly hard and impossible languages that are objectively hard, and even compared to the first language that one was made to learn!
For example, ppl that have learnt English fluently (and that used a good learning technique and learned each word with its pronunciation and spelling) always switch to English when they have to explain more complex things in detail, that one cannot explain in the first language, as English is also the most expressive language that has the most natural flow and fluidity, so it’s just so easy to naturally form sentences fast, and it’s so easy to express all sorts of complex ideas in English that cannot even be expressed properly in other languages, and English is naturally easier to learn automatically, which can be observed even on yt, and if one uses the right learning methods and if one learns English to a native speaker level at least, one will immediately notice how easy it is to use English, compared to any other languages one knows, including the first language!
However, all Germanic languages are objectively very easy category 1 and category 2 languages with the most organized aspect and the lightest spelling and the most memorable words that are very easy to learn, as they have the prettiest words and almost only gorgeous words, and one naturally remembers the prettier and more distinctive words faster, so one cannot say Germanic languages are objectively ‘hard’ as the Germanic languages are literally the easiest language ever!
I don’t think ppl that say or that think that a Germanic language is ‘hard’ or a ‘nightmare’ have even seen a truly hard language that is objectively hard and impossible, which is any language that is category 6 to category 10 with impossible characters or odd scripts that are very hard to read and get used to and that have unnecessarily complicated pronunciation with tones etc, and languages that have mostly non-pretty words that are hard to memorize, as non-pretty words naturally require way more repetitions to be learnt and are naturally hard to remember, and languages that only have short words that sound the same and look the same, which makes it impossible for a learner to differentiate between them!
Now, those types of languages are the languages that would be a true nightmare, not the easiest language ever English!, even though lots of ppl don’t realise that yet!
@@FrozenMermaid666as a linguist, I find it very hard to deal with expressions such us “prettiest languages”, or categories. Languages aren’t divided into those categories you talk about because the difficulty isn’t in the languages by themselves, but the native language the learner has.
It’s not the same learning English for a German speaker, than learning English for a Cantonese speaker. The same way that it doesn’t take that long for a Mandarin speaker to learn Japanese than for speakers of any European language.
Also, assuming than a language is prettier than any other is simply elitist, because it deems other languages as ugly or second class only because they sound different to you. You might have more affinity with some languages rather than others, but it’s only your opinion, so please don’t generalize.
And finally, the only languages that are “created” are languages like Esperanto or Elvish. The other ones aren’t created, they originated and evolved here or there, like this or like that.
@@FrozenMermaid666 not bad advice on how to learn these languages for sure, but objectively English is not the easiest! the spelling alone, for example, is confusing even to English speakers because it combines spelling rules from a variety of languages basically at random. It's not at all impossible, but definitely not the easiest either (especially for people who speak languages like korean which have no relation to english; for french or german speakers it would be much easier because of grammatical structures and/or cognates). also (no offense) but did you write this with ai? lol
I'd love to learn Icelandic and bought some books, but the lack of resources is disheartening. There are no language courses outside Iceland, and the few you can find are online, with the interaction restrictions they entail. So far, I have been learning Icelandic songs (Friðrik Dór, Bríet, Ásgeir, Huginn, Jon Jonsson, Aron Can), so listening to you reading in Icelandic is very enjoyable, apart from soothing. Einar Georg Einarsson, Ásgeir´s father, reads some poetry in a couple of songs by Ólafur Arnalds and his son, and they are my favorite part.
Icelandic has something special, something mythological in it. It's like the ancestors talking to us. Sorry if I sound cheese, but that's how I feel.
Great to hear you speaking in your mother tongue again, Ívar. I remain intrigued, though, as to how you've come to be able to express yourself in English as well as, and sometimes better than, the average educated native speaker - to the extent that it's easy to forget that you're not!
That is very kind of you to say :)
@@ivargu After re-watching an earlier video, I have to conclude that you are indeed an educated native English speaker - probably an American descendant of 19th-century Icelandic immigrants - lurking behind a superbly-cultivated Icelandic accent & a carefully-manicured Hollywood-style Viking appearance. As for the Icelandic-language bits, they're probably just voice-overs, rendered convincing through either innate or trained miming skills. 'Not an actor', my rass!
LOL
@@tonyf9984😂😂
You could compare one sentence in Icelandic to what it would be in Old Norse, or print a sentence from one of the sagas and below it in Icelandic and below that in English to show the differences. If this is what you are asking for.
That's a good suggestion, I'll put that in the bank, thanks!
This is great. As a new learner of the Icelandic language, I'd love to see you create more videos like this.
Please more. Fairy tales are best for beginners. Thank you.
I'm not learning Icelandic, though the language interests me and I like the sound of it. This was really good. You sounded very clear, and having the text on screen like that was very helpful. Good job!
this is awesome, thank you for making this video! I loved listening to you read even though I don't understand a word. Icelandic is such a beautiful language
I really enjoyed this! I'm slowly learning Icelandic as a hobby, like many others, when I learned that Icelandic is the closest to Old Norse in the modern age. It started off as a fascination with Viking-era culture, beliefs, and practices, but evolved into a greater appreciation for Iceland itself and it's unique place in the world - the Land of Fire and Ice. One of my favorite bands is Skálmöld, and they have an album, Með Vættum, that I really like, because it's something uniquely Icelandic, talking about the four guardians of Iceland - Birds, Dragons, Giants, and Bulls - and a created heroine, Þórunn Auðna, that sort of embodies the spirit of Iceland. I hope to visit Iceland someday and appreciate it's bleak but bountiful beauty and it's difficult, yet familiar, language and people.
Thank you!!!❤ Although, I cannot understand enough yet, I expect listening will help me improve, thank you. Thank you, thank you!! I loved ❤ the voices!!
Glad you enjoyed it :)
Very useful indeed...! The world needs MORE learner-level Icelandic materials. I've been getting good results from the Reykjavik University website Icelandic Online ( free and really well structured), and if you dig around on YT there are (jurassic) episodes of Talar Pu Islensku :) but not much more. Icelandic TV news is available but people talk too fast for beginners like me, so the kind of material you read here is GREAT. Many thanks!
A couple of channels I've been using a lot are "Let's Learn Icelandic" and "Icelandic for Foreigners". Very different styles but great content.
@@jonkirk2118 many thanks for this. It all helps because my reading is not too bad for a beginner but the spoken word is a very different zone for my abilitiies!
I think you're greatly understating what RÚV has to offer. Very little of the domestic programming is geoblocked, and it's all subtitled. So for instance the weekly Landinn programme comprises half a dozen or so bite-sized chunks on a whole range of topics, with an even wider range of speakers, all using everyday spoken language. One big advantage of what Ívar has done here, though, is that UA-cam allows you to slow it down. The price you pay is that 0.75 speed puts a couple of beers inside him, 0.5 tops that up with more than just a sniff of brennivín - and if you go for quarter speed he's downed the whole bottle. Then again, he's entering into the spirit of Christmas ...
@@tonyf9984😂😂
Hello Ívar, Icelandic is a fascinating language, absolutely my favorite among the Nordic languages!
So I sat down in my armchair, I put on my headphones and I listened with pleasure to the story read by you.
Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed :)
Great, Ívar. Thank you so much!
Thanks for this video, Ívar. I learned how to pronounce the alphabet thanks to one of your other videos and this was so useful for my trip. Now I can watch the text on screen and although I don't understand it... I can see why the the words are pronounced the way they are. Maybe in 2024, I will learn some actual vocab and grammar. I love the Moomins! I found reading song lyrics helpful but, I guess you might need permissions and stuff...
Yeah, the intellectual property rights are always going to be the issue with these things, as there isn't anything in the public domain that reflects modern speech.
Takk fyrir bóklestur! Hátíðarkveðjur!
Short modern icelandic poems would be very well recieved. Poetry requires slow reading and careful attention from listeners. Hopefully the poets would welcome attention from ears in distant lands, so if you ask them first nobody will get over-protective about copyright the way English publishers always do!
Takk! This was so interesting and useful to me. I've never commented before but I really love your channel and you make me feel at ease while learning this beautiful language.
I would absolutely love more videos like these if they're not too much trouble to create for you. I was so happy I could understand full sentences here without even being familiar with the source material!
Thank you once again. 🩵
Thank you for your . I know that maybe for you is a piece of cake, but for me means a lot todive in this langusge, icelandic sounds so .. hm.. interesting and quite relaxing .
Thanks a ton for this video! I've been trying to learn Icelandic and it's hard to find things to listen to that aren't still much too hard for me.
Glad it was helpful! :)
In another island too, Sri Lanka, they speak another conservative indo-european language. It would be interesting to see how many common words these two languages have....
Ég elska að hlusta íslensku, tungumál sem ég er að læra. Ég vona að þú gerir meira myndbönd á íslensku. Takk fyrir.
phonetically sounds like Scottish gaelic. some calmer norwegian accents sometimes have the same sounds too, even if the wording is very different
My challenge is one day to read "Stjörnu Strid" I bought from Arni a while ago.
I love this! Takk Fyrir! I just did a trip to Finland and learned all about the Moomins so this was a great choice! As a language learner (I have a BA in Spanish), listening to the words and rhythm of the language spoken by a native speaker is super important to in order to replicate it. I love how you have the text to follow along too. Thanks for this and look forward to more. I am also jealous of how well you speak English! But I guess that pretty normal in Iceland? I was in Reykjavik this October and was lucky to attend the Women’s Strike this year. Some young boys walked by and asked me something in Icelandic. I replied, “eg skil ekki islensku,” and they jumped right into English without skipping a beat! I was so impressed! I wish the US would implement language requirements in early education, like Iceland and much of Europe does. But that’s a whole other topic! Thanks again!😊
Glad you enjoyed this. Oh the women's strike this year had a massive turnout. Great you got a chance to participate :) It's kind of you to comment so positively on my language skills. It is more "thanks" to media than education that especially the younger generation here has really embraced english. I was surprised a few weeks ago when I found out that my youngest child, aged 6 - who hasn't started any formal english education - can actually manage a basic conversation with someone in english... all from watching netflix, and youtube :D
Wow that’s great! One good thing that comes out of watching TV! 😂 I’m struggling to find Icelandic movies and shows. I’ve seen Katla and Entrapped several times but would love to watch more. Any recommendations? 😊
@@MelLovesIceland "The Valhalla Murders" was a terrific recent eight part series. Lots of the same actors from Trapped with Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir in the starring role.
Anything what can help me learning Icelandic is fine, thanks.
This is extremely helpful !!!
Loved the moo mins as a child
❤❤
As one of those someones studying, takk kærlega fyrir þetta! Það er mjög gagnlegt! I’d love you to talk about favorite authors (íslenskir höfundar) ❤🤩
Takk fyrir það, gaman að heyra að þetta nýtist. :)
Takk fyrir Ívsr! Ég tala smá islensku og ég elska þetta.
Great, many thanks! Maybe still a little too fast for beginners like me! ;-) Fortunately UA-cam parameters allows to slow the reading.
In April we will be travelling to your lovely country, and I'm trying to learn to pronounce & perhaps understand your language; At least be able to say place names, yes & no, etc. I hate being "that American" that doesn't even make an effort to speak a native language when visiting. But Icelandic? What the WHAT? Even slowing the video down isn't helping me match the sounds with the letters. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like the letter "g" is almost always silent?) I can speak some French, German, a little Spanish, some Russian even, but THIS is SO DIFFERENT! I apologize in advance to anyone I may offend on our future excursion in April. That being said....thanks for the video, and CHEERS!
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that there aren't any truly silent letters in Icelandic... although I am sure somebody can bring examples and correct me ;) Suffice to say that it is rare. They do however become quite subdued or mixed in with other sounds, so I know exactly what you are referring to. A 'g' at the end of a word sometimes becomes a soft exhalation that is barely noticeable. That being said enjoy your trip and don't worry too much about it. People will appreciate the gesture of trying :)
@@ivargu Thanks for your response. It's a very quiet language. Very soothing. Final question....can 'pp' sound like f?
Þetta var mjög gott frá þér.
Þessi myndband hjálpar mér örugglega að æfa mig í íslensku. Mér finnst mjög erfitt að skilja Íslendinga af því að þeir tala mjög hratt.😅
Ég óska þér og fjölskyldunni þinni gleðilegra jóla og góðs nýs árs.
Virkilega gaman að heyra, og gleðilega hátíð til baka til þín og þinna!
Have you ever tried reading an Edda in old norse? I bet you can understand it easily
Yes and no. It's about 50% understandable. Actually I had planned to do a video reading some from Edda, maybe I should put that back on the agenda? 😊
@@ivargu I would definitely watch it if you do. I asked because I saw a video from another channel, Ecolinguist, where an old norse speaker said some sentences and an icelandic, among others, tried to guess what he said. In all the examples, icelandic was almost the same, just a few tiny differences.
It’s too bad my language app doesn’t offer Icelandic. I would love to learn it
LingQ just added Icelandic 🇮🇸❤️
I always wanted to learn Icelandic! But as a native Hebrew speaker, it is quite challenging.
As I would imagine the other way around, Hebrew would be quite hard for me to get into, with the difference in linguistic families :)
langar að skipta? 🙈@@ivargu
I m a polyglot and I know the basics of almost all European languages, incl Finnish, hungarian n Albanian.. I m also studying Persian n Chinese nowadays. When someone tells me that Chinese is very difficult, I laugh a lot remembering my days learning Icelandic.. I still can t really understand much of it 😢 it s too little info on it, very difficult pronunciation, very unique n long words.. I speak Swedish btw and it still doesn't help a lot 😮 so yeah.. If U want a challenge, learn icelandic... P. S. Chinese is not difficult if U avoid learning those funny pictures of theirs 😅😅 otherwise it s very very very difficult and I would not advice U to learn that crazy stuff 🤪
Chinese was the first language I started learning, just took the class because it wasn't Spanish French or German. Within two years I was navigating life in China no problem (okay, SOME problems in my two months, but mostly I did alright), and I could have done it sooner had the opportunity come. Becoming truly fluent seems like a real burden, but functional basics are so easy to learn without getting bogged down with conjugation.
Not that very difficult to read, I guess, compared to French or English. But the sounds, like any other Scandinavian languages, are not easy to pick.
Frábært!
Next book: Sjálfstæt fólk
I don't know if I could do that without going into impressions-mode, trying to sound like Halldor Laxness 😂
þakka þér fyrir þetta vídeó 🥹
Mín var ánægjan :)