ICELANDIC!!! Who's learning it? Who speaks it?

[AgentKJ]

Play, I think. On the Icelandic soundtrack, "Playtime" is called "Leika Leika"
They also use the word "saman" a lot, which means "together".

Saman! Yeah, this is another word I was going to mention, but ended up forgetting. Thanks for answering my question before I've asked it :)

Haha, that's okay, I'd forgotten, but kind of edited my post so I didn't feel stupid. :)

[crosis52]

Hey, has anybody here heard about that guy that learned to speak Icelandic in a week. I wish I remembered his name. He also memorized the first 20,000 numbers of pi.

[sportastephaline]

Hey, has anybody here heard about that guy that learned to speak Icelandic in a week. I wish I remembered his name. He also memorized the first 20,000 numbers of pi.

I have! He went to Iceland to learn the language in a week, and appeared on an Icelandic talk show at the end.

I dont remember his name though

[sylvanas]

I happen to be learning Icelandic, as well. I'm quite far along. I've got a number of the Latibær songs translated.

[CmdrLuke]

Right now I'm using a combination of the program at http://icelandic.hi.is/ and the Teach Yourself Icelandic audiopack I bought from Amazon.com.

I'm using TYI too, but I got mine for free from Nindanjoe.

I can sing most parts of Cooking By The Book in Icelandic just because I learned the sounds.

I can sing Versti Fantur and Megabæt also from just learning the sounds. It's a good way to learn.

[ooozmin]

nah, I was interested in it too, maybe I still am. I remember seeing a CD @ walmart it was $5 or something (that's Canadian, so it's free in America) and it had "LEARN OVER 25 LANGUAGES" and Icelandic was there. Never picked it up though, those CD teachers always seem like crap to me.

[Edgar]

Stephanie/Julianna Speaks icelandic btw.

[Edgar]

Stephanie/Julianna Speaks icelandic btw.

She's pretty good too.

Julianna saying Rekyjavik

Absolutely .

[kallikak]

Yep, leika means play (as a verb) and leikur means playing/game (as a noun).

Right now I'm using a combination of the program at http://icelandic.hi.is/ and the Teach Yourself Icelandic audiopack I bought from Amazon.com.

Cool. How easy/difficult/whatever are you finding it?

So far, I'd say more or less the same difficulty level as Russian, although I've been doing Russian for 2+ years and Icelandic for about a month, so I haven't delved deep enough into the grammar of Icelandic to make a fair comparison. Icelandic grammar is complex, I'm told, but I'm prepared for that as Russian grammar isn't exactly cake. Pronunciation for me at least is more difficult in Icelandic...all sorts of weird sounds that have no English equivalent. Russian only has a few sounds that don't have an English equivalent, and even those are pretty easy to approximate, at least for me. The nice thing about Icelandic compared to Russian is that stress is almost always on the first syllable of the word, whereas in Russian it's unpredictable, and often the stress shifts as a word is declined into other cases.

I'm slowly working on learning/translating Versti Fantur myself. I've listened to that song so many bloody times, I almost have it memorized. Sylvanas, would you be so kind as to help me out with that? If you have the translation handy that would be awesome.[/i]

[sylvanas]

I actually have all of Versti Fantur, and a number of others, completely done. I'm taking my higher-quality mp3s and movie files, making altered copies augmenting the vocals while decreasing other frequencies to reduce instruments and other noise, then using a program I have that slows down the recordings without altering the pitch so I have more time to catch the sounds. It makes things a little easier. Having a new, better version of the Glanni stage show also helps. :/

I'm also using various programs on learning Icelandic and book scans that I've made to help with the learning and translating progress. Most of the stuff is out of print or incredibly difficult to find and order. I just happen to be in a good location for snagging the stuff.

Do you have AIM or MSN?

[Edgar]

Do you have AIM or MSN?

AIM:SportaEdgar ;)

i have Both, but i like Aim

[Victoria]

Stephanie/Julianna Speaks icelandic btw.

She's pretty good too.

Julianna saying Rekyjavik

I think she's saying it wrong... it's Rake-yah-veek

[ooozmin]

Stephanie/Julianna Speaks icelandic btw.

She's pretty good too.

Julianna saying Rekyjavik

I think she's saying it wrong... it's Rake-yah-veek

Wrong or right pronunciation, it sounds 1337

[Edgar]

Stephanie/Julianna Speaks icelandic btw.

She's pretty good too.

Julianna saying Rekyjavik

I think she's saying it wrong... it's Rake-yah-veek

Wrong or right pronunciation, it sounds

Mega-Fixed. ;)

[ooozmin]

HA HA! Edgar just won the thread.

omfg yes