Product Description

A graded course in Icelandic, invaluable both to the absolute beginner and to the student of Icelandic literature and its culture. This course is based on a series of lessons providing a complete grounding in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary with exercises covering each stage.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #445939 in Books
• Published on: 1980-12
• Original language: English, Icelandic
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Customer Reviews

Steer clear if you're a beginner
It says on the back of this book that it's "invaluable both to the absolute beginner and the student of Icelandic literature and its culture."

But a quick read of the first couple of pages of lesson one will tell you that this simply is NOT TRUE. I'm an absolute beginner and this book baffles me.

Lesson one, page two: "Within this declension we note these variations, which may be looked up in the section called Appendixes: SM 1d; SM 2b..." How is this helping us learn a language? Right from the start, you are drowned in an impenetrable soup of grammatical terms and it never lets up until you get to the idiom section where you will be thrilled to commit to memory such useful phrases as, "To steer between Scylla and Charybdis." You won't be able to ask for a cup of coffee yet, but at least you'll be able to impress the locals with your classical education while you gesture at the menu.

Instead of grinding through this, I would recommend Daisy Neimann's "Colloquial Icelandic" which is a much more friendly and accessible introduction to this difficult language, especially if you get the accompanying CD.

"Teach Yourself Icelandic" is not for beginners, it's written in a very formal, academic style, and I'd say is only useful once you're well on the way to grasping Icelandic.

Old-fashioned and very out of date...
This book is a few years old now and the methods used in this book are very difficult to understand, in particular the pronunciation section which seems incomprehensible. I wouldn't recommend this to the *beginner*, try *Colloquial Icelandic* first. This book is too grammatical, with no dialogues of speech at all (it doesn't tell you how to greet someone, order in a restaurant etc...) and hardly any relevant vocabulary. There are quite a few exercises on the grammar taught in the book, which is good if you like grammar.

Not quiet for beginners....
I have been learning Icelandic for many years now and I have only just laid eyes on this book. However, it is clear from the start that this book is heavy on grammar. I would seriously suggest that anyone who would like to learn Icelandic reads Colloquial Icelandic first and then come to this book to fill in gaps of knowledge.
If you are using this book, BEWARE: it does cover quiet complex grammar early on (which can scare the non-linguist). Other than that, it is a great buy. You do learn a lot in a short space of time and there is a mini-dictionary.
In other words a great book.... just not for beginners!