Colloquial Icelandic: The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series)

Rating:
Summary: Buy this book...
Review: ...if you're serious about learning Icelandic, or at least being able to comprehend it to some small degree. There are so few Icelandic study aids available to the autodidact that _anything_ is useful -- but this one is not only useful, it's invaluable, if only because it's the only known audio/text learning guide to the language that I know of.

But this doesn't get high marks purely by default. It's actually a fairly compact little book with extensive dialogue and grammar exercises that the student will find useful. The tape dialogues are invaluable for learning pronunciation of words and individual phonemes. The latter is especially important, as there are many counterintuitive bits to Icelandic pronounciation which, if not done properly, can make one sound like a total fool when attempting to speak. The dialogues are useful as well, in that they illustrate what seems to be an unfortunate tendency on the part of Icelanders to completely gloss/glide over certain words in conversation.

At the risk of sounding like the back cover of a Berlitz language guide, with only two lessons in this book I was able to understand written Icelandic much better than before, and was even able to pick words out of conversations here and there. (Be warned that Icelanders seem to have a tendency toward speaking _very_ fast; thus, repeated attention to the dialogues will be useful.) Most importantly, I was able to function in Iceland without having to rely totally on English. While most Icelanders speak English to some degree, anyone planning to do any amount of exploration in the countryside had better know some Icelandic, if only to be warned of perils such as driving offroad into geothermal areas.

And it always helps to exchange pleasantries in your host country's native tongue.

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: I like the colloquial series... the right way of using useable language and still some of the grammar you need... workable CD's and excersizes... I am happy here

Rating:
Summary: CD version, available? Apparently not...
Review: I tried to order the CD version of this set (isn't that what's offered here..?) a week ago. Amazon sent out the cassette version. Sent that back, Amazon sent me a replacement--the cassette version again. When I requested a correct replacement, Amazon cancelled my order and informed my that due to problems "more widespread than expected" they couldn't send the set. I don't know what those widespread problems are and Amazon isn't telling.
I suspect that they don't really offer a CD version, just the cassette. You might want to be cautious if you really want the CD version.
(...)

Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly well written
Review: I've been to Iceland a couple of times and been ashamed to find that the language is so alien that barely a single word of it filters through. I'm going again soon and I've decided I want to at least understand a little of what I hear and read, even though "talarðu ensku?" (do you speak English) is a question you hardly need ask in Iceland. Learning a little of the language is all part of the fun!

Having tried and discarded the impenetrable "Teach Yourself" book, I came across this, and find it much more approachable.

I highly recommend getting the tape/CD that goes with this book. It really helps you understand how words sound when they are strung together in phrases and sentences. And it helps you get a handle on the subtleties of pronunciation. Without the tape/CD, it would be much less enjoyable.

Thankfully, the book starts out very simply, with greetings, pleasantries, "my name is" etc. The progression is well judged, so you don't quickly feel out of your depth, and it's satisfying to realise that the things you learn early in the book make sense later on. There are exercises to do, here and there, if you want.

I'd definitely recommend this to beginners who are more interested in starting to understand day to day Icelandic than studying Icelandic grammar. It doesn't give you lists of conjugations and declensions to learn, but gradually and gently introduces new elements of the language so that you don't feel overwhelmed, and genuinely feels like an aid rather than a hindrance.

A warning though: if you're not quite familiar with ENGLISH grammar, you'll reach a point in even this book that could be a stumbling block. Make sure you at least know the difference between the direct and indirect object before you get to the chapter about declensions!

Rating:
Summary: Let Daisy teach you Icelandic!
Review: It's fun to learn Icelandic, because of its multifunctionality: even if the opening of the present Icelandic society to you may seem insignificant (with 290,000 speakers a very small language), you can also learn it for reading the medieval sripts of the Saga's and Edda's in their original form. And if you just enjoy learning languages, Icelandic may just be the step-up to Latin and Greek, also languages with plentiful inflections.
This book is very very cool for self-studying Icelandic, whatever your reason to learn this most beautiful language. The book is divided in 16 lessons, gradually introducing you to new aspects of language, not found in English. The environment is amazingly fun, Daisy Neijmann did an honourable job, finding press-cuttings and other helpful items to have you "playing" with the language, when doing exercises (with full key!). There are also Icelandic texts here and there, which you can translate, if you want, because the correct translation is given in the back. The texts and exercises almost always have something to with Iceland.
Icelandic is hard to learn, especially when you are not familiar to terms like "subject", "dative" and "article". Lucky for you, Daisy has included a full list with all those terms, so you'll be brushing up your English as well!
The separately sold cd set, is not essential, but makes the pronunciation easier and with it, you can create a moment of being totally snow-bound by the Icelandic language, which, above all, is a good thing to become more or less fluent!
Buy this, and you can look forward to knowing a fairly high amount of Icelandic, and if worked consequently and eager, already in 3 months!

Rating:
Summary: So far, so good
Review: Just to clarify, I ordered this course and the package I received included both CD's and tapes (2 of each). This is one of the best courses I've seen on learning Icelandic.

Rating:
Summary: A bang-up job, but certain improvements would be welcome...
Review: This new book on Icelandic is a very well structured book that will enable the serious learner to communicate quite confidently in Icelandic. For a long time now, there has been a shortage of good books for people wanting to learn the language; "Teach Yourself Icelandic" is unsatisfactory and Linguaphones outdated version is a catastrophy. This book, on the other hand, is up-to-date and easy to use. In each chapter new vocabulary and aspects of grammar are introduced in a very logic way, gradually building up your language-skills from the beginning.

Since my grandmother speaks a very archaic dialect of Swedish, I found this book extremly easy - 75% of the vocabulary and most of the grammar was already familiar to me. If you don't have that kind of background, be prepared for a rather hard language to learn; the grammar is admittingly a bit complicated. On the other hand, all aspects of grammar are dealt with very thoroughly and they shouldn't present any major problems.

Icelandic is a very interesting language which have remained remarkably true to the language spoken by the Vikings. By learning Icelandic you will not only be able to cope in Iceland, you will also understand the more than 1000 years old nordic sagas in their original form.