I’d just started my first job with a salary. Whaaa?! Not just a wage! A salary?! Every evening I’d come home and open the same book, ‘Europe on a Shoestring’, and plan out where I’d be spending this thing I’d suddenly been given called ‘holiday time’. Iceland was top of the list. (Shoestring? Ha!)

It took me a long time to actually get there and it wasn’t until almost 10 years and many other countries later that I ventured to the land of ice and fire, and of course, had to learn a little Icelandic for the trip. This is my Icelandic story.

What did I know about Icelandic before?

I knew that it was a Germanic language but that it was probably distantly related, which I guessed based on geography.

I knew that it often gets “a look” when people say they speak it. (You know the look I mean – the eyebrows raise, the eyes widen, the “wow” comes out the mouth…)

I knew it had a couple of funny-looking letters that sound in some way like “th”.

That’s pretty much it.

What did I use to learn Icelandic?

Memrise is normally my starting point with any new language, and Icelandic was no different. I found a couple of basic/traveller courses there and picked one after a quick look at the words and phrases included in each level. In the end, I chose this one, which I worked on for 6 weeks or so before my trip and finished off on the plane.

I also wanted something more and Google soon led me to Icelandic Online. I stuck with the introductory course, which was great because although some of the activities were a bit glitchy, it has videos with real-speed conversations.

As well as my two staples, I also had a Spotify playlist that I created (mostly from clicking through ‘related artists’) and a TV series, Næturvaktin, that my friend lent me not long before my trip.

What was Iceland like?

I don’t really know where to begin. Iceland is INSANE. It’s one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever been to. I’ll let the images speak for themselves…

How much Icelandic did I speak?

Hmm…not so much. Most people in Iceland speak a reasonable amount of English and most of our trip we were driving across the country with…well, not so many people around!

But one reason I love to learn a little language before travel is for understanding the world around me, and for that, what I learnt in Icelandic definitely helped. I’ve compiled some of my favourite examples in this video, Learning Icelandic In Iceland.

9 Reasons to Learn Icelandic

Curious? If you want to know more, I felt so inspired by my time with the language that I made a 9 Reasons video! Woop! (Two videos in one week?! Yes indeedy.)