icelandic

April 24, 2019 By Eric Leave a Comment

The current state of flying to Iceland

Update for 2021: Covid-19 has of course changed the information below dramatically. Things are changing quickly; find the latest Icelandair schedule here:

https://www.icelandair.com/support/pre-flight/flight-schedule/

The good news is that 24 airlines currently fly directly into Keflavik airport in Iceland. Icelandair is far and away the biggest, with flights from 18 different countries. Let’s take a look at Icelandair, and how they compare to other options you may have.

Keflavik Airport

As an aside, note that nearly all international flights to Iceland land in Keflavik, a city about 45 minutes east of the capital Reykjavik. Even if the destination city is listed as Reykjavik, note the airport code is KEF, which is Keflavik. See options for getting from Keflavik to Reykjavik.

[Read more…]

March 26, 2017 By Eric 5 Comments

Icelandic words and phrases to learn (or not!)

If you’re planning to go to Iceland, you really don’t need to know any Icelandic– Nearly all Icelanders speak fluent English. But a few phrases and words will help you figure out what’s going on. For example, below you’ll learn you that “safn” as a suffix means museum or collection. Take a look at the picture above. Now that you know safn, it’s easier to figure out that Grafíksafn would be something like a graphics museum.

You most likely won’t be having conversations in Icelandic. What worked for me when speaking to Icelanders was the “sandwich” approach, which isn’t actually a real thing. Say a greeting in Icelandic, say what you need to say in English, and then say goodbye in Icelandic. For example: [Read more…] about Icelandic words and phrases to learn (or not!)

May 20, 2016 By Blaer Leave a Comment

Icelandic with Blaer 2: Essential Phrases

Welcome to another installation of Icelandic with Blaer! I know it’s been a while, but since we’re actually in Iceland now, I can’t let my parents steal all the thunder! I’m going to share with you a bit of what I’ve learned so far: the most essential parts of Icelandic. (If you only read one post, make it this one.)

January 1, 2016 By Blaer Leave a Comment

Icelandic With Blaer 1: Pronunciation

If you’re planning to go to Iceland, it might be useful to learn a bit of Icelandic first! A lot of Icelanders speak English, but you’ll be able to go to more places and learn more things with at least basic knowledge of Icelandic. I don’t know much Icelandic yet, so I’m going to be learning as I post!

I have found Memrise, an online flashcard and memorization tool, to be useful for language learning (my favorite is Duolingo, which doesn’t yet offer Icelandic). I have made an account here and will hopefully be posting Icelandic flashcards as I go.

Here‘s the link to the course for this post, in case you don’t want to read the whole thing. And here are some resources if you want more information:

Omniglot, Mylanguages.org, ielanguages.com, learn101.org

November 11, 2015 By Blaer Leave a Comment

Halló!

Hi! I’m Blaer. I’m the oldest sister (14) and I’ll be posting about the Icelandic language, as well as managing some social media accounts. Here’s a little factoid to get you started:

In Iceland, many last names will be in the form [name]sson or [name]sdóttir. As you may have guessed, “son” and “dóttir” mean “son” and “daughter.” (Almost) everyone’s last name is based off of their father’s. Imagine you have a father named Erik. Then your last name will either be Eriksson or Eriksdóttir, depending on your gender. (Some celebrities in Iceland have a family name which is inherited, but the norm is these kinds of names, called “patronymics.”) If my family had been Icelandic, I would be Blaer Ericsdóttir. What’s your Icelandic name?