Tala íslensku! (Icelandic practice)

[tesseraktik]

Hæ!

Ég er sænskur og núna er ég að lesa Brennunjáls sögu* í forníslensku. Ég skil mikið en ekki allt. Ég vil gjarna æfa á að tala íslensku, svo ég er ræsi þessa umræðu.

[Ég veit auðvitað að nútíma íslensku og forníslensku eru öðruvísi, en ég stúdera gjarna bæði.]

Leiðrétta gjarna mistök mín!

*Beygjur þú titla?

[lynx]

I wish I spoke Icelandic, for a small country a lot of beautiful music comes out of it!

[Gigano]

Ég er að læra íslensku, þó hægt.

I really need some decent source material to really get into it, like a book.

[antonvalur]

Hæ!

Hér eru nokkrar leiðréttingar (eng: what follows are a few corrections):

# á forníslensku = in Icelandic something is written "on", not "in" a language, e.g. "Textinn hér fyrir framan er á ensku"
- however, if you are referring to a class, "í" is correct, e.g. "áðan var ég í enskutíma" = "I was taking a class in English"

# Ég vil gjarnan æfa mig í að tala íslensku
- gjarnan = missing "n" at end
- æfa mig í að tala = æfa mig "í", not "á" + you understand the sentence without the pronoun "mig" but it sounds weird and unnatural to a native speaker, similar to "I took the dog out for a walk" vs. "I took dog out for walk"
- well, you are not really speaking here, so "æfa mig í íslensku" / "æfa íslenskuna mína" = practice my Icelandic (in general)

# svo ég hef þessa umræðu
- "hef" from the verb "hefja" = to start
- the "er" is not supposed to be there
- "ræsi" is a verb you would use for starting up a computer or setting off a race, doesn't really fit in that context, though the sentence is understood, similar to e.g. "turn on this discussion" or "set off this discussion" vs "begin this discussion"
- I would substitute "svo" for "þess vegna" or "því" ("therefore" while svo = "so")… but it's not strictly wrong.

# nútíma íslenska og forníslenska eru frábrugðin
- Here you need to use the nominative case for "íslenska", see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_case
- as in other cases, using "öðruvísi" is perhaps not horribly wrong.. but there is a contextual difference in meaning. Usually you use "öðruvísi" when comparing said objects to something else, e.g. "nútíma íslenska og forníslenska eru öðruvísi en sænska" = are different from Swedish while "frábrugðin" fits better when you have already mentioned the objects you are saying are different. A er öðruvísi en B …. A og B eru frábrugðin.

# Leiðréttið gjarnan mistökin mín
- Leiðrétta = infinitive form of the verb, while "leiðréttið" is present, plural, 2nd person - asking "the people out there" to correct your text … see http://is.wiktionary.org/wiki/lei%C3%B0r%C3%A9tta

[thefreiburger]

I really need some decent source material to really get into it, like a book.

try this: https://icelandic.hi.is/
This is almost certainly better than any book

[tesseraktik]

Þakka þér, antonvalur! Ég þarf sannarlega að æfa mig

# á forníslensku = in Icelandic something is written "on", not "in" a language, e.g. "Textinn hér fyrir framan er á ensku"
- however, if you are referring to a class, "í" is correct, e.g. "áðan var ég í enskutíma" = "I was taking a class in English"

Ó ókei, þá er það líkt sænsku.

Jag skriver på svenska. = Ég skrifa á sænsku.
Jag tar en kurs i engelska. = Ég taka nám í ensku.

Er það rétt?

[drego642]

Hæ! Ég heiti Vincent og er frá Bandaríkjunum. Ég vil að læra íslensku!

... And, that's about all I've got. Do tell me if that's wrong, or sounds awkward. :/ I've been watching some youtube videos and familiarizing myself with Icelandic pronunciation and am moving into grammar.

I'm really interested in learning the language and am thinking of trying to find an Icelandic film on youtube to watch with subtitles (preferably in both languages), but I don't really know what's out there. Could I bother anyone for some recommendations?

[Setia]

I'm really interested in learning the language and am thinking of trying to find an Icelandic film on youtube to watch with subtitles (preferably in both languages), but I don't really know what's out there. Could I bother anyone for some recommendations?

Reykjavík 101 is good, so is Nói Albínói, but I would most recommend a series called Næturvaktin, which is hilarious. It is followed by another two series, and then culminates in a film. I'm currently midway through the third series, I think.

[drego642]

Reykjavík 101 is good, so is Nói Albínói, but I would most recommend a series called Næturvaktin, which is hilarious. It is followed by another two series, and then culminates in a film. I'm currently midway through the third series, I think.

Thanks, I'll be sure to check them out. Næturvaktin in particular sounds great.

[huangho]

I know one more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astr%C3%B3p%C3%ADa

[drego642]

I know one more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astr%C3%B3p%C3%ADa

Okay, that one sounds great, and I just found it online with English subtitles! Takk!

[tesseraktik]

So, einn af vinum mínum recently shared with me what I think is probably það besta sem nokkru sinni:

Tattúínárdǿla saga - The Star wars saga, rewritten as an Icelandic saga (in both English and fornnorræna)

Fornnorræna is Old Norse, not Icelandic, but it's still a treat for anyone interested in íslensk menning and vísindaskáldskapur

Hæ! Ég heiti Vincent og er frá Bandaríkjunum. Ég vil að læra íslensku!

I think that's pretty much correct (but I can't be sure).
However, I'm pretty sure you should drop the "að" in "Ég vil að læra íslensku."; "I want learn Icelandic.". This is because the subject of "vil" is the same as the subject of "læra".

I'm really interested in learning the language and am thinking of trying to find an Icelandic film on youtube to watch with subtitles (preferably in both languages), but I don't really know what's out there. Could I bother anyone for some recommendations?

One of the real classics is Hrafninn flýgur (lit. "the raven flies"). Two clips on YouTube with English subs:
Þungur hnífur
Blót til Óðins

[drego642]

Wow... That's incredible. I was completely sold as soon as I saw the lightsabers represented as swords emanating with colourful sparks of energy...

Edit: Takk fyrir hjálpina. =)

[wwjd_kilden]

*enjoys this thread*

I love Icelandic, even though I can't write or speak a word of it. Maybe because it makes me feel more like a viking :p
I vaguely remember watching a movie called Hrafnin flygur(sorry, no idea what it looks like with correct letters), at school once, which resulted in all of us trying to make words sound Icelandic for the next few weeks,

[drego642]

:D *enjoys this thread*

I love Icelandic, even though I can't write or speak a word of it. Maybe because it makes me feel more like a viking :p
I vaguely remember watching a movie called Hrafnin flygur(sorry, no idea what it looks like with correct letters), at school once, which resulted in all of us trying to make words sound Icelandic for the next few weeks,

That sounds awesome! I'd have loved to watch a movie like that in school. What class was this?

[tesseraktik]

That sounds awesome! I'd have loved to watch a movie like that in school. What class was this?

I can't speak for wwjd_kilden, but in Sweden it is (or was) standard watching in high school Swedish class. And, like wwjd_kilden, my classmates and I also very much enjoyed speaking fake Icelandic for the next few weeks/months/years

We also read Brennu-Njáls saga (in Swedish).