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Prerequisite for entry
For complete beginners or those who have had only very little contact with the language.
Term duration
10 x 2-hour classes.
Aims and objectives
The aim of the course is to enable students to function at a basic everyday survival level (basic vocabulary, grammar, morphology, syntax and phonetics). Students should be able to communicate in and understand Icelandic on a number of practical everyday matters.
Please note, the syllabus is subject to minor changes depending on each group´s needs and progress.
Functions
- Greetings, introducing yourself and others
- Talking about skills and abilities (I can drive, sing, speak Icelandic)
- Talking about likes and dislikes (of activities and of food)
- Talking about activities happening at the present moment (I am reading)
- Talking about future intention (I am going to read)
- Talking about what was happening at a past moment (I was reading)
- Telling the time and what weekday it is
- Talking about basic routine activities and frequency (I often/never/sometimes wake up early)
- Making and responding to invitations (Do you want to come with me to the cinema?)
- Using numbers: exchanging phone numbers, giving your address, stating years, giving prices)
- Talking about food
Linguistic structures/ Phonetics
- The alphabet and the general sounds of Icelandic
- The different pronunciations of L, F and G
- Silent consonants in consonant clusters
- Deletion of -a, -i and -u vowels
Grammar
- Personal pronouns (in the nominative)
- The present and past continuous
- The verb að ætla to express future intention
- The present tense - verb groups 1,2 and 3
- The gender of nouns and the definite article
- The plural of nouns and the plural definite article
- The adjective góður (nominative, singular and plural)
- Numbers 1-4 in the masculine, feminine and neuter
- Word order
- The irregular verbs að kunna (to know how to ) and að eiga (to have)
- The impersonal verb að finnast and dative pronouns
Learning resources
Books
- Teacher’s own workbook and materials
Dictionaries
- Glossaries from Colloquial Icelandic & Learning Icelandic
- Íslensk ensk orðabók - Iðunn
- Ensk-íslensk skólaorðabók – Mál & Menning
In addition there is a wide range of language learning materials for self-study in the Self-Access Centre.
