Pimsleur Icelandic Conversational Course - Level 1 Lessons 1-16 CD: Learn to Speak and Understand Icelandic with Pimsleur Language Programs

This is an excellent tool for getting you started in being able to converse in the world’s oldest spoken language. Icelandic is a difficult language to master in that it is not based in Latin or any Romance language. If you are heading to Iceland for business or pleasure buy this course of instruction.

Amazing product. Purchased this for an upcoming trip to Iceland and within a few months I could speak basic Icelandic. I was able to communicate to people in Iceland (even though most speak English) and am able to read basic words. I will be purchasing the next set to continue as it was super easy and a great way to make a boring commute less mundane.

Favorable Factors1)It exists. Courses on Icelandic are hard to find. It is not represented in Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, or Babel. So, I was happy to find this set of CDs.2)On the whole, it is a good course. It uses the Pimsleur method, which I found to be effective for teaching a foreign language. On a recent visit to Iceland, I was mostly understood—and appreciated—when I used these words and expressions.3)It uses native speakers of Icelandic to teach pronunciation. By imitating them, you will speak in a way understandable by Icelanders.4)Icelandic is basically medieval Norwegian, Old Norse, so by learning this language, you will speak the language of the Vikings. Students who have already studied modern Norwegian will be helped by the numerous cognates shared by the two languages. Negative Factors1)There is no printed material whatsoever with this course. It really should have a printed guide that shows each word or expression taught in each lesson, as well as their phonetic pronunciations. It really helps both to learn and to retain information, particularly if you wish to return at a later date to this language. In the absence of a guide, I made my own, showing phonetic values and definitions for each word I learned. I compiled these onto an Excel spreadsheet.2)For each of the last six lessons of this sixteen-lesson course, the Icelandic speakers pronounce 20 additional words for the stated purpose of helping one to read the language. However, nowhere are these words defined, so you are left with 120 words, which you can pronounce but have no idea what they mean. An online guide shows how to spell these words, but again without knowing what they mean, they are useless. Once again, the lack of a printed guide is a major flaw in the course.ConclusionWhenever I go overseas, I try to learn the local expressions for “Excuse me” and “Thanks.” Learning these expressions earns one some respect from the locals. This course satisfied those needs and more. Judging by the encouraging words from Icelanders, they appreciated my sincere attempt to learn their language, which is spoken by fewer than 400,000 people. So, I hesitate to give this course a low rating. I’ll give it a 4 out of 5, because it really helped me during my recent visit to Iceland.

Icelandic is a difficult language for a non-native speaker to learn --even for someone who speaks another Germanic language (English). These CDs are fantastic. I learned commonly used phrases and words, and was able to converse with native Icelandic speakers and be understood. These lessons also prepared me to read Icelandic. I moved on from these CDs to the next lessons up.

We are going to Iceland this spring so I wanted to get familiar with the language and hope that I can at least understand some of what is being said. I think this is a very good set and the speaking is very clear though because some of the sounds of the words are so different than ours it is sometimes hard to know what exact sounds they are making and sometimes the same word will have a sound like 'th' and at other times it sounds like 'v' as an example. They say not to try to write anything down but I found what is working best for me is to write down the words as they are introduced on flashcards, then I look them up on Google Icelandic/English dictionary and write the Icelandic spelling on the back along with the phonetic pronunciation. This has made a world of difference and it allows me to start recognizing some of the Icelandic words which I hope will help with signs, etc. (some words look nothing like how they are pronounced!) I usually spend 2-3 days on each lesson to be sure I have it down. My only real complaint is that sometimes the words they use don't coincide with what the dictionary says but it has definitely helped me to become familiar with the language. I would recommend it, with my revisions!