Eysteinn reit:

> Óskar - that was truly inspired! A brilliant exposition,
> indeed. Congratulations on a job masterly done.

Thanks :)

> I would be interested to hear your opinion on the
> Modern Icelandic matter. It seems to me that the
> easiest way to learn ON is to spend some time first
> learning the rudiments of Modern Icelandic. I asked
> Martin Regal, an Englishman who has lived here for
> many years, and is one of the translators of "Sagas
> of Icelanders". He agrees. I also asked Jesse Byock,
> an American, who teaches ON at a University in
> California, and has translated Völsunga saga, and is
> currently working on a new translation of Snorri's
> Edda (for Penguin Books). He also agrees. Haukur
> disagrees. I wonder what you think?

I disagree. Some say the best way to learn French is to learn Latin
first, because then everything will somehow be magically clear; I
think the best way to learn French is to learn French.

> The reason is mainly that it is much easier to
> learn the basics of a living language. For example,
> you can get children's books, which is a great help
> for the beginner. Also, Icelandic translations of
> books you know really well, which helps a lot. And
> the newspapers. Etc.
>
> I'm basically thinking of saving time. I think you
> can learn ON much faster by spending the first couple
> of months learning the basics of Mod. Icelandic.

This isn't a fundamental reason, but rather a practical one. It's
easier to learn MI because there is more accessibility to texts of
different difficulty levels, e.g. very easy ones like children's
books. Students of ON (and other classical langs) have always been
obstructed by scholars' apparent refusal to produce any "low-level"
material. That's where we "step in" :) That is, we're here trying to
make the "children's books", to help the beginners.

"Sandwiching" in language learning (learning 2+ at a time) can be
practical, i.e. it can save time, in the long run. Just as buying two
hamburgers will often be more cost-effective than buying just one;
but if you only intend to eat one hamburger, perhaps because you
*can't* possibly eat two, _only buy one hamburger_, no matter what
discount you're being fooled with :)

So this course is intended for people to learn one specific language,
because I think most of the students are just after ON; but knowing
the importance of MI's close link with (NB) "standard" ON (i.e. OI),
the course is also designed to provide jump-off points for subsequent
learning of Icelandic, Faroese, or whatever you may think of that's
related to ON.

Óskar