Hello Raymond,
 
Have you tried the new teach yourself Icelandic course available on the net?  Have a look at www.icelandic.hi.is and see what you think.  It's free and I think it's quite fun :-)
 
Cheers,
Sarah.
----- Original Message -----
From: Lewis, Raymond J.
To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, December 27, 2004 6:56 PM
Subject: [norse_course] Help with a Search for Modern Icelandic Study Materials

Hello Norse Course Folks:

My daughter and I finished the norse course lessons last year and decided to move on to Modern Icelandic.  However, we have had problems locating study material as useful to us as was the norse course and I would ask the members here for suggestions.  As an aid, let me list the study materials that we have used to some extent or are presently using and what we like and/or dislike about them:

1)  Colloquial Icelandic by Daisy L. Neijmann
2)  Learning Icelandic + Grammar Exercises by Au›ur Einarsdòttir, Gu›rùn Theodòrsdòttir, Marìa Gar›arsdòttir, and Sigrì›ur fiorvaldsdòttir.
3)  Icelandic: A Complete Course for Beginners by P. J. T. Glendening

We have found (2) to be far superior to (1) in terms of acquiring an appreciation for the patterns of speech and in the manner in which new material is introduced ([1] seems more applicable to the tourist).  The material covered in (2) makes for interesting study.  However, we are not retaining the vocabulary used in the lessons.  I think that this is mainly because of the relatively large number of new words being continuously added and the lack of useful exercises that would assist us in that effort.  The lesson material of (3) refrains from introducing a large vocabulary and also provides what we consider to be good exercises for the application of that vocabulary.  However, this book absolutely overwhelms us with the aggressive introduction of grammatical elements of the language. 

What we liked so much about the norse course was the fact that both vocabulary and grammar were introduced at a pace and in a manner that allowed us to make very good use of what little information we had.  The material, thus presented, more often conjured images rather than corresponding English words and, as such, was a real pleasure to study.  This is what we are seeking for Modern Icelandic study materials - and have not yet found.  Can anyone suggest something?

Thank you,
Raymond Lewis



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