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Colloquial Icelandic: The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series)
Colloquial Icelandicis easy to use and completely up to date!
Specially written by experienced teachers for self-study or class use, the course offers a step-by-step approach to written and spoken Icelandic. No prior knowledge of the language is required.
What makesColloquial Icelandicyour best choice in personal language learning?
- Interactive – lots of exercises for regular practice
- Clear – concise grammar notes
- Practical – useful vocabulary and pronunciation guide
- Complete – including answer key and reference section
By the end of this rewarding course, you will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in Icelandic in a broad range of everyday situations.
These two CDs are an invaluable component of the Colloquial Icelandic course. Recorded by native Icelandic speakers it complements the book and will help you develop your pronunciation and listening skills.
Course components:
The complete course comprises the book and audio materials. These are available to purchase separately in paperback, ebook, CD and MP3 format. The paperback and CDs can also be purchased together in the great-value Colloquials pack.
Paperback: 978-0-415-20706-5 (please note this does not include the audio)
CDs : 978-0-415-28690-9
eBook: 978-0-203-99545-7 (available to purchase from http://ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/audio_viewbooks.aspx. Please note this does not include the audio)
MP3s: 978-0-415-47084-1 (available to purchase from http://ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/audio_viewbooks.aspx)
Pack : 978-0-415-42707-4 (paperback and CDs)
- ISBN-100415207061
- ISBN-13978-0415207065
- PublisherRoutledge
- Publication dateAugust 9, 2001
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions5.25 x 1 x 8.25 inches
- Print length384 pages
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Routledge
- Publication date : August 9, 2001
- Language : English
- Print length : 384 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0415207061
- ISBN-13 : 978-0415207065
- Item Weight : 1.1 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.25 x 1 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,126,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6,476 inForeign Language Instruction (Books)
- #88,586 inSchools & Teaching (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find this book to be an excellent beginner's course in Icelandic, with one review noting how it methodically builds the grammatical system step-by-step. Moreover, the language content receives mixed feedback, with some customers finding it well-explained while others are unsure about pronunciation. Additionally, the language learning approach receives positive feedback, with one customer highlighting its semi-immersion training method. However, the difficulty level is also mixed, with some customers finding it easy to follow while others find it frustrating.
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Customers find the book remarkably well explained and appreciate it as an excellent beginner's course in Icelandic, with one customer noting how it methodically builds the grammatical system step-by-step.
"I'm veryimpressed by the depth of this book, and the relatively approachable presentation of difficult material...."Read more
"It wasbasic and comprehensive and perfect for a tourist, If you want to become fluent like myself, it's a drop in the bucket of what you need to..."Read more
"...Aside from that, I find this anexcellent beginner's course in Icelandic, the most difficult of all Germanic languages for Anglophones to learn--..."Read more
"...Thelessons seemed strange at first because there is no direct translation of what you are saying...."Read more
Customers find the book effective for language learning, with one customer highlighting its semi-immersion training method and another noting its helpful presentation of consonants and vowel sounds.
"...well explained, offering insights into patterns whichmake it easier to remember, and methodically building out the grammatical system step-by-..."Read more
"...this book, i suppose it is somewhathelpful in its presentation of consonants and vowel sounds (pages 2-4)...."Read more
"...of the Routledge "Colloquial" series, this one offers asemi-immersion training method...."Read more
"...job of introducing elements of the language throughengaging topics about daily life...."Read more
Customers appreciate the language content of the book, with one mentioning it is part of the Colloquial Series.
"Colloquial Icelandic..."Read more
"I like thecolloquial series... the right way of using useable language and still some of the grammar you need... workable CD's and excersizes... I..."Read more
"...Second, theIcelandic conversations are often interrupted with bits of advice such as "Now see whether you can understand the name of the company..."Read more
"Colloquial Icelandic..."Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the language content of the book, with some finding it difficult to learn and unsure about pronunciation, while another customer notes it provides surprisingly in-depth coverage.
"...The lessons seemed strange at first because there isno direct translation of what you are saying...."Read more
"I like the colloquial series... theright way of using useable language and still some of the grammar you need... workable CD's and excersizes... I..."Read more
"this seems like a great book, but i amunsure on some pronunciation, as this was not shipped with the cds it said it was supposed to come with, so..."Read more
"This CD set was not like Pimsleur's. there isbetter language instruction on YouTube. Need to hear the dialogs repeated more slowly."Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the difficulty level of the book, with some finding it easy to follow while others find it frustrating.
"...The CDs, likewise, are clear andeasy to follow."Read more
"...the rest and after a few chapters I find it oddly organized andat times frustrating...."Read more
"Can be Frustrating..."Read more
"...Icelandic is very difficult, lots of suffixes, etc, and it can be a bit overwhelming, so I really don't think this book is good if you are a..."Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2025Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseI'm very impressed by the depth of this book, and the relatively approachable presentation of difficult material. While most other "beginner" books are too light for a serious study of the language, this book doesn't shy away from tackling the elephant in the room: Icelandic grammar, which can best be described as byzantine. And yet it is remarkably well explained, offering insights into patterns which make it easier to remember, and methodically building out the grammatical system step-by-step.
Pedagogically I also think this book is fabulous. For example each topic starts with a dialog so you experience it in action, then afterward the analysis of preceding dialog explains the vocab, structures, idioms, and grammatical concepts that were used.
Be warned though, Icelandic is a difficult language, at least from a grammar perspective. Nothing can sugar coat that truth, so you do need to read carefully, slowly, and methodically to really absorb what the author is saying. But the author really packs in some great information and explanations while maintaining a friendly, approachable tone, so that if you're willing to put in the time and effort, then this book is IMO the best organized and most effective study aid out there.
(BTW here's a tiny sugar-coating regarding Icelandic complexity: while Icelandic grammar is a beast, its vocab often has English analogs when you look for them, so that helps a lot for native English speakers like me.)
If you're just looking to pick up a few travel phrases, then this book is overkill for that. It teaches so much more that you may find it overwhelming if you just have a casual interest. But if you're serious about learning the language to a conversational level then this book is a great step along that path. - Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2005I was getting ready to give a speech in Iceland and had no idea what the language sounded like. I tried several CD-based language courses, but none of them taught you more than just colors and common names. This CD course was EXCELLENT! I tested my Icelandic on the phone before I left and my hosts in Iceland were astounded at my pronounciation and knowledge of the language.
The lessons seemed strange at first because there is no direct translation of what you are saying. If you stick with it long enough to get past chapter 6, you'll be saying things like a native AND you will be understood! - Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2014It was basic and comprehensive and perfect for a tourist, If you want to become fluent like myself, it's a drop in the bucket of what you need to know. It hardly had any Icelandic grammatical functions for sentence structuring. In short if you're traveling to Iceland for site-seeing and need to know how to ask for directions or place an order at a restaurant, then it's perfect for you but if you want to know anything beyond that I would suggest ordering Icelandic language/grammar text books from the University of Iceland or The University of Reykjavik for advanced studies or those seeking fluency.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2013Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseI choose the 5 stars rating because the books meets its expectations.
It is a great book to deepen the knowledge acquired from other beginners books.
It has a great deal on interacting with the reader by giving you a lot of exercises. - Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2013Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseI was a bit disappointed with this book. Usually I use Teach Yourself books (Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish) but the Icelandic one is extremely expensive so I picked up this one. As I was reading through it, I wasn't given full explanations of certain grammar points, and that just left me confused. Icelandic is very difficult, lots of suffixes, etc, and it can be a bit overwhelming, so I really don't think this book is good if you are a beginner, who REALLY wants to learn the language, not to just survive a week's vacation. There aren't a lot of explanations, examples or practice activities to really help one absorb what they had just read.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2007The Icelandic language has a complex morphology that requires some dedicated study in order to master. And this book does a decent job of introducing elements of the language through engaging topics about daily life.
The two CD recordings, however, have some disappointing quirks:
1. The publishers have added fairly noisy sound effects of background commotion to the CD recordings such as those that you would find in moving airplanes, fuzzy telephone lines, and other crowded public places; the logic most likely being that we sometimes encounter background noises when we are trying to communicate, so why not make us learn the pronunciation with this same kind of interference. The result is that the sounds of Icelandic are presented in a muffled and indistinct way on the CD. It would be more logical to use the recordings to present the sounds of the language in the purest way possible during the learning phase so that the listener might stand a chance of acquiring them. I cannot imagine a classroom teacher bringing in recorded sound effects to play during class time. We have enough practice in listening to background noises in real life without having them manufactured and thrown at us during our learning phase of a language.
2. There is a lot of English on the CD recordings. First of all, every Icelandic conversation has a lengthy, detailed presentation of the setting in English. Second, the Icelandic conversations are often interrupted with bits of advice such as "Now see whether you can understand the name of the company that the speaker will mention next" or "Try to understand the numbers in the next sentence." This kind of information could easily be included in the textbook or in an accompanying flyer. There is no way of blocking this interference; and after multiple listenings, when a listener might like to hear only the spoken Icelandic, the listener is forced to hear the presentations and the interruptions repeatedly.
3. It should also be noted that the Icelandic phonemes are presented once, and the dialogues are presented at a normal rate of speech by the speakers. This is probably neither good nor bad, but if you prefer to listen to slower-paced Icelandic while learning the sounds, the recordings will disappoint you.
With the background noises, the introductions, and the interruptions removed, the recordings could be a satisfactory adjunct to the textbook.
Top reviews from other countries
- Diana EsteReviewed in Italy on December 15, 2020
3.0 out of 5 starsArticolo buono
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseIl libro è ben fatto ma occorre comprare il CD per la corretta pronuncia. - DH2OMReviewed in Germany on January 7, 2013
5.0 out of 5 starsVerdammt guter Sprachkurs!
Format: Book SupplementVerified PurchaseDieses Buch samt CDs wird auch diejenigen freuen, die sich mit neuen Sprachen schwer tun!
Da ich Isländisch nur zum Hobby lerne, wollte ich vor allem alltagstaugliche moderne Texte.
Dabei ist man mit dem Buch gut beraten.
Die Kapitel enthalten je einen oder mehr Dialoge (nicht zu lang), engl. Übersetzung (des ganzen Dialogs am Anfang!), Vokabularübersicht, Grammatik & Übungen.
Ab und an ist in den Übungen mit alltäglichen Materialien wie Restaurantkarten etc. zu arbeiten.
Am Ende gibt es ein Glossar und Index.
Alles im allem sehr gut und leicht durchzu abeiten.
Die CDs dazu sind ausgesprochen deutlich gesprochen, was mich besonders gefreut hat.
Einziges kleines Manko:
das Buch hat zwei Klappen auf denen je eine Liste mit den Inhalten der CDs sind.
Die Zahlen davor entsprechen jedoch nicht den Tracks- also lasst euch nicht irritieren!
Für CD2 sind auch nur die Inhalte bis Lektion 15 afgelistet, aber auf der CD sind dann doch auch die Audios für alle Lektionen zu finden!
Verwirrend, aber nicht weiter hinderlich. Darum 5 Sterne.
Für weitere Grammatik und weiterführende Literatur (!) möchte ich auch auf das Buch von Magnus Petursson verweisen. Das ist ebenfalls jeden Cent wert! - Topi TimonenReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 8, 2014
5.0 out of 5 starsIf you want to learn Icelandic, this is your book
Format: Book SupplementVerified PurchaseI have studied many languages, and this is one of the best books that I've read in doing so. Maybe the best. Before I started learning Icelandic I had learned German and Swedish; especially the latter is a useful language to know, since it is (a lot) easier than Icelandic but still has grammatical similarities. But Daisy L. Neijiman's Colloquial Icelandic will teach you the Icelandic language even if you only speak English. It has 16 chapters, and it teaches you all the grammatical rules you need to know, and also some you really don't. It is a very fast-paced book, and if you start skipping things you are going to run into some trouble later. Trust me, I know. In some cases, it perhaps goes a bit too fast, and I would highly recommend you to buy Stefan Einarsson's Icelandic: Grammar, Text and Glossary to read with this. Good example of this is the declensions of nominals. Colloquial has a difficult one page diagram of it, while Einarsson's book has about ten pages of examples. Yet for the starters that book isn't as necessary as this one is. It doesn't teach you the important everyday situation -things that this one does, even though it does have a nice chapter that teaches how to ask for a cigarette in the streets of Reykjavik.
One of the hardest aspects of Icelandic is the pronunciation. It is much easier to understand written Icelandic than it is to understand spoken Icelandic. Therefore it is also a good solution to buy the CD. It doesn't come with the book. The native speakers don't act out the dialogues with too much passion, but it's still worth the price, since they speak it slowly so that the student would understand it. I can't stress highly enough the need to listen to real Icelandic, spoken as it really is in Iceland. For that, I would recommend the Icelandic talk radio Utvarp saga, which is streaming online. It is pretty hard to understand even if you have read the book, so it's probably nicer to start by listening to some music in Icelandic. I would recommend music by Vilhjalmur Vilhjalmsson and Björgvin Haldorsson, since they pronounce their Icelandic clearly, unlike Jónsi from Sigur Ros who tends to make up words.
Daisy L. Neijiman's book also has a few downsides to it. Like almost all books in the Colloquial series, it's glossary isn't good enough. There are words in the texts that aren't in the glossary, and some exercises require words, that aren't there either. However, do not buy the cute little dictionary by Arnold R. Taylor. It has very few word to it, and the Stefan Einarsson book has a good glossary. Also Google Translate is a blessing. Neijiman's Colloquial teaches things in right order, except for one thing. The past tense and the present perfect can not be found until the chapters 14 and 15 and I for one would have wanted to learn those as fast as I can, since they are very important. Luckily they aren't very hard, and you can check them out before you actually come to those chapters.
Other than that, this book is perfect. Good, interesting chapters and grammar as clear as it can be in the space provided to it. It also has a much nicer cover than other books in the Colloquial series. I didn't speak a word of Icelandic before I got it, and now I think I can speak "mjög vel islensku". So get this book, and CD, and possibly the Stefan Einarsson book as well, and you have all the qualifications to learn this beautiful language.After that, learn Finnish. Also a very cool language. . - schaumschafReviewed in Germany on February 4, 2010
5.0 out of 5 starsAlltagsnah und praxisorientiert
Format: Book SupplementVerified PurchaseDas Buch "Colloquial Icelandic" ist meines Erachtens ein wunderbares Werk, fuer alle, die sich selbststaendig Grundwissen im Islaendischen aneignen wollen und dieses auch anwenden können möchten.
"Colloquial Icelandic" bietet eine uebersichtliche und meiner Meinung nach didaktisch gut aufgebaute Einfuehrung in das Islaendische, dem Lerner werden Alltagssituationen und einfache Dialoge vermittelt.
Das ganze wird mit interessanten Hinweisen zu Spracheigenheiten und Anwendungsfeinheiten aufgelockert.
Dazwischen gestreut findet man ein wenig Grammatik, diese wird auch in einem gesonderten Kapitel kurz zusammengefasst, wer allerdings ein Grammatikbuch sucht, wird hier nicht fuendig, sondern greife besser zuLehrbuch der isländischen Sprache: Mit Übungen und Lösungen.
Die Dialoge sind alltagsnah und die mitgelieferte Audio-CD ergaenzt diese perfekt und hilft die komplexe Aussprache korrekt zu erlernen.
Abgerundet wird das Buch durch eine kurze Wortliste Englisch<->Islaendisch und Uebungen, zu welchen natuerlich im Anhang die Lösungen nachgeschlagen werden können.
Fazit: Ein sehr gutes Buch fuer den Anfaenger. Man sollte jedoch Englisch beherrschen, sonst wird man mit diesem Werk nicht gluecklich. - TrafferthReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 7, 2003
5.0 out of 5 starsJust about perfect
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseA thoroughly enjoyable book. Excellent presentation - the book is very neat and evidently a lot of thought has gone into the layout. The examples are interesting, useful and plausible for everyday use, while the learning curve is just right.
The approach taken is to present the language as it is used every day in a variety of situations, and to to steadily introduce new aspects of grammar as you proceed through the book, eventually ending up with some very sophisticated constructions. What might be considered 'advanced' grammar is introduced fairly early on, but this is a good thing as you're going to come up against it sooner or later, so it may as well be sooner!
Icelandic is a fairly complicated language, but this book makes approaching it enjoyable and less daunting than tackling declension lists or verb tables. This doesn't mean that the book is light on details - the book is very thorough and all point of grammar and syntax are covered in a concise and informative way. At no point is the course hard to follow or unclear.
