Comment by OfSanguineFire | Hacker News Reader

Comment by OfSanguineFire | Hacker News Reader

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The sagas abound in obsolete vocabulary, things that are never said in spoken language today and unrecognizable to Icelanders without a commentary. Icelandic is conservative in some vocabulary, due to a decision since the 19th century to revive some old words and coin new native terms instead of borrowing from other languages. However, plenty of other old words fell by the wayside. It makes no more sense to read the sagas in preparation for a trip to the modern country, than for a foreigner to read Shakespeare or Chaucer in preparation for being a tourist in the UK.

Also, don’t expect to speak Icelandic as a tourist in Iceland. The local people are well known for keeping aloof from tourists (tourists most often interact with a foreign workforce brought in from Poland etc. to serve them), and unless you have already gone through a course of the language that has prepared you to handle a full conversation, they will simply immediately switch to English; otherwise they would feel you are just wasting their time.

On the contrary Icelanders are very friendly and will talk to you in Icelandic if you ask. People mostly switch because their English is excellent and they want to be accommodating. They’re also not being deliberately aloof from tourists there’s just waaaay more jobs than there are native Icelanders to fill them, particularly in construction and seasonal work like tourism.

> otherwise they would feel you are just wasting their time.

I don't think this is a fair characterization. Icelandic people have however gotten very used to speaking English in their day-to-day lives because there are so many immigrants that don't speak Icelandic. Practically every time you go to a store and talk to a clerk, you'll have to speak English.

Yeah I can't speak for everyone, but it's not feeling like they're wasting their own time. It's more out of concern for wasting your time.

It is often very welcomed when you ask to speak Icelandic and are learning. People will take the time, slow down their speech and offer words of encouragement like "you are doing really well"

My interactions around language switching were always pleasant. My group was always greeted in English, then everyone would switch to Icelandic for me -- and I know very little. Sometimes I could fake a sentence or two, but generally there was a laugh and switch to English as it became apparent I was not native.

> The local people are well known for keeping aloof from tourists

A friend of mine tells the story of being in a bar in Reykjavik minding his own business, when two young ladies approached him and after a little small talk asked, "Do you know how to make love to an Icelander?" When he answered, "no", they replied, "You just ask." He turned beet red and left as quickly as possible, but... that doesn't sound aloof to me ;-)

I'm jelly.

It's not like it was a situation he was going to try and take advantage of, and on a little reflection he figured they were probably working a scam on him.

Depends when it was but Iceland has always had a very raucous and drunken nightlife. Hookups from bars are not at all uncommon, it’s how I met my wife! A lot of relationships start through serial hookups on nights out. Packed, tiny bars also means you’ll almost certainly have someone offering to buddy up to pee of either gender just to speed things along.

> pee

Is that what they call it these days?

Honestly, they probably weren't. My experience in Iceland around 8 years ago was very similar to that. I actually took a step back because it was too easy, and skeeved me out a bit.

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