There’s a lot of advice out there about how to learn Icelandic, and a fair chunk of it is either wrong, or so incomplete that following it will genuinely waste your time and money.
Five myths I hear all the time from learners at every stage, and often shouted about in social media forums. Some I believed myself. Some I still see costing people way too much money. All are worth deleting from your head before you go any further.
Myth 01: You need a native speaker as your teacher
You don’t. In fact, in many cases, the complete opposite is better.
Native speakers grew up absorbing Icelandic. They didn’t have to learn it the same way you learn a language as an adult. Which means when you ask them why a certain case ending changes, or why a verb behaves the way it does, they often can’t answer. It just is. That’s fine at a dinner party, but it’s a problem in a classroom.
The teachers who tend to move learners fastest are the ones who learned Icelandic themselves. They know how you learn the Icelandic language properly, covering all the “why’s” along the way. It is a completely different skillset.
Myth 02: Language school instructors are qualified teachers
Sadly, no. In a lot of cases, teaching Icelandic is a side hustle rather than a profession. There’s no formal qualification required in most settings, which is why the experience of learners varies so wildly from class to class, even within the same school.
That’s not the teachers’ fault. It’s a system that doesn’t require the training and doesn’t measure the outcomes. It’s also one of the main reasons we built Icelandic AI. Learners deserve consistent, properly designed teaching every single time they open a lesson.
Myth 03: Six levels always get you to B1.2
This one hurts to write, because it’s not the learner’s fault. But no. If you did six levels at a language school and were told you’re now B1.2, chances are you’re not.
We see it constantly on our aptitude test. Learners come in expecting to place at a high intermediate level after years of schooling, and often place several levels below where they’d been told they were. It’s not because they’re bad at Icelandic. It’s because they were graded on hours in the classroom, not on what they can actually do.
Icelandic AI is different by design. You have to pass the tests to complete a course. If you can’t do it yet, you go back and practise until you can. It’s for serious learners. That’s the whole point.
Myth 04: Language schools will get you there eventually
Maybe. But at what cost, and after how much repetition?
Because language schools don’t have real pass marks, learners routinely repeat levels to “retain” the material. In a forum this week, I saw someone genuinely suggest taking Level
1 three times to make it stick. Let’s do the maths on that.
The maths
Language school. Level 1, taken three times to retain it.
~180,000 ISK
Icelandic AI. Level 1, repeat as many times as you like.
49,900 ISK
Take Level 1 five times if you want. Twenty. The pricing is the same. The teaching is the same each time. And you have at least 12 months of access.
And that’s just Level 1. Language schools compound this problem at every stage, because they are funded by how many students attend, with no pass mark required. Icelandic AI doesn’t. Once you buy a course, you go at your pace and your level of repetition.
Myth 05: You should work at Bónus or a nursing home to learn faster
I’ll take this one personally, because I did exactly that. I worked at a nursing home in Reykjavík when I was learning, and yes, it helped. But I don’t recommend it as a strategy.
You should not sacrifice your career for a language-learning shortcut that mostly isn’t one. The people who progress fastest aren’t the ones who changed jobs. They’re the ones who studied properly and then used their Icelandic in whatever environment they were already in. The office coffee break. The neighbour. The local shop. The kids’ teacher.
Learning happens where you already are, as long as you’re studying properly on the side to develop strong foundations and proper understanding.
Where does this leave you?
Learning Icelandic isn’t complicated. It just needs an honest system that doesn’t waste your time or your money, and a bit of consistency from you. That’s the whole thing.
If you’re still on the fence, take a look at Level 1 or get some extra value with our Level 1&2 bundle. If it’s not for you, no hard feelings. If it is, welcome in.