Archive for 'Icelandic culture'
Differences between America and Iceland Posted by sequoia on Apr 28, 2012
These are things I had to learn by myself in most cases. I have mentioned similar things in my previous posts too. – Most Icelandic business’ webpages are just a homepage. A physical shop in Iceland very likely has no website that you can buy things from, you have to actually go there in person…
The old Nordic calendar. Posted by hulda on Apr 25, 2012
It’s finally summer, at least going by the old Nordic calendar! Last Thursday (19th April) was Sumardagurinn fyrsti, the first day of summer. Despite commonly using the Gregorian calendar just like everybody else, Icelanders still note certain parts of the year according to their old one, Norræna tímatalið, often called Germanic calendar in English. It…
English cognates and slang in Icelandic Posted by sequoia on Apr 14, 2012
There’s lots of English slang in spoken Icelandic, and a bit less in written. (EDIT: Please see Alex’s comment for notes about “cognates” and “false friends”, etc. as well as good examples!) In person Icelanders, when chatting with friends, might use straight English words for things that may not exist in Icelandic, that have a…
Easter proverbs Posted by sequoia on Apr 9, 2012
Here are the sayings I have from this year’s chocolate Easter eggs, as described in Hulda’s previous post. Some of them are clear just by looking up the individual words, but some, as she mentioned, might not make sense even to a native speaker. There might be some errors in typing them up, I noticed…
Gleðilega Páska! Posted by hulda on Apr 5, 2012
Happy Easter to all you readers! The holidays have begun in Iceland and we’re now living the dymbilvika/kyrravika (Holy Week). I’m not counting last Sunday’s Pálmasunnudagur (Palm Sunday) because the actual páskafrí (Easter holiday/vacation) officially started today and to Icelanders that is what matters the most. Freely quoting my boyfriend and a teacher of mine…
Doctors, Clinics, Medicine Posted by sequoia on Apr 3, 2012
Edit: This is a very long post, I’ve edited it to make it a little more concise but I’ll do shorter ones in the future. Also, welcome, Hulda! Sometimes when I find new things or people correct me I go back and edit old posts to reflect the new information. For example, I added a…
Strange photos Posted by sequoia on Mar 27, 2012
I’m slowly working on some posts that require research and double-checking from books that I may-or-may-not have at home, so while those are being made I’ll post some things like this post instead. Today you get “strange or interesting things I’ve taken photos of in Iceland”. By the pond in Reykjavík. The little house even…