Hermína Gunnþórsdóttir

Why should I learn a language that is spoken by only 330,000 people? The challenge for newcomers and present inhabitants in Iceland

The challenge teachers at all levels are facing when teaching Icelandic as an additional language to newcomers and as well the challenges for the language learners themselves, such as attitude and tolerance to their use of Icelandic.

The language, only spoken by Iceland's' 330.000 inhabitants, is considered to be a rather difficult one to learn. For many years, Iceland has maintained so-called purism-oriented language policy in order to "protect" the language, both regarding pronunciation and grammar. This and the fact the number of immigrants in Iceland has not been very high until few years ago means that Icelanders have a very fixed idea about how Icelandic should sound and be spoken.

The discussion will be from the viewpoint of both teachers and language learners, in terms of motivation, attitudes, stereotypical ideas about "one pure language" as well as the way immigration affects such a tiny and isolated language.