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Icelandic Language

Icelandic CD-ROM
RRP: £24.95
Our Price: £19.99
with FREE P&P

Where does Icelandic come from?
The Icelandic language is a member of the North Germanic (Scandinavian) branch of the Germanic languages, a subfamily of the Indo-European languages. It is derived from Old Norse, the language of the Vikings who came to Iceland from Norway in the 9th century AD.

While the other Scandinavian languages have been strongly influenced by those of neighbouring countries, the insular nature of the Icelandic people has meant that the Icelandic language retained its purity over the centuries.

How many people speak Icelandic?
Icelandic is spoken by the 250,000 inhabitants of Iceland.

In how many countries?
The language is spoken chiefly in Iceland, where it is the official language.

Icelandic Culture

Icelandic Music and Dance
In Iceland, long epic ballads called 'rimur' were originally sung to simple melodies or spoken in a sing-song style. Comprised of thousands of verses with many stories and characters, they were often written down and read as family entertainment in the evenings. The stories described the adventures of ancient heroes.

More recently, Iceland's most famous musical export is Bjork, who has gained international recognition and success for her unique voice and song writing ability.

Icelandic Food and Drink
Traditional Icelandic food is interesting to say the least. Dishes range from the fairly standard and palatable - 'har_fiskur' (haddock); 'bleikja' (char); 'lundi' (puffin) - to the bizarre, such as hákarl - putrefied shark meat that has been buried for up to six months to ensure sufficient decomposition, or slátur, mashed sheep leftovers tied up in the stomach and cooked.

'Skyr' is a yoghurt-like desert made of pasteurised skimmed milk and bacteria culture. The traditional Icelandic beverage is 'brennivín', a kind of schnapps made from potatoes and flavoured with caraway.

Icelandic Attractions
Reykjavík: Iceland's capital is the chief port and focus of commerce, industry, culture, and higher education. It is also the world's northernmost capital and one of the newest, having only established itself in the late 19th century. Reykjavík combines the elements of a modern European city side by side with whitewashed wooden buildings and rows of brightly painted concrete houses. Most sites of interest are within walking distance of the city's hub, the Old Town settlement.

Gullfoss: One of Iceland's most visited tourist attractions, Gulfoss, is a two-tiered waterfall that has recently been purchased by the government and set aside as a national monument. It is a much-photographed scene among visitors, and when the sun shines, rainbows can be seen through the waterfall's spray.

Geysir: Just west of Gullfoss is Geysir, an area that contains the country's best hot springs. The outstanding attraction is the 'Great Geysir,' which first began erupting in the 14th century and ceased in the early 20th century after thousands of tourists tried to set it off by pouring in loads of rocks and dirt.

About Talk Now! Language CD-ROMs
This is an excitingly different language learning series. Talk Now! uses games and quizzes as a basis for making the learning process fun, easy and relaxing. There is no better way to teach an old dog new tricks and this fun element of the program means that your fears are forgotten as you absorb words and phrases without even realising you are learning them.

Talk Now! is the world's best selling language learning CD-ROM series for beginners, used by more than three million people to date. It's ideal for travellers, holidaymakers, business people, schoolchildren, students and families.

Anyone over 10 years of age will find the disc indispensable for improving listening, understanding and spoken language skills. There are nine topics: first words, food, colours, phrases, parts of the body, numbers, time, shopping and countries.

The games and quizzes included on the disc ensure that users have fun whilst using the disc, without realising that they're learning. The "intelligent" software feature remembers words you get wrong and targets your weak points.

"This is an excitingly different language learning series. Talk Now! Uses games and quizzes as a basis for making the learning process fun and relaxing." - PC Answers

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