Sæl!

Welcome.

My name is Paul Lambeth and I am a full-time student at the University of Glasgow, 19 at the time of writing. I've created this blog to document my process - partially so I can see how I've progressed and partially so I don't slack too much - of learning Icelandic. I don't really intend that anyone reads this regularly except me (learning a tiny language is a rather silent exploit) but if you do, thanks.

Why learn it?

I first visited Iceland two years ago with my dad. I found the people, the landscape and the culture fascinating - the way the people relied on but mostly let be the countryside was inspiring. My prior contact with the country had been minimal (mainly the band Sigur Rós and seeing Eiður Guðjónsson assist Chelsea towards Champions League qualification and Russian riches...). My lust for the country rose further after visiting again last year, between which time I'd picked up just enough Icelandic to be able to say 'coffee' 'thanks' and 'little' (I hoped Subway steak baguette was a masculine noun). After previously staying around Reykjavík and its suburbs with a few day trips out, we (me and dad) desired to visited the less touristy region of the north-west fjörds this time. We got a taste of the way the sparsest communities operate (the village Djúpavík has two all-year residents). It all helped to cement my will to visit for a longer while after I finish university.

The language is so beautiful and the nation so proud of it that it´d be daft not to at least be reasonably fluent before trying to integrate with a community, surely? That's why I'm learning.

Next post, blogging actually starts.
Bless! Paul x