The 7 Best Apps to Learn Icelandic Effectively
Maria Claudia Alvarado
Published on June 5, 2023
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One of the hardest parts of learning Icelandic can be finding high-quality resources to help you study on the go. There are many resources online, but only a few will truly help you on your path to learning Icelandic fluently. To help you save time, we have compiled the 7 best apps to help you learn Icelandic quickly and effectively.
With the ever-growing popularity of social media platforms and travel influencers, each day more people discover what Iceland has to offer. One of the reasons why people visit Iceland is its history and tourist sites. Iceland has natural wonders such as volcanoes, glaciers, black sand beaches, and is one of the places in the world where you can see the Northern Lights. You can also appreciate old buildings from the Viking ages, such as the Keldur Turf House or Iceland’s first settlement, Húsavik.
Iceland might be a small country, but around 314,000 people speak Icelandic. There’s a lot to explore, and knowing the language will help you navigate the country and experience Iceland’s history firsthand. Knowing Icelandic also serves as a door to Old Norse mythology and to other Nordic languages like Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish.
What Are The Best Apps To Learn Icelandic?
To write this article, I downloaded and used each one of the apps on this list for a couple of hours every day. I explored their features and what sets them apart from one another. Then, I noted their areas of strength and how they could help master the necessary skills to learn Icelandic fluently.
Scroll down to find the 7 best apps to learn Icelandic, including their key features and price.
| Best Overall Icelandic App | Pimsleur |
| Best for Speaking | italki |
| Best for Beginners | LingQ |
| Best for Vocabulary | Drops |
| Best for Learning Words in Context | Clozemaster |
| Best for Grammar | Mango Languages |
| Best for Learning Icelandic for Free | Tobo Icelandic |
Pimsleur
Best Overall Icelandic App
Pimsleur is an app designed to get you speaking from the first lesson. Each audio lesson lasts around 30 minutes and consists of listening to a conversation between two native Icelandic speakers. Then, they break down the dialogue line by line and prompt you to repeat after the speaker.
The goal is to develop your listening and speaking skills. After the first couple of lessons, you will not only have a better understanding of basic Icelandic but also a good grasp of the language’s phonetics. This is a good way to make Icelandic seem less intimidating. There is only one level available for Icelandic, so you will need to continue with other apps once you complete the course. You can learn more about the app in this Pimsleur review.
Key Features
- Audio-based lessons
- Breaks down the entire conversation so you can understand what you heard
- Concise grammar explanations
Pricing
Pimsleur offers a Premium and an All Access subscription. A Premium subscription costs $19.95 per month and gives you access to Pimsleur’s voice recognition tools and let you share the course with 3 household members. An All Access subscription costs $20.95 per month; it includes everything in the Premium subscription and will let you switch between the 51 languages available. You can also purchase lifetime access to Level 1 Premium for a single $150.00 payment. Pimsleur offers a 7-day free trial so you can try the course before you buy anything.
italki
Best for Speaking
italki is a well-known language learning platform and app for people looking for online classes. Practicing conversation with native speakers is one of the best ways to practice, especially for advanced learners. With italki, you can take classes with a Community Tutor or a Professional Teacher to develop your oral skills and work on your pronunciation of the Icelandic language.
Each tutor sets the price for their lessons and creates their own curriculum, so it’s easy to find an option for all learning needs and budgets. You can visit the tutors’ profiles to see if they are native speakers, how many lessons they have taught, what other languages they speak, and read past students’ reviews. This is important because it will tell you about the tutor’s teaching style and if they are the right option for you.
Because Icelandic is not as common as some of the other languages on the platform (like Spanish or French), there are only 6 Icelandic teachers available on italki at the moment. But most of them have completed several classes and/or have five-star ratings. You can learn more about the app in this italki review.
Key Features
- Take online classes on your own schedule
- Tutors create their curriculums so you can study what you want
- Filter teachers to find the one that is best for you
Pricing
italki tutors set their prices. Icelandic teachers currently charge from $16.00 to $34.00 per lesson. Most tutors offer a trial lesson at a discounted price so you can see if they fit your learning needs.
LingQ
Best for Beginners
LingQ is a helpful tool if you want to build vocabulary through reading and listening to short texts in Icelandic. The lessons consist of reading brief stories about different characters doing activities like going to work, going on vacations, shopping, and more. You can listen to the Icelandic speaker narrate the whole text, or click on the words you don’t know to see the meaning and hear the pronunciation. You can also save words to your vocabulary list, and create flashcards to review them later.
At the end of each lesson, LingQ asks you a couple of questions about the reading to make sure that you understood the text. Many apps don’t have a reading feature, so it’s nice to see that you can practice reading while also listening to native Icelandic speakers pronounce each word. Starting your Icelandic learning journey with reading could seem overwhelming, but LingQ lets you slow down the audio so you can hear the phonetics in each word.
LingQ features lessons for Icelandic language students of all levels, so you will find helpful content even if you are a complete beginner or an advanced student. You can learn more about the app in this LingQ review.
Key Features
- Practice reading short texts
- Learn word meaning, phonetics, and context
- Listen to native speakers
Pricing
You can access some of LingQ’s features for free, but you will have to upgrade to a premium subscription if you want to use all the tools the app offers. A 1-month subscription costs $14.99 per month and a yearly subscription costs $119.88 ($9.99 per month).
Drops
Best for Vocabulary
Drops is an easy app to use and teaches vocabulary for all kinds of topics. You can find vocabulary lists for holidays, travel, food, etc. It also teaches you short Icelandic phrases useful for basic communication.
The app uses colorful images to motivate you to study. The lessons are more like sets of flashcards, but repeating them will help you remember the words long-term. Drops also lets you pick what you want to study, so you can learn what interests you the most.
Each session lasts 5 minutes and is followed by a short set of questions to make sure you understand the meaning of the words. This app is helpful for complete beginners who want to start their Icelandic learning journey by learning vocabulary. Learn more about the app in this Drops review.
Key Features
- Vocabulary lists for all topics needed for communication
- Colorful and fun images for each word and phrase
- Short, 5-minute lessons
Pricing
Drops offers a subscription for $13.00 per month, $69.99 per year ($5.83 per month), and a lifetime subscription for $159.99. Drops also has a 7-day free trial or you can use it for free for 5 minutes every day.
Clozemaster
Best for Learning Words in Context
Clozemaster‘s method of teaching Icelandic is similar to an infinite quiz. The app offers vocabulary, listening, and reading practices. It also has a couple of fun challenges to test your knowledge. You can choose to practice the most common words in Icelandic or use the Fluency Fast Track to learn words in order of difficulty.
The lessons consist of filling in the sentences with the right word for the context. This way, you are practicing your reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. This is an easy way to get familiar with Icelandic words and phrases.
Every time you answer a question correctly, you will level up and a fun animation will pop up to motivate you. Overall, I think this app is a fun way to test how much Icelandic you have learned. You can use Clozemaster with other learning resources to polish your knowledge of Icelandic. Find out more about the app in this Clozemaster review.
Key Features
- Teaches words in context
- Learn words in order of difficulty
- Practice everyday phrases
Pricing
Clozemaster offers a Pro subscription for $8.99 per month or $69.99 per year. You can use the app for free, but you can only practice 30 sentences per day.
Mango Languages
Best for Grammar
Mango Languages is an app developed by linguists to help you learn phrases, vocabulary, grammar, and phonetics. You will first be introduced to basic Icelandic phrases such as presenting yourself and asking for people’s names. The app then breaks down the sentence, plays audio with the pronunciation for each word, and prompts you to repeat after the speaker.
The app also gives Icelandic grammar notes to help you understand sentence structure and word use. After you hear each phrase, the speaker will explain the English equivalent of the sentence. I found this particularly helpful when learning the different verb and subject forms. You can find out more about the app in this Mango Languages review.
Key Features
- Learn through repetition
- Concise grammar notes
- Listen to the pronunciation of each word
Pricing
Mango Languages offers a Single Language subscription as well as an All Languages subscription that gives you access to all the language courses available. A Single Language subscription costs $7.99 per month, while an All Languages subscription costs $17.99 per month. Many public organizations, such as public libraries and universities, offers Mango for free. Mango Languages also offers a free trial once you register.
Tobo Icelandic
Best for Learning Icelandic for Free
Tobo Icelandic starts you off with a set of basic vocabulary words and motivates you to use fun challenges and games to test your long-term memory. The app uses flashcards and animations to help you remember the words, and you can save the ones you want to practice again in the future. With each new set of vocabulary words you learn and each challenge you complete, you gain points and unlock new lessons and games.
The games test if you remember the meaning and spelling of each word, so this is a good option for beginners that want to learn vocabulary. The games are fun and help you stay motivated in your Icelandic learning journey. If you get stuck, you can ask Tobo for hints to guess the answer.
The lessons also include audio with the pronunciation of each word. It doesn’t have voice recognition, but I found that constantly hearing the pronunciation or repeating after was helpful to remember the words. This is a fairly new app, so it will be interesting to see what they will add in the future.
Key Features
- Learn vocabulary to unlock more lessons and games
- Play vocabulary games for free
- Provides hints to help you guess the words
Pricing
You can unlock all of Tobo Icelandic’s content for free by completing lessons and games, but you will be occasionally interrupted by ads. Or you can upgrade to Tobo Premium to get rid of the ads, and access all of Tobo’s content without having to win points. Tobo Premium costs $2.99 per month, but you can also purchase 3 months for $6.49 or 12 months for $18.99.
Why You Should Use Apps To Learn Icelandic
Using apps to learn Icelandic is convenient because you can stop and continue whenever you have free time. The good thing about language learning apps is that you can adjust your study time to fit your daily schedule. You can use an app to study Icelandic during work breaks, listen to a lesson while you are on the bus, or cooking a meal.
There is a good variety of apps to help you tackle each skill necessary for learning Icelandic fluently, so you can mix and match as much as you need. They are interactive and addictive and can help make learning a fun experience.
How To Use Apps To Learn Icelandic
The best way to use apps to learn Icelandic is constant practice. If you use an app to study Icelandic every day, or at least a couple of times each week, you will see constant progress. There is not one single app that can magically make you speak Icelandic fluently, but with dedication and effort, you will be able to speak before you know it.
You can also use language apps in combination with other resources, such as books or online courses, to help you practice specific skills like reading comprehension. Some apps track your progress, which is also a good way to see how far you have come and keep you motivated to learn.
Best Apps To Learn Icelandic: Final Thoughts
Once you have defined your language goals, you can choose what apps can help you on your Icelandic learning journey. This list provides high-quality options that fit all learning styles and study methods. You can use these apps to learn vocabulary, practice talking with a tutor, or repeat until you are comfortable with the phonetics. It doesn’t matter if you are a complete beginner or an advanced speaker, you can find something for you in this list!
Best Apps To Learn Icelandic: FAQ
There are apps that teach Icelandic such as Pimsleur, Drops, and LingQ. Most apps focus on developing one or two specific skills like reading and learning vocabulary or speaking and listening. You can also find apps that connect you with Icelandic tutors like italki or Preply.
The best way to learn Icelandic is by studying consistently. Studying Icelandic every day or at least a few times a week will help you retain what you have learned and move forward. Having a study routine and using the method that works best for you help you see continuous progress and stay motivated.
As of 2023, Duolingo doesn’t offer the Icelandic language. But you can find other excellent options, such as Pimsleur, Drops, LingQ, and Mango Languages that can help you learn the language.
Learning Icelandic can be difficult. The US Department of State has classified Icelandic as a Category III language, meaning it takes around 1,100 class hours for English speakers to learn Icelandic. This number is only an estimate and can vary depending on your natural ability to learn languages.
Check out our Fluency Calculator to see how long it will take you to learn Icelandic.
