Takk Takk

Icelanders speak Icelandic. Icelanders also speak very good English. At the beginning of my trip, I had a goal of trying to learn some words in Icelandic so that I could attempt to add them into conversations when speaking to the locals. In class we learned simple words like hi, goodbye, thank you, and do you have any vegetables. We also learned how to pronounce some of the unknown symbols they have in their words. One of my favorite phrases is “takk takk” which means thank you. When we were taught this, our teacher said that while you can just say takk, most Icelandic words are longer than four letters so they say it twice to fit in with the rest of the language.

Since everyone speaks very good English, there hasn’t been much miscommunication. The only time that this has happened was when my friend and I were in the dressing area of a swimming pool. An older Icelandic woman came up to us asking for something but we couldn’t understand. We tried explaining that we didn’t speak Icelandic and didn’t understand, but I thought she might be asking for shampoo which I did not have at that moment. After a few minutes, she walked away and asked another woman in the dressing area.

I have tried my best to understand Icelandic and use the few words I know. Every time someone says something or I read a sign or menu, I try to pronounce the words in my head, hoping that I will become better and faster at pronouncing important words.