Learn Icelandic Through Topics You Actually Care About

LingoBear creates short Icelandic passages on topics you choose. Tap any word for an instant English translation and build your vocabulary as you read. North Germanic language, 32-letter Latin alphabet with þ and ð, four cases, three genders, language so conservative modern speakers can still read 13th-century sagas, ~380,000 speakers.

Tap any word for instant translation

Every word in your Icelandic reading passage is clickable. Get English translations and grammar help — vital for the four cases and many irregular declensions.

Read about topics you choose

Type any topic and LingoBear generates a fresh Icelandic reading passage — from Eyjafjallajökull to Sigur Rós.

Is Icelandic really the closest modern language to Old Norse?

Yes — of all the North Germanic languages, Icelandic has changed least since the medieval period. The grammar (four cases, three genders, strong verb conjugations) is largely intact, and the alphabet still uses þ (thorn) and ð (eth) lost from English in the late Middle Ages. Modern Icelanders can read the 13th-century Sagas of Icelanders in the original with relatively little training.

How does Icelandic deal with new vocabulary?

Icelandic's Árni Magnússon Institute and the Icelandic Language Council deliberately coin Icelandic-rooted neologisms rather than borrowing: tölva 'computer' (from tala 'number' + völva 'seeress'), sjónvarp 'television' (lit. 'sight-throwing'), and þyrla 'helicopter' (from þyrla 'to whirl'). LingoBear lets you encounter these in real reading material.