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Does anyone have advice for learning a rare language, like Icelandic? A lot of the advice in this and other articles assumes you're learning one of the popular

Does anyone have advice for learning a rare language, like Icelandic? A lot of the advice in this and other articles assumes you're learning one of the popular languages that everyone wants to learn. While that's certainly a good thing, I think there's a lot of value in picking up these less common languages that give you more of a niche--but obviously that's something that's very hard to get started on.

oh_sigh 5y ago
If icelandic wasn't just an arbitrary example, if you speak English you can already communicate with 98% of Icelanders.
- popularonion 5y ago
  I think the only way to have a “niche” these days is to triangulate between two uncommon languages, but it will be one hell of a small niche. Like maybe knowing Icelandic and Farsi or something. And as you said, Iceland is not the best example, since for all intents and purposes it’s an English speaking country.
mabub24 5y ago
I think with something like Icelandic, your best bet is to find a teacher, be it online or in person. Because Icelandic has a small population of speakers, and less of a global reach compared to languages like French, Mandarin, or English, there will be less easily available resources. It will also be very distinct. I don't believe Icelandic is a part of common language families, like a romance language, or a germanic language.
yosito 5y ago
I recently learned Hungarian in 24 months. It's a relatively rare language with very little in common with other languages. It takes most English speakers 5 years to learn. My advice: start using the language as soon as possible, use it in every context you can, get comfortable sounding like an idiot. You only need 5-10 words to start using a language, and each time you use it, you build your ability a bit more. Immerse yourself if possible, and if not, you can substitute immersion with apps like DuoLingo and connecting with social media accounts in your target language. A lot of the language I've learned, I've learned via Facebook chats. Use machine translation, and start chatting with people 24/7. Over time your reliance on machine translation will become less and less and you'll find yourself understanding things without it. I also like listening to rock in my target language, but if I'm honest, I don't think that taught me much, it just kept me motivated.

oh_sigh 5y ago

If icelandic wasn't just an arbitrary example, if you speak English you can already communicate with 98% of Icelanders.

popularonion 5y ago
I think the only way to have a “niche” these days is to triangulate between two uncommon languages, but it will be one hell of a small niche. Like maybe knowing Icelandic and Farsi or something. And as you said, Iceland is not the best example, since for all intents and purposes it’s an English speaking country.

mabub24 5y ago

I think with something like Icelandic, your best bet is to find a teacher, be it online or in person. Because Icelandic has a small population of speakers, and less of a global reach compared to languages like French, Mandarin, or English, there will be less easily available resources. It will also be very distinct. I don't believe Icelandic is a part of common language families, like a romance language, or a germanic language.

yosito 5y ago

I recently learned Hungarian in 24 months. It's a relatively rare language with very little in common with other languages. It takes most English speakers 5 years to learn. My advice: start using the language as soon as possible, use it in every context you can, get comfortable sounding like an idiot. You only need 5-10 words to start using a language, and each time you use it, you build your ability a bit more. Immerse yourself if possible, and if not, you can substitute immersion with apps like DuoLingo and connecting with social media accounts in your target language. A lot of the language I've learned, I've learned via Facebook chats. Use machine translation, and start chatting with people 24/7. Over time your reliance on machine translation will become less and less and you'll find yourself understanding things without it. I also like listening to rock in my target language, but if I'm honest, I don't think that taught me much, it just kept me motivated.