Sunday Post - 08.09.1940, Blaðsíða 6

6
SUNDAY POST
Correspondance
LEARNING ISLANDIC
To the Editor Sunday Post.
Sir!
Be they deserved or not I should be eit-
her more or less than human if I did not
appreciate the kind words said about my-
self and the English Bookshop in the first
issue of the Sunday Post. Indeed I do.
But the generous writer of the laudatory
remarks says something to which I take
exception, and if on that account I feel in-
clined to cross swords with him I am sure
he will not resent.
I am referring to his rather discouraging
words about the study of Icelandic. If some
of the British friends who are now with us
have not got much farther than the
chapter on the alphabet, is that necessarily
the fault of our language? I should think
it was in a far greater degree due to lack
of time and especially to lack of encou-
ragement — not to speak of help. When I
began my English studies the difficulties
looked to me insuperable. They did not
prove to be.
Your correspondent has pounced upon
the letter g. Theoretically it is the most
difficult one in our alphabet, but in prac-
tice no Englishman, much less a Scots-
man will long find it troublesome. The
only Icelandic sound likely to prove a
lasting source of difficulty is the r, because
the student is apt to forget to trill it
sufficiently.
The British soldiers have been here
during the nightless days of summer, and
they have had to work hard. This will
change. Every week the days are growing
shorter. “The night cometh, when no man
can work”. In the winter these men are
bound to have time to spare. They could
employ it worse than by studying Ice-
landic.
Since the first landing of the B.E.F. in
Iceland I have wished and hoped for one
thing: that our British friends would teach
English and learn Icelandic; that their
coming would be the means of ushering
in a new epoch in the cultural relations
of Great Britain and Iceland. I still hope
for this; I still hope that these two kindred
peoples, with their great temperamental
affinities, will in the years to come draw
closer together.
If this is to be then it is essential that
they should try to understand each other,
and for that purpose they must exchange
ideas. So let us be businesslike and take
the matter in hand. I suggest that an ex-
change of lessons — private lessons and
classes — should be arranged. There ought
to be plenty of Icelanders, men and wo-
men, wherever groups of the B.E.F. are
to be found who, we may presume, would
be glad of such an opportunity. Could not
the SUNDAY POST assist in bringing this
about? And could not something be tried
through the English Bookshop?
Like our country we Icelanders are cold
— on the surface at any rate (The British
have a reputation for being so too). Maybe
deeper down there is a little warmth. And
one thing is certain: As soon as you have
acquired anything like a working know-
ledge of their language you have got ever
so much nearer to the people. Perhaps not
much would be gained by that; but neither
would it do you any harm.
Let us come closer together, and let the
SUNDAY POST help in this. I think the
paper would do much more good by ad-