One could start off with the really really easy with words like:

Reykjavik

and then get to normal words like:

Eyjafjallajokull

Then perhaps if there is still anyone standing:

Olafsfjardarvegur, Svalbaroastrandahreppur, Haestraettarmalaflutningsmaour

or the dreaded:

vaolaheioarvegav-- innuverkfaerageyms-- luskurslyklakippuhring-- asteypumotateikning

(sorry, my keyboard doesn't have some of the accent-letters, and the last four lines are supposedly read as a single word, which halfbakery told me was too long to post...had to break it up)
-- ShawnBob, Apr 17 2010

Fark: How to pronounce "Eyjafjallajökull". (SLYT) http://www.fark.com...r.pl?IDLink=5216092
Step 1 is completely ignoring the phonetic spellings of it [Dub, Apr 18 2010]

Wouldn't Icelandic schools have spelling bees ?
-- FlyingToaster, Apr 17 2010


I thought we'd started and finished this one...
-- po, Apr 17 2010


I think that was Welsh.
-- FlyingToaster, Apr 17 2010


no, definitely finnish.
-- po, Apr 17 2010


Icelandic is a very easy language to spell. It's almost phonetic and has thirty-two letters and thirty-eight phonemes, many of which are simply allophones compared to my English accent, which has forty-four phonemes and twenty-six letters. The likes of "au" are pronounced differently than one might expect, but compared to the pathetic excuse for a spelling system we have in English, it's dead easy. No problems at all with spelling. I'm afraid this is a complete non-starter, though it is very slightly harder to spell than the likes of Finnish and Czech.

Incidentally, "eth" is nothing to do with "o": it's a stylised crossed-out "d", so it's "maður", not "maour".
-- nineteenthly, Apr 17 2010


//Icelandic is a very easy language to spell// if you're Icelandic.
-- wagster, Apr 17 2010


Dozy Icelanders - all we said was we wanted their CASH.
-- AbsintheWithoutLeave, Apr 17 2010


Heh!
-- wagster, Apr 17 2010


<Thanks nineteenthly:

I love different languages btw. so Icelandic is a phonetic language that looks impossible to prounounce (to the untrained eye.)

I think all languages have their issues. Enlgish is pretty bad I hate to admit. Even if you speak English as a native language there are too many rules with exceptions: y is only a vowel sometimes. I before e execpt after...except, except etc.
-- ShawnBob, Apr 17 2010


English as i speak her is not good. I have an East Kent accent, i.e. a Southern one which is near-RP, and it has a number of design flaws. One is that there are practically no pure vowels - everything's a sodding diphthong. Another is of course the spelling.

Actually, i've been thinking about this and if you want a Nordic language which really does have spelling issues you might want to try Faeroese.
-- nineteenthly, Apr 17 2010



random, halfbakery