Evrópa I (Vocabulary for 7/8/2002)


Here are the names of some of the countries of (mostly Western) Europe, an inhabitant (íbúi) of the country, and the adjective used to describe his/her nationality (þjóðerni).

While some of these are very similar (or identical) to the English, others are quite surprising.

Land           Íbúi             Þjóðerni       Enskt
--------------------------------------------------------------
Austurríki     Austurríkismaður austurrískur   Austria
Belgía         Belgi            belgískur      Belgium
Danmörk        Dani             danskur        Denmark
Eistland       Eistlendingur    eistneskur     Estonia
England        Englendingur     enskur         England
Finnland       Finni            finnskur       Finnland
Frakkland      Frakki           franskur       France
Færeyjar       Færeyjingur      færeyskur      Faeroe Islands
Grikkland      Grikki           grískur        Greece
Grænland       Grænlendingur    grænlenskur    Greenland
Írland         Íri              írskur         Ireland
Ísland         Íslendingur      íslenskur      Iceland
Ítalía         Ítali            ítalskur       Italy
Lettland       Letti            lettneskur     Latvia
Litháen        Lithái           litháískur     Lithuania
Niðurlönd      Niðurlendingur   niðurlenskur   Netherlands
Noregur        Norðmaður        norskur        Norway
Portúgal       Portúgali        portúgalskur   Portugal
Rúmenía        Rúmeni           rúmenskur      Rumania
Spánn          Spánverji        spænskur       Spain
Svíðjóð        Svíi             sænskur        Sweden
Sviss          Svisslendingur   svissneskur    Switzerland
Ungverjaland   Ungverji         ungverskur     Hungary
Þýskaland      Þjóðverji        þýskur         Germany

To Bob, asking for the best way to learn: it's hard to say what's "best" for you. Rod posts daily phrases, which are great for just memorizing or dissecting for grammar. I post pseudo-daily vocbaulary lists, and the words are nice to know but aren't real useful without some grammar. I learn best by staring at declension tables and scribbling sentences... For some people, this works. Others would much rather talk one-on-one with a teacher or native speaker. I think when you're just
starting out -- if you want to really know a language, and not just know *about* it -- you need to take a structured approach from a book or a teacher. Even if you're an experienced linguist, you need to learn the basics for normal conversation.

Just my kr. 0,02.

Jon

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