Want to learn a  little Icelandic?  You don’t actually need it in Iceland, everyone speaks perfect English, but it’s fun to try just a bit.

Two days before we left, Pimsleur released their 30-lesson audio for Icelandic. I managed to get through about four lessons (hello, good morning, I am american, do you speak english?) before we left, but I happily blurted it out to everyone we met.

Pimsleur has many fans, and many critics. It doesn’t really teach reading, you have no idea what the words actually look like spelled out, and it you really learn very few vocabulary words in the early lessons.  But it does get you speaking something very quickly, and trains you understand what people are saying to you, at normal speaking speeds.

Audible.com has the lessons, and if you (like me!) like to add a bit of language study to your travel planning, then it might just be an easy way to start.