Free resources

Free Icelandic learning resources

34 free resources, checked and categorised.

100% free

No trials, no paywalls, no sign-up required.

Everything below is free to use — no trial periods and no paywalls. The list covers the main ways people study Icelandic: structured courses to build a foundation, dictionaries to look things up, and listening and reading material to spend real time in the language. Start with one course and one dictionary, then add listening once you can follow simple sentences.

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Browse Icelandic Online Readings(opens in a new tab)

Texts to readin Icelandic and English simultaneously.

Reading
Learn Icelandic(opens in a new tab)

A Reddit community.

Communities
All levels
Learn Icelandic!(opens in a new tab)

Online course for beginners ith audio.

Courses
Beginner
Search Icelandic Online Dictionary(opens in a new tab)

Icelandic-English dictionary.

Dictionaries
Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls(opens in a new tab)

Alterations dictionary.

Dictionaries
All levels
Site in Icelandic
Bloggið(opens in a new tab)

Icelandic blogs.

Blogs
Intermediate–Advanced
Site in Icelandic
Forlagid(opens in a new tab)

The biggest publisher in Iceland (the books here are cheaper than on Amazon).

Forlagið(opens in a new tab)

First chapters of Icelandic audiobooks.

Audiobooks
Intermediate–Advanced
Site in Icelandic
Hitt og þetta(opens in a new tab)

A textbook for children learning Icelandic as the second language.

Textbooks
Beginner
Site in Icelandic
Hlaðvarpið(opens in a new tab)

Lots of podcasts.

Podcasts
ISLEX(opens in a new tab)

Icelandic-Icelandic/Norwegian/Swedish/Danish/Finnish dictionary.

Dictionaries
Icelandic Etymological Dictionary(opens in a new tab)

Free downloadable etymology dictionary (approximately 2.5 GB).

Dictionaries
Advanced
Site in Icelandic
Jónas Hallgrímsson: Selected Poetry and Prose(opens in a new tab)

Jonas Halgrimssons poetry with translations, read in English and Icelandic.

Reading
Kæra dagbók 1(opens in a new tab)

Interactive site for children learning Icelandic, part 1.

Reading
Beginner
Site in Icelandic
Kæra dagbók 2(opens in a new tab)

Interactive site for children learning Icelandic, part 2.

Reading
Beginner
Site in Icelandic
Kæra dagbók 3(opens in a new tab)

Interactive site for children learning Icelandic, part 3.

Reading
Beginner
Site in Icelandic
Netútgáfan(opens in a new tab)

Free books in Icelandic.

Reading
Intermediate–Advanced
Site in Icelandic
Project Gutenberg - Icelandic(opens in a new tab)

Free books in Icelandic.

Reading
Intermediate–Advanced
Site in Icelandic
RUV(opens in a new tab)

TV - some of the programmes are available without VPN.

TV
Intermediate–Advanced
Site in Icelandic
RÚV(opens in a new tab)

News.

News
Intermediate–Advanced
Site in Icelandic
Skemman: Heim(opens in a new tab)

All Icelandic research papers.

Advanced
Site in Icelandic
Viltu læra íslensku?(opens in a new tab)

Icelandic video lessons.

Video
Courses
Site in Icelandic
Viltu læra íslensku? - transcripts(opens in a new tab)

Transcripts of the videos from the link above.

Site in Icelandic
Vísindavefurinn(opens in a new tab)

Questions and answers about science.

Intermediate–Advanced
Site in Icelandic
Vísir(opens in a new tab)

News.

News
Intermediate–Advanced
Site in Icelandic
Í beinni(opens in a new tab)

Radio.

Radio
Intermediate–Advanced
Site in Icelandic
Þorbjörg Halldórsdóttir tók saman 2013(opens in a new tab)

A small Icelandic grammar book.

Grammar
Site in Icelandic

Learn it there, practise it here

Free resources are great for input — reading, listening, explanations. They are weaker at the two things that actually move you forward: speaking Icelandic out loud, and remembering what you met once. That is what OwnSlides is for.

Say it out loud

Talk to an AI tutor that answers back, or join a live room with other learners and native speakers.

Practise what you read

Turn a grammar point or article into exercises, so it moves from recognised to usable.

Keep the words

Save new words to My Words and let spaced repetition bring them back before you forget them.

This directory began from a community-built list of free language resources — a year of collecting and checking by Joanna (u/chlebka) and dozens of contributors who suggested links, shared freely. See the original list. We have since expanded, re-checked and re-categorised it, and we keep the per-resource credits where the original list recorded them.