From Ambassador (November 16: Icelandic Language Day)
2022/11/16
Although most Icelandic people are fluent in English, they have an unparalleled love for their native language. “Icelandic Language Day” is a day to celebrate the language on 16 November each year in Iceland, chosen to coincide with the birthday of the Icelandic poet Jónas Hallgrímsson.
On this day, “The Jónas Hallgrímsson Prize” is awarded to individuals who have enriched the Icelandic language in writing or speaking, with fiction, studies or teaching. Icelandic people love books. They say that the amount of books purchased per capita is the highest in the world. Many people choose to buy books as Christmas presents, and bookstores are filled with flat stacks of new books at this time of year.
One of this year's new books that is getting a lot of attention is “Reykjavik”, a crime mystery novel co-authored by Ms. Katrín Jakobsdóttir and Ragnar Jónasson. It has quickly made the bestseller list.
Yes, Katrín is the prime minister of Iceland, H.E.Ms. Katrín Jakobsdóttir!
I don't think I will be able to read this novel in Icelandic anytime soon, but I decided to give it a try and bought a copy at a bookstore. Little by little, I am reading the book with the help of a dictionary.
There are plans to publish its English translation version next August. I hope its Japanese translation version will be published someday.
On this day, “The Jónas Hallgrímsson Prize” is awarded to individuals who have enriched the Icelandic language in writing or speaking, with fiction, studies or teaching. Icelandic people love books. They say that the amount of books purchased per capita is the highest in the world. Many people choose to buy books as Christmas presents, and bookstores are filled with flat stacks of new books at this time of year.
One of this year's new books that is getting a lot of attention is “Reykjavik”, a crime mystery novel co-authored by Ms. Katrín Jakobsdóttir and Ragnar Jónasson. It has quickly made the bestseller list.
Yes, Katrín is the prime minister of Iceland, H.E.Ms. Katrín Jakobsdóttir!
I don't think I will be able to read this novel in Icelandic anytime soon, but I decided to give it a try and bought a copy at a bookstore. Little by little, I am reading the book with the help of a dictionary.
There are plans to publish its English translation version next August. I hope its Japanese translation version will be published someday.