This resource feature, as well as the mention and recommendation of this resource in my course, was kindly agreed to by the creator of Íslenska.is after an email inquiry.
What is it?
Íslenzka.is a website by Mark, a man with an interest in linguistics who started learning Icelandic after a trip to Icelandic in 2011. In addition to Íslenska.is, Mark also runs a now-inactive Icelandic language-learning-journey documentation blog at Íslenzka.net.
The website is powered by a subset of data from the DMII (Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection) data by Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, an Icelandic governmental institution dedicated to, researching, recording, preserving, and sharing the Icelandic Language.
The website allows you to search this database and generate empty inflection tables for many words within the database. You can then fill in the table and receive feedback on whether you entered the correct inflections or not. In addition to being able to search for certain words, the website also has a flashcard function, a quiz function, and a table function where you can be quizzed on the database of words as narrowed by one of a number of criteria that you can choose to toggle on or off.
Limitations and Warnings
Íslenska.is has some limitations and should not be taken as a complete or comprehensive resource.
Many Icelandic words have multiple correct inflectional variations, but Islenzka.is does not support these variations. Instead, some of these variations are wrongly marked as incorrect. For example, the verb "Að duga" may be recognized as either "Duga" or "Dugi" in the first-person singular, but Íslenska.is marks "Dugi" as incorrect.
In addition, only the nominative singular for nouns and adjectives or the bare infinitive form for verbs is supported in the search function. For example, searching the entry "Sterkan" will not provide the table for "Sterkur," the adjective from where that form originates.
Finally, you can easily end up at the wrong table. If you were to search "íslenska" and not check the dropdown menu and simply press enter, you would not be provided with the noun "Íslenska," but would instead be supplied with the verb "Að íslenska" which is much rarer and may be misleading or undesired.
Why is it useful?
Íslenzka.is is useful to a learner because it allows you to practice Icelandic inflection in a quick and efficient manner.
One of the most common struggles for a beginner learning Icelandic is mesmerizing inflections. There are many great ways to practice inflection, but Íslenzka.is has the advantage that it allows you to quickly generate tables and receive quick feedback as to whether you entered the word correctly or not. After receiving this feedback, you can regenerate the table quickly and continue to practice until you memorize the verb.
The website also allows you to search for and practice particular words or paradigms. This is particularly helpful if certain inflections are proving to be more tricky and require more practice. You can simply continue to retry the pattern until you get it correct.
In addition, the flashcard, table, and quiz functions are very helpful as they allow you to test your knowledge by generating a random word that you will have to inflect. This allows you to practice your inflectional intuition. The flashcard function and table functions are particularly helpful as they support term generation criteria that you can use to only have words fitting certain criteria generated. This is very helpful for paradigms that are giving you trouble.
Tips and Tricks
First, in order to get the most out of the program, I recommend repeating a paradigm until you can fill the table completely and correctly without needing to refer to any other resource or using either of the two functions available to check your answers. This means not using the enter button to move to the next cell and instead using the tab key so that the program does not check your entry. Only at the end, after filling the whole table, should you check your answers. This is harder and more time consuming, but will help you better memorize the patterns.
Secondly, since the inflections are presented in a table that automatically checks your answer and moves to the next entry vertically when you press enter, it is very easy to only approach the tables in a vertical manner. I recommend not always doing this.
Remember that the purpose of learning inflections is to be able to use the word in real life, not be able to fill inflection tables. For this reason, It may be more helpful to think of and fill the tables in a horizontal manner as well, instead of only a vertical one, as that helps to build your association of each person or case with the secondary, tertiary, and quaternary columns. It will also help you see patterns more easily between the singular and plural, present and past, or the indefinite and definite.
Finally, remember to make sure you have the right table. Because of the limitations mentioned, it is very easy to end up at the wrong table. Always check the label at the top of the table to make sure that you are filling in the correct table before you start to do so.