# Impact of digital technology on Icelandic language: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 17, Test 2, Listening Part 4

Source: Recording, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 17, Test 2, Listening Part 4. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 31 | 321,000 | which is spoken by around 321,000 people |
| 32 | vocabulary | the vocabulary of Icelandic is continually increasing |
| 33 | podcast | Then there's an Icelandic word for podcast |
| 34 | smartphones | Think about smartphones. ... today young people use them all the time |
| 35 | bilingual | because it promotes their bilingual skills ... And it's all happening really fast. |
| 36 | playground | playground conversations in Icelandic secondary schools can be conducted entirely in English |
| 37 | picture | their classes find it easier to say what is in a picture using English |
| 38 | grammar | The other drawback of Icelandic is the grammar |
| 39 | identity | Will young Icelanders lose their sense of their own identity? |
| 40 | fluent | Neither of which they are fully fluent in. |

## Why these answers are right

**31. 321,000.** The notes say Icelandic has approximately ___ speakers. The lecturer says it is spoken by around 321,000 people; around matches approximately, and the full number counts as a single answer, so write 321,000.

**32. vocabulary.** The gap describes something about Icelandic that is still growing. The speaker says the vocabulary of Icelandic is continually increasing because speakers invent new words, so vocabulary is the noun, with growing paraphrasing increasing.

**33. podcast.** The notes give web browser as one example of a computer concept with its own Icelandic word and ask for a second. Straight after vafri the speaker says there is an Icelandic word for podcast, so podcast is the second example.

The why and the trap for questions 34 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/impact-of-digital-technology-on-icelandic-language/answers).

## Transcript

**Announcer:** Part 4, you will hear a lecturer on a languages course talking about the impact of digital technology on Icelandic, the native language of Iceland.

**Announcer:** First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.

**Announcer:** Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

**Speaker:** Right, everyone.

**Speaker:** Let's make a start.

**Speaker:** Over the past few sessions, we've been considering the reasons why some world languages are in decline.

**Speaker:** And today, I'm going to introduce another factor that affects languages, and the speakers of those languages, and that's technology, and in particular digital technology.

**Speaker:** In order to illustrate its effect, I'm going to focus on the Icelandic language, which is spoken by around 321,000 people.

**Speaker:** Most of whom live in Iceland, an island in the North Atlantic Ocean.

**Speaker:** The problem for this language is not the number of speakers, even though this number is small, nor is it about losing words to other languages such as English.

**Speaker:** In fact, the vocabulary of Icelandic is continually increasing, because when speakers need a new word for something, they tend to create one, rather than borrowing from another language.

**Speaker:** All this makes Icelandic quite a special language.

**Speaker:** It's changed very little in the past millennium, yet it can handle 21st century concepts related to the use of computers and digital technology.

**Speaker:** Take for example the word for web browser.

**Speaker:** This is vafri in Icelandic, which comes from the verb 'to wander'.

**Speaker:** I can't think of a more appropriate term, because that's exactly what you do mentally when you browse the internet.

**Speaker:** Then there's an Icelandic word for podcast, which is too hard to pronounce, and so on.

**Speaker:** Icelandic then is alive and growing, but, and it's a big but, young Icelanders spend a great deal of time in the digital world, and this world is predominantly English.

**Speaker:** Think about smartphones.

**Speaker:** They didn't even exist until comparatively recently, but today young people use them all the time to read books, watch TV or films.

**Speaker:** Play games, listen to music, and so on.

**Speaker:** Obviously, this is a good thing in many respects, because it promotes their bilingual skills.

**Speaker:** But the extent of the influence of English in the virtual world is staggering.

**Speaker:** And it's all happening really fast.

**Speaker:** For their parents and grandparents, the change is less concerning, because they already have their native-speaker skills in Icelandic.

**Speaker:** But for young speakers, well, the outcome is a little troubling.

**Speaker:** For example, teachers have found that playground conversations in Icelandic secondary schools can be conducted entirely in English, while teachers of much younger children have reported situations where their classes find it easier to say what is in a picture using English, rather than Icelandic.

**Speaker:** The very real and worrying consequence of all this, is that the young generation in Iceland is at risk of losing its mother tongue.

**Speaker:** Of course, this is happening to other European languages too, but while internet companies might be willing to offer say French options in their systems.

**Speaker:** It's much harder for them to justify the expense of doing the same for a language that has a population the size of a French town, such as Nice.

**Speaker:** The other drawback of Icelandic is the grammar, which is significantly more complex than in most languages.

**Speaker:** At the moment, the tech giants are simply not interested in tackling this.

**Speaker:** So, what is the Icelandic government doing about this?

**Speaker:** Well, large sums of money are being allocated to a language technology fund that it is hoped will lead to the development of Icelandic sourced apps.

**Speaker:** And other social media and digital systems, but clearly this is going to be an uphill struggle.

**Speaker:** On the positive side, they know that Icelandic is still the official language of education and government.

**Speaker:** It has survived for well over 1,000 years, and the experts predict that its future in this nation state is sound, and will continue to be so.

**Speaker:** However, there's no doubt that it's becoming an inevitable second choice in young people's lives.

**Speaker:** This raises important questions when you consider how much of the past is tied up in a language.

**Speaker:** Will young Icelanders lose their sense of their own identity?

**Speaker:** Another issue that concerns the government of Iceland is this. If children are learning two languages through different routes.

**Speaker:** Neither of which they are fully fluent in.

**Speaker:** Will they be able to express themselves properly?

**Announcer:** That is the end of part 4.

**Announcer:** You now have one minute to check your answers to part 4.

[Practice Impact of digital technology on Icelandic language](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/impact-of-digital-technology-on-icelandic-language)