The Intercultural Centre in Reykjavík announced yesterday that it will offer Icelandic lessons to immigrants. It has recruited Ingibjörg Hafstad, a veteran in teaching Icelandic, to direct this new initiative. Prior to taking on the position, Ingibjörg ran Fjölmenning ehf., a company specializing in Icelandic lessons for foreigners.
The new lessons will focus on work related Icelandic, a subject that Ingibjörg has developed and taught for the last few years. According to the Intercultural Centre the teaching material is tailored to each work environment and takes into consideration the daily reality of the employees. Tailored Icelandic teaching material has already been created for fish factories, employees at day care centers, maids at hotels, and employees at printers.
The tailored Icelandic program is currently being offered at Eimskip, McDonalds, and at Reykjavík City day care centers.
The Intercultural Centre is a public limited company owned by the Reykjavík Section of the Icelandic Red Cross Society. It has service agreements with four municipalities: the City of Reykjavik, Kópavogur, Hafnarfjordur and Seltjarnarnes. The center offers translation and interpretation services, educational services and also conducts research. According to its web page its aim is “to ease the transition into Icelandic society and to help all to enjoy the benefits of our multicultural society”.
