I was walking down Laugavegur, the main street of down town Reykjavik, when 2 girls stop their car near me and yelled:
Girl: Ert þú Islensk?
Me: Nei..
Girl: Ok
Then they left. I kept on walking and thought about what they asked me. Why did they asked me If I was Icelandic. I think obviously they wanted some indication, a lighter, or whatsoever. Assuming they don’t speak English, if they had a doubt I was able to help them they should have asked: “Tala þú Islensku?” (Can you speak Icelandic). I would have done my best to help them, or apologize not being able to speak enough Icelandic. See, even when asking “Ert þú Islensk?” (Are you Icelandic) and me answering no in Icelandic, that assumed I’m not Icelandic but I obviously understand and probably speak it. So either it’s a general missunderstanding among Icelanders: When they need help they don’t ask wether you can speak Icelandic they directly go “Are you Icelandic” which would be understandable 20 years ago. Or, they wanted to deal with someone from the island. In the second case, it’s weird…
